Laser 4000 National Championships at Parkstone Yacht Club

Laser 4000 nationals at Poole © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Laser 4000 nationals at Poole © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

The Laser 4000 fleet arrived at Parkstone Yacht Club on the 20th August, looking forward to 4 days of racing and socialising with good friends. The forecast was a variable bag, with light winds forecast for the first couple of days, and the chance of some fresher breeze on the last two days.

Hot out the blocks on day 1 were Kevin Barnard and Emma Warner, who are enjoying a purple patch following their Europeans success earlier in the year, to win both races of the day. Also enjoying a good first day were John Reynolds and Fran Howell who scored two seconds.

Day two started with a particularly topsy turvy race, Martin Boyde and Bonnie Moody took advantage of a right hand shift to lead round the first lap, however a significant left hand shift on the next lap caught them out, dumping them down to 10th, whilst Geoff and Bernice Holden were catapulted from mid fleet to 1st, a position they held for the rest of the race. Kevin and Emma followed in 2nd. Kevin and Emma then followed this up with another bullet in race 4. Race 5 belonged to Jody Warner and Ed Wilton, who having gained the lead pulled away from the fleet to win comfortably, Kevin and Emma finished 2nd again, so with a gross total of 7 points from the first 5 races, they already had one hand on the championship trophy. Also showing consistency were John Warburton and James Clapham who had 3 top three results (and one DNF due to gear failure) and John and Fran who had all their results in the top 6 and remained second at the halfway point of the regatta.

Day three dawned to more light winds, as was becoming the theme, first race of the day was the Tim Atkinson Memorial trophy. Toby Linnell and Neil Heffernan judged the left hand corner perfectly to lead at the first windward mark followed by Martin and Bonnie. During the run John and James came to the front of the fleet, and had the lead upto the last windward mark, followed by Martin and Bonnie, with the usual suspects all in the mix. At the gun however Martin and Bonnie were able to squeeze inside James and John to take the win. Geoff and Bernice taking 3rd and Kevin and Emma finishing 4th. Kevin and Emma got back on track in the next race, taking another bullet - meaning a half decent result in the 8th race would secure them the title. Which is what they duly did, Jody and Ed took their second bullet of the event to end the day on a high, but the day belonged to Kev and Emma who with a second in the 8th race sealed the championship.

However there was still a lot to play for, 8 points covered 2nd to 6th with John & James, Martin & Bonnie, John & Fran, Geoff & Bernice and Jody & Ed all in the mix for a share of the chocolates, early nights you would of thought, but it was not to be, encouraged by the 'Mafia night' hosted by the club, the whole fleet helped Kev and Emma celebrate, creating some very sore heads and blurred memories for the fleet the next morning.

The final 2 races were sailed in light and shifty condiftions. Despite not needing to compete, Kev and Emma drifted to the start line with everyone else, and then went on to win race 9 with John and James 2nd and Martin and Bonnie 3rd who strengthened their grips on 2nd and 3rd overall respectively. The final race was won by Jody and Ed, their third bullet of the regatta, showing how competitive old boats can be in this fleet (sail number 4080).

Overall the top 9 boats all achieved top 3 results, but the regatta belonged to Kevin and Emma who counted 8 scores in the top 2 and discarded a 4th and a 6th. The fleet had a great time and are all looking forward to the next 'major' - Garda in 2012.

Overall Results: