Laser 5000 Nationals at Weston Sailing Club

by Thomas Sauvel 24 Jun 2007 21:05 BST 23 June 2007

With the largest turnout of the season, the Laser 5000 Nationals at Weston SC was a memorable event marked by strong winds and a colorful Caribbean party in the evening. A strong force 4-5 wind was blowing on the Saturday with the occasional squall which proved both thrilling and challenging for the many newcomers on the powerful 5000s. In these conditions, Thomas & Virginie’s GBR5231 showed good boatspeed upwind and were flying on downwind legs (although with the occasional big splash).

Behind them, Taff & Dan on SailArmy.co.uk sailed well and safely made 2nd place in both the 1st and 3rd races despite the windy conditions and the sudden hail in the afternoon. The Pink Goggles award was given to GBR5269 “Shaken not Stirred” for the best capsize of the day. The Saturday evening Caribbean BBQ turned into quite a show with more games and competitions including a helm versus crew tug of war.

With a Force 3-4 on Sunday, the competition was reopened with Dave & Alistair putting in some strong starts followed closely by GBR5231 and the rest of the 5000s. Leading in the 2nd race, a missed tack took them for a quick swim letting Thomas & Virginie race on to another 1st place. The long 3rd race saw a good start from all 5000s. At the top mark, Thomas & Virginie rounded first followed closely by Dave & Alistair and further by Taff & Dan.

Choosing the right side of the course, Dave & Alistair picked up a gust and accelerated to a 30 second lead at the leeward mark. But the gap closed and both 5000s rounded and hoisted again together. Once again, Thomas went left, Dave went right. This time a wind shift to the left helped the blue boat pull ahead with a 60 second lead by the kite drop which Thomas & Virginie maintained to the finish line.

On their first circuit event, Taff & Dan finished 3rd once more and second overall. All in all, the event was a great success and it was good to see many boats from different UK clubs including many newcomers to the class with exiting racing in a friendly fleet.

Overall Results: (top 3 Results)

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Pts
1st	GBR5231	Thomas Sauvel	Virginie Sauvel	5
2nd	GBR5183	Richard Owens	Dan Rudolph	13
3rd	GBR5008	Dave Crawford	Alistair Farman	22