Laser Qualifier at Pwllheli Sailing Club

Pwllheli hosts the final weekend in the Spring set of Qualifying events for the Laser class © Elaine Marsh / www.fotoboat.com

Pwllheli hosts the final weekend in the Spring set of Qualifying events for the Laser class © Elaine Marsh / www.fotoboat.com

Pwllheli hosts the final weekend in the Spring set of Qualifying events for the Laser class © Elaine Marsh / www.fotoboat.com

For a change the weekend weather was good. The Northwesterly wind was subject to shifts but at 20+ knots on Saturday and slightly less on Sunday there was plenty to go round. This was the final weekend in the Spring set of Qualifying events and for the first time this year all three rigs raced from the same club. On Saturday the legs were on the short side for the amount of wind but even so getting the three scheduled races in meant that the fleets didn't get in until 17:30 in the evening. And there were plenty of tired bodies that night.

In the 50-strong Standard fleet it took Paul Goodison the first lap of the first race to sort himself out but from then on he was never caught in the Saturday's three races. Behind him Mark & Stephen Powell, Nick Thompson, Charles Baillie-Strong and Giles Scott fought it out for the minor placings. No-one managed to prove their dominance behind Goodison. The two races on Sunday were longer and having won the morning race, and his fourth of the weekend, Goodison was one of those that got caught out in the black flag start of the final race. Stephen Powell took a bit of a flyer to the left on the 2nd beat to establish a winning lead but brother Mark finished just behind him and took 2nd place overall.

Once more the largest fleet was the Radials with 96 entries. Steve Cockerill made successful port end starts in all three races. He won the 1st & 3rd races and came 3rd in the middle race behind Jon Emmett, always a power to be reckoned with, and the early race leader John Booth. Olympian Laura Baldwin has been adapting to the new class extremely well and she came 2nd in the last race just failing to overtake Cockerill on the last legs. The longer course on Sunday was a great improvement. Cockerill established an early lead and with Paton and Emmett mixing it behind him he was able to win comfortably. This gave him the overall title for the weekend. In the final race a large wind shift near the top mark, which was set close to the beach, enabled David Jessop to lead at this mark. He couldn't defend this lead on the downwind legs and Emmett reached the bottom mark first and stayed ahead to the finishing line.

For the first time at a combined Qualifier the Laser 4.7s had their own course and race team. This greatly relieved the pressure on all those running the racing. With such a young fleet the school year is often a critical factor in the numbers able to get out at weekends. This year 32 boats raced and Tom Hayes from Blithfield was very nearly unstoppable. He won the first two races and came 2nd behind Ben Longstaff, Grafham Water, in the final day's race. These two shared the honours on Sunday with a win & a 2nd place apiece. Rutland's David Ashworth came a very respectable 3rd overall behind the leaders.

For full results and the latest Ladder positions visit the UKLA website, www.laser.org.uk. The series now takes a break until the Autumn for the two largest rigs and until June for the 4.7s, when exams are over. The UKLA Club Championships are at Rutland in early June and the Nationals at Abersoch in mid-July, when over 300 boats are expected to attend.