Laser Open at Hunts Sailing Club
by Graham Cox 8 Jul 2015 08:25 BST
4 July 2015
Hunts S.C. in Cambridgeshire welcomed twelve Laser helms on a warm, bright Saturday morning with 10 knots gusting 24 knots breeze shifting around SSW.
Race Officer, Graham Cox set three fast reaches after the first beat and very broad reach after the second beat.
Jack Knight (under 21) from Ely S.C. took the first lap but let David Cronk of HSC through at the last mark of the second. Cronk then built up a commanding lead. John Wells (GM) from Ely S.C. started well and finished the first lap in third place then lost it to Richard Major (GM) from Grafham Water S.C. who recovered from an OCS start to the middle of the fleet in lap 1 and finished second.
The fleet bunched at the pin end for the second start but at 20s to the off an adverse shift worried everyone. Cronk took the lead during the first beat, opened up a 20s gap by the end of the lap and developed it throughout. Major held second place from the end of the first lap. The last two laps were processional but fun sailing with Wells and Knight taking third and fourth places.
The fleet spread along the start line for the final race with a port tack lift on the gun. Cronk had a 15s lead at the first mark from Knight, Wells and Major; these finished in the same order. Monty Foster (u17) of HSC made a good start and held fourth place at the first lap, continuing to lead the Radials as he had in the earlier races. During laps 2 and 3 the fleet spread out with wide gaps so the race officer shortened the race.
Overall Results:
| Class Position | Sail No | Rig | Helm | Cat | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts | Position Overall |
|---|
| 1 | 180954 | Std | David Cronk | ‑ | Hunts SC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | 197363 | Std | Richard Major | GM | Grafham Water SC | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | 173781 | Std | Jack Knight | u21 | Ely SC | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| 4 | 186244 | Std | John Wells | GM | Ely SC | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | 204031 | Std | David Catto | AM | Hunts SC | 6 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 |
| 6 | 185700 | Std | Andy Prior | M | Welland YC | 4 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 6 |
| 7 | 208882 | Std | John Coppenhall | GM | Hunts SC | 8 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 10 |
| 8 | 64236 | Std | Gary Tompkins | GM | Hunts SC | 13 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 11 |
| 9 | 137804 | Std | Tim Isaac | GM | Hunts SC | 11 | 13 | 14 | 24 | 12 |
| 1 | 176748 | Rad | Monty Foster | u17 | Hunts SC | 7 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 7 |
| 2 | 176317 | Rad | Rob Smithies | M | Hunts SC | 10 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 8 |
| 3 | 180962 | Rad | Harry Moffatt | u16 | Hunts SC | 9 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 9 |