Laser Pico Open Meeting at Gurnard Sailing Club
by Liz Harrison 20 Jul 2008 11:27 BST
12-13 July 2008
Sailors ranging in age from 5 to 55+ at the Gurnard Pico Open © Liz Harrison
32 boats in 2 fleets competed in the Gurnard SC Laser Pico Open meeting on 12/13 July. The weekend was a great success with close competitive racing in both fleets, and sailors ranging in age from 5 to 55 (or more).
Richard Fagan, sailing with his 5 year old grandson, Jacob, led the way in the training fleet on race 1, followed closely by 14 Year olds Ed Conder and Ed Panek. First single-hander was 11 year old Georgia Caws. Some of the lighter helms struggled with the force 4-5 breeze, and several chose to reef before race 2. Without Richard, this was won by Ed + Ed, with Georgia second and Lewis Fitzgerald (11) third. The Rockett brothers ( age 10+9) did well to achieve top 5 places in both races.
Lighter breezes on Sunday morning proved difficult for the less experienced helms, but Josh Atherton enjoyed the conditions to come 2nd and 3rd . Jack Elsom came 4th in the final race, beating his dad and younger brother by one place. The series was won by Richard and Jacob, with Georgia in second place to win the Pico open junior plate, Ed + Ed 3rd ,Lewis 4th and Josh 5th.
The afternoon race fleet was hotly competitive, ex national champion Andrew Paterson had a clean run of firsts on day 1, but the shifty wind and difficult tide helped to ensure positions further down the fleet were changing constantly. Robbie Southwell took a flyer off the start in race 2, and crossed the fleet to be first at the windward mark. He also sailed a excellent race to win race 4, and came second in the final race, with an overall second place to win the Pico open plate. Ben Green sailed calmly to 3rd place overall, with Paul Jennings 4th. There was close competition in the middle of the fleet, with the next 3 places decided on the final race, Ed Collinge beating Larry Tate and Tom Harrison to 5th position overall
Thanks to Perfomance Sailcraft and Henri Lloyd for sponsoring the event, and to Pico designer Jo Richards for presenting the prizes