Laser SB3 Spring Championships - Weekend 1

A weekend of sunshine & gentle breezes on week 5 of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series © Eddie Mays

Last weekend saw 55 Laser SB3s compete in the first half of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Championships. Both days saw very light and testing conditions for both competitors and the race committee, though the PRO did a fantastic job to get any racing underway, and 4 races were run in the hazy spring sunshine.

Making the most of the light and shifty conditions Marshall King in "Blue Job" showed that consistency is the key to one-design racing in a large fleet by posting 2,2,8 after a less glamorous – but far from disastrous – 13th in the opening race . King holds the lead at the half way stage over Paul Lovejoy in "Badger Racing" by a slender 3 points. Meanwhile event favourite Geoff Carveth in "Palava" made short work of the difficult conditions, only to find himself black flagged in the last race. That leaves Dan Geoghegan in "Champagne Blonde" in 3rd place and still in touch with King and Lovejoy after what he described as ‘a mixed bag of results’.

The weekend started with some new faces at the front of the fleet, and Mark Cam and Fiona Frankling on “Camel Pie” earned the first bullet of the day. But things were far from straightforward. With shifty conditions, a number of individual and general recalls and the black flag flying on Sunday, more than were few were caught out. Some of the top contenders were forced to sit out the final race which turned out to be full of drama. “GBR31” reached the top mark ahead of “MarineOnTheWeb.co.uk”, maintained her lead to the bottom mark but rounded up too soon and got stuck on the mark. The sea breeze then arrived and the rest of the fleet began to enjoy the best sailing of the weekend. Approaching the bottom mark for the second time, “MarineOnTheWeb.co.uk” ran aground with “Argo II” and “Credo” close behind. Swift action by the race support boats prevented the rest of the fleet heading the same way and the race officers had no choice but to abandon the race and send everyone home.

Heading into the final weekend of the championships everything is still to play for with a number of boats fighting for the top five positions in this non-discard series. Most crews, while having enjoyed the sunshine, will be hoping that next weekend’s event will see the wind being more cooperative.

Race 1:
1st Camel Pie (Mark Cam & Fiona Frankling)
2nd Dirty Harry (McAdam/Lyon/Whelan/Hall)
3rd Champagne Blonde (Daniel Geoghegan)

Race 2:
1st Badger Racing (Paul Lovejoy)
2nd Blue Job (Marshal King)
3rd Doolali (Colin Simonds)

Race 3:
1st Palava (Geoff Carveth)
2nd Blue Job (Marshall King)
3rd Trunk Monkey (Michael Cooper)

Race 4:
1st Sybarite (Dominic Akers-Douglas)
2nd Champagne Blonde (Daniel Geoghegan)
3rd 3-Some (Duncan Pryde)

Series after first weekend: