Noble Marine Laser Radial Spring Qualifier at the WPNSA

The last of the Noble Marine Laser Spring Qualifiers was held at WPNSA this weekend with a good turnout of 75 Radials. The forecast for Saturday was for a NE breeze of around 12–15 knots, and with our race area located under the cliffs on the far side of Weymouth Bay this led to some very shifty and gusty conditions for the fleet (and a very long sail upwind to the start!). We also experienced the largest tidal range of the year following the eclipse last week. The decision was made to sail as one fleet on a trapezoidal course alongside the Standards and 4.7s.

The first attempt at starting Race 1 resulted in a general recall when a small bunch of boats went early at the starboard end. In the next attempt, the fleet got away clearly under a black flag start. With some large shifts the leaders to the first mark came in lifted from the left side of the course. Ali Young took the first win of the day followed by Jamie Calder in second and Hannah Snellgrove in third.

In Race 2, with the wind in a left phase, the start line became very pin-end biased creating the opportunity for the pin-end boats to tack and cross much of the fleet. The shifty conditions again led to big gains and losses being made throughout the race. The first boats to the windward mark had taken full advantage of the shifts and followed the last shift in from the left to round the mark ahead of the fleet. Leaders Young and Snellgrove gained a large lead downwind and held this until the finish with Young claiming her second win of the day followed closely by Snellgrove in second and Jack Cookson in third.

By the final race of the day, the tide had turned catching out the fleet and causing a general recall leading to several black flags. The race was restarted with a clear start and, once again, the shifts were the priority of the race. With a large right shift early on, the boats on the right quickly gained an advantage and came into the windward mark first. A good first beat by Will Bedford put him in the lead at the windward mark followed by Rhiannon Massey and Snellgrove. Snellgrove gained the lead downwind and held this lead for the rest of the race to gain a convincing win over Rhiannon Massey in second and Daniel Raymond in third.

Sunday's weather was forecast to be slightly lighter than Saturday with the wind tracking round to the right throughout the day. The fleet launched and arrived at the race course to find some very shifty conditions. After attempting several starts which were all postponed, the fleet waited under an AP flag until the decision was made to abandon racing and wait for further signals ashore. The decision was then made shortly after returning to shore to abandon racing for the day.

Overall the conditions made for some tricky racing. Many thanks go to WPNSA, the race committee and volunteers in helping to make the event a success.

Overall Results: (top three)

1 Ali Young, 2pts
2 Hannah Snellgrove, 3pts
3 Ben Elvin, 8pts

Full results can be found here.