Laser EPS Open at Whitefriars Sailing Club

by Ivor Keates 12 Apr 2008 07:43 BST 6 April 2008

Building on the success of last year’s events at Burton and Llangorse, the largest EPS fleet for some time gathered at Whitefriars SC on Sunday 6 April for the first of this season’s open meetings.

After brushing the overnight snow off the boats, 11 hardy helmspeople (well, there was a lady amongst us) braved a cold and blustery northerly to enjoy some fine racing. Local man John Codner (127) showed the way in the first race which saw a number of capsizes in the gusty conditions, leading to 3 retirements. Peter Card (Llangorse, 188) and a second Whitefriars boat – Steve Merchant (295) were 2nd and 3rd.

Race 2 was won by Rob Dangerfield (Llangorse, 303). John kept up the pressure with a 2nd place, with Steve again coming home 3rd. Peter slipped out of the top 3 but was still in contention with his 4th spot.

Alas for John, a capsize late in the final race ruined his chances of overall victory. Peter took the race and the event on tiebreak. Simon Bates (Dee, 135) put in a strong performance to take 2nd place in the final race, while Rob clinched 3rd spot overall with his 3rd place.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	Pts
1	188	Pete Card	Llangorse SC	3
2	127	John Codner	Whitefriars SC	3
3	303	Rob Dangerfield	Llangorse SC	4
4	295	Stephen Merchant	Whitefriars SC	6
5	135	Simon Bates	Dee SC	7