Laser Midland Grand Prix Round 16 at Draycote Water Sailing Club

Laser Midland Grand Prix at Draycote © Malcolm Lewin / www.malcolmlewinphotography.zenfolio.com/sail

Laser Midland Grand Prix at Draycote © Malcolm Lewin / www.malcolmlewinphotography.zenfolio.com/sail

Round 16 of the 2013 Laser Midland Grand Prix (Sponsored by Wild wind and Rooster) was held at Draycote Water Sailing Club on Saturday 21st September. This was the first of two grand prix events held over the weekend and with the forecast being force 2 to 3 it attracted 39 boats.

Race 1 started in a gradually building wind until the boats were planning on the final reaches of the triangle sausage course. The race was led from start to finish by Craig Williamson from Staunton Harold Sailing Club. His only real competition in the race was from Orkun Soyer from the home club who was gradually catching throughout the race. The following pack had some very close racing with many position changes on most legs of the course. Steve Irish from Draycote rounded the final mark slightly ahead of Rich Bennett of South Staffs and Paul Williamson from Staunton Harold. Paul tacked immediately around the mark on a shift, Steve covered Paul tack for tack up the final beat to take third seconds, ahead of Paul, with Rich Bennet a close fifth behind them.

The early leader of race 2 was Jan Williams from Rutland, with Orkan Soyer, Craig Williamson and Steve Irish following behind. Unfortunately the wind dropped completely on the third beat, Jan and Steve headed to the right where the wind initially looked stronger and were looking in good positions until a starboard shift came through to pick up Orkan and Craig who had headed to the left and brought them in as first and second around the final mark as the race officer shortend the course. Will Whittaker found a small gust of wind up the centre of the beat which put him in fourth position behind Steve across the finish line. Jan after a strong early half of the race had to settle for fifth place.

This left the final race as the decider between Orkan Soyer and Craig Williamson, fortunately the wind filled in. The start line became very port biased in the final couple of minutes before the start and most of the fleet tacked off immediately as the gun went. Steve Irish looked good starting close to the port end but Sam Knight from Bartley found stronger wind in the centre of the course to lead around the windward mark followed by Steve, Craig and Robert Still. Orkan struggled in mid fleet early up the beat but tacked well over to the left hand side to clear his wind which paid off as he hung on to the leading pack around the mark. These boats gradually pulled away from the rest of the fleet and Craig just took the lead on the run. Orkan generally split on the opposite tack to Craig up the beats and started to close the gap. But it was Craig who hung on to the lead to finish first with Steve second Orkan third, Sam fourth and Robert fifth.

The Radials started with the standards and it was close between Jamie Cuxson from Earlswood in 20th place, Joe Scurrah from Carsington in 22nd with Rebecca Lewis from Draycote in 28th.

Laser Midland Grand Prix at Draycote - photo © Malcolm Lewin / www.malcolmlewinphotography.co.uk

Round 17 of the Laser Midland Grand Prix was held at Shustoke Sailing Club on Sunday 22nd September but the results are still to be collated. The final round and prize giving is to be held at Staunton Harold on Sunday 6th October.

Overall Results:

Standard Rigs
1st Craig Williamson (Staunton Harold)
2nd Orkan Soyer (Draycote)
3rd Steve Irish (Draycote)
4th Sam Knight (Bartley)
5th Paul Williamson (Staunton Harold)

Radial Rigs
1st Jamie Cuxson (Earlswood)
2nd Joe Scurrah (Carsington)
3rd Rebecca Lewis (Draycote)
4th Alison Taylor (Chelmarsh)
5th Alexander Homer (Midland)

Laser Midland Grand Prix at Draycote - photo © Malcolm Lewin / www.malcolmlewinphotography.co.uk

Series Results after Round 16: