Laser Midlands Grand Prix Round 5 at Blithfield Sailing Club

The 5th round of the Laser Midlands Grand Prix was held at Blithifeld Sailing Club on 12th May. After the light winds from the previous 4 rounds a welcome force 3 greeted the fleet of 18 boats when they arrived which proved to give close racing for most of the races.

Race 1 was a close contest between Jon Swain (Carsington), Craig Williamson (Staunton Harold) and Sam Knight (Bartley), however, Riich Bennet (South Staffs) gradually recovered from a bad start to work his way through the fleet to put him in contention with the leading three boats on the final lap of the race. A windshift on the final beat left this leg as a close fetch giving the leading contenders a drag race to the finish line, it was Bennett who was 4th around the final mark and dropped low to win from Swain, Knight and Williamson who all finished within seconds of each other.

The second race followed a similar pattern to the first race but this time Rich Bennett couldn't quite get in to the top position. The race was won by Jon Swain closely followed by Sam Knight, Craig Williamson finished in third and Steve Venables from Sutton Sailing Club found the condiitions to his liking and finished in 4th place in front of Bennett.

Three helms could win going into the final race; good starts from Jon Swain and Rich Bennett left them having a close duel for the lead up the first beat, however, being peoccupied with each other this let Paul Williamson (Staunton Harold) into lead at the windward mark Williamson continued to extend his lead to win race 3. After the first lap Swain pulled away from Bennett to take second in the race and first place in the event. It was Craig Williamson's turn to recover from a bad start in the teens around the windward mark to finish a close 4th behind Bennett.

This was the 5th event in the 2012 GP series sponsored by Wildwind Sailing and Rooster the series is currently being led by Paul Williamson with Craig Williamson and Robert Marshall (Earlswood) in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

Overall Results: (top five)

1st Jonathan Swain (Carsington) 2nd Richard Bennett (South Staffs) 3rd Sam Knight (Bartley) 4th Paul Williamson (Staunton Harold) 5th Craig Williamson (Staunton Harold)

Midlands Grand Prix Series: (after Round 5)