Laser Open at Lancing Sailing Club

Action from the Laser open at Lancing © Isabelle Jackson

Action from the Laser open at Lancing © Isabelle Jackson

Action from the Laser open at Lancing © Isabelle Jackson

The forecast was for a north-easterly force 2 increasing to force 6 later, so it was quite a surprise to find a force 3 southerly blowing when 13 visitors arrived to join 15 locals for the Laser Open meeting on Sunday 27th May. The uncertainty wasn’t helped when the wind swung to a south-easterly during the briefing! This wind then held throughout the morning allowing the race officer to complete 2 back to back races on a standard triangle-sausage course.

As in previous years, the slower fleets were started first to reduce the waiting times between races, and due to a lower than expected turnout, the 4.7s and Radials were started together. In the Radials, Kerry Tucker survived a port-starboard incident immediately after the start and went on to win from Paul Luttman and David Carter. In the 4.7s, local Hayley Goacher proved that her first year at University had sharpened her skills as she led from the start, mixing it with the Radials throughout and leading home fellow Lancing sailor Steve Lynch. The full rigs were led from start to finish by Weirwood’s Simon Barrington, with local Sam Littlejohn pulling through to 2nd place on the second lap and Ian Morgan from Weston improving from 8th on the first lap to finish in 3rd place.

Race 2 took place in deteriorating weather conditions with increasing wind, heavy rain and threats of squalls looming on the horizon. Despite an early lead by Luttman, the final results in the Radials and 4.7s were a repeat of the earlier race. The full rigs had a close contest with place changing throughout the race at the front, but it was Barrington who again led the fleet home, followed by Morgan and Matthew Holden from Locks in 3rd.

After lunch, the weather had taken its toll on the fleet and a short postponement was necessary as the wind had backed to south easterly and the course swung. With the tide having turned as well, wind over tide at low water made for a very lumpy sea, and with the rain and low temperature, conditions in the committee boat were unpleasant! The fleet, though, were relishing the weather with another fast reaching course set, although this time with the wing mark in the shallows, care was needed at the gybe.

Goacher again led the 4.7 fleet which was down to just 2 boats in race 3 and she was the only boat to start race 4. In the Radial fleet, Ian Gregory had decided that enjoying the sailing was more important than the results and swapped his full rig from the morning to a Radial in the afternoon, ensuring he couldn’t get a result in either series! However, it worked wonders as he won both races from Tucker in another decimated fleet with only 3 starters each time.

Race 3 in the full rigs was again led from start to finish by Barrington who showed that staying upright pays dividends as all of the others took turns in the water. He was followed home by Jan Werner from Queen Mary and Morgan.

Race 4 again contained some spectacular wipeouts downwind, and for a fourth time Barrington showed his mastery of the conditions with his fourth win of the day, this time followed home by Holden and Morgan.

The Race Officer would like to thank the fleets for getting through the very tight schedule, with no general recalls and only one OCS all day,

Overall Results:

4.7s (4 entries)
1st Hayley Goacher (Lancing SC)
2nd Steve Lynch (Lancing SC)

Radials (6 entries)
1st Kerry Tucker (Weston SC)
2nd Paul Luttman (Weirwood SC)

Full rig (18 entries)
1st Simon Barrington (Weirwood SC)
2nd Ian Morgan (Weston SC)
3rd Matthew Holden (Locks SC)
4th Sam Littlejohn (Lancing SC)

Full results at www.lancingsc.org.uk/downloads/results/Results07/laseropen.htm