Laser Inland Championships at Rutland Sailing Club
by Eddie Mays 7 Nov 2007 19:01 GMT
3-4 November 2007
The final event in the UK Laser season was the Inland Championships that took place at Rutland S.C. over the first weekend of November. Sponsored by The Laser Centre and Noble Marine it attracted a total of 182 competitors from all corners of the U.K. This was a particularly good turnout when the forecast was for a high pressure to sit over the Midlands and for light winds over most of the UK. On Saturday there was enough breeze, up to 6 knots, to allow P.R.O. Chris Hadden to set a trapezoidal course and for racing to take place.
With Paul Goodison and some of the other top guns away from the 65 strong Standard fleet it was a good opportunity for the younger ones to have a chance to win a major pot. With a handful of boats caught OCS it was Dorset’s Tim Reid (Mudeford) who was the first to make his mark by taking the first race from Hayling Island’s Stuart Godwin & local helm Steve Tylecote. The Black flag was brought out for the 2nd start and David Holloway, having been OCS in the first race, made it a pair by being spotted as a premature starter in this race. Reid followed Andy Omasta (Aldenham) home to strengthen his overall position. Welshman Eifon Mon (Red Wharf Bay) held off the challenge of another youth sailor Tom Hayes (Blithfield) for the last podium place. The start of the third race was clean and Evan Scott (Grafham Water) finished the day well with a convincing win ahead of Orlando Gledhill (Queen Mary) and Eifon Mon. This left the top positions wide open for the second day’s racing. One of the interesting footnotes of the day’s racing was to see that Paul Williamson (Staunton Harold) was lying 7th, several places above his son Craig. These two have been battling it out on the Midlands Grand Prix circuit all season, with very mixed results.
With the light conditions it was not surprising that the large, 85 entries, Radial fleet was dominated by lightweights and youngsters. The main problem early on was that there were a number of General Recalls and it was only when the black flag was introduced that the fleet got away successfully. Junior sailor Aaron Smith (Papercourt) made the best of the conditions to take the gun. He was followed home by Joshua Irons (Spinnaker) and Masters helm David Summerville (West Lancs). The time lost in starting the first race meant that there was only time for one more race. Olympic hopeful Penny Clark (Stokes Bay) improved on her 9th in the first race to win the 2nd race. Charlotte Greenhalgh (Elton) moved up from 6th to 2nd and Tom Rainey took the final podium place. Joshua finished 6th and this left him tied overnight with Charlotte.
This event was also the last of the Ladder meetings for the Laser 4.7s and so there was additional pressure on the top of the table sailors to get a good result. Julian Shawyer (Datchet) established an early lead by winning the first race with Channel Islander Daniel Wray (Guernsey) 2nd & Cameron Douglas (Dee) 3rd. Cameron was at only his 2nd Ladder event of the season but having got used to the conditions and the waters was unstoppable for the next two races. James Grant (Restronguet) who finished 4th in the first race improved and recorded a 2nd & a 3rd to lie 2nd overall at the end of the day. Matthew Deacon-Smith (Warsash) and Freddie Connor (Bexhill) took the other minor placings.
The forecasters got it right on Sunday. They had predicted less wind and Rutland Water looked idyllic, if you paint tranquil watercolour landscapes. The Race Committee flagged an indefinite postponement but by 11:30 there was, if it was possible, even less wind and so racing was abandoned for the day. This enabled both the main championship and the Laser 4.7 Ladder prizegivings to be completed to a packed clubroom by 12:30 and everyone had the chance to get home early.
Overall Results:
Standard Rig (65 entries)
1st Tim Reid (Mudeford) 1st Master, 1st Bronze
2nd Eifon Mon (Red Wharf Bay) 1st Youth
3rd Orlando Gledhill (Queen Mary)
4th Tom Hayes (Blithfield)
5th Steve Cockerill (Stokes Bay)
1st Silver Fleet, Callum Calder (Crammond)
Radial Fleet (85 entries)
1st Charlotte Greenhalgh (Elton) 1st Lady, 1st Girl (U16)
2nd Joshua Irons (Spinnaker) 1st Boy (U19), 1st Bronze
3rd Penny Clark (Stokes Bay)
4th Andrew Brown (Budworth) 1st Boy (U16)
5th Aaron Smith (Papercourt)
1st Master, Andi Riley (Stewartby)
1st Silver Fleet, Philip Garner (Warsash)
1st Girl (U19), Jenny Saunders (Staunton Harold)
Laser 4.7 Fleet (32 entries)
1st Cameron Douglas (Dee) 1st Junior Boy
2nd James Grant (Restronguet)
3rd Julian Shawyer (Datchet)
4th Daniel Wray (Guernsey)
1st Lady & 1st Junior Girl, Izzy Allerston (Hayling Island)
2nd Lady, Anna Carpenter (Elton)