Noble Marine Laser Radial Spring Qualifier at Royal Torbay Yacht Club

Seventy-three Laser Radials made the trip down to Torquay for the first qualifier of the year this weekend, despite the 'exciting' looking forecast. Since there were less than 80 boats, the fleet raced as one for the weekend which worked well – despite their reputation to the contrary, the fleet was generally well behaved on the starts.

The 'exciting' forecast certainly delivered, with a brisk south-westerly 15–20kts greeting the competitors on the Saturday. In Race 1, Jon Emmett worked the shifts well on the first beat to round first, followed by Hannah Snellgrove and Ali Young. Snellgrove passed Emmett at the end of the final downwind to take the win.

The second race saw similar conditions with Snellgrove and Young making the most of a port-biased line to gain the advantage. Chloe Martin made the right work well, and the remainder of the race was a tussle between these three boats, with Snellgrove taking the gun, followed by Young and Martin.

The wind had been increasing throughout the second race and by the start of Race 3 there were some big gusts coming down the racecourse. The leaders were those whose boat handling was good enough to still be able to play the shifts despite the strong winds. It was Jamie Calder in the lead for the majority of the race, but he was overhauled on the final downwind by Young, with Emmett making up the final spot of the top three.

Sunday was forecast to be even fresher, and that proved to be the case as the wind built through the day. After one general recall where some of the top runners and riders, including Emmett, were back flagged, it was Young who took the early lead in Race 4 and continued to pull away, with Daniel Whiteley showing great boat speed to round the windward mark in second and Snellgrove in third. Both Whiteley and Snellgrove had some swimming practice in a big gust whilst putting in the gybe of the final downwind, leaving Calder and Joseph Mullan to come through and take second and third positions respectively.

Race 5 again saw Young take the early lead and pull away from Emmett and Martin. Snellgrove came through into second position on the second beat, but she lost out to Emmett and Martin on the final downwind.

The start of the final race saw the strongest winds of the weekend which continued to build through the one lap race – with many sailors, both at the front and back of the fleet, having some spectacular wipe outs. Rhiannon Massey showed great speed to round the windward mark first, followed by Emmett and Calder. Emmett took a tumble on the reach and Young zoomed past to make the gybe mark rounding order Young, Calder and Massey. It was definitely at a stage where you were trying to strike the balance between racing and just staying upright. Young and Calder got into a battle on the final reach, and Massey, Snellgrove and Emmett sneaked past by taking a slightly lower route.

Young took the overall event win, followed by Snellgrove and Emmett.

All in all, it was a great weekend's racing, where all six races were sailed despite the 'exciting' forecast. Thanks are due to all the volunteers from the RTYC who provided excellent support in difficult conditions. It is also worth saying congratulations to all sailors who finished, or attempted to finish, some of those particularly windy races – it is safe to say we haven't sailed a qualifier in those conditions for some time!

Overall Results: (top three)

1 Ali Young, 8pts
2 Hannah Snellgrove, 15pts
3 Jon Emmett, 16pts

Full results can be found here.