Neil Pryde UKLA National and Open Laser Championships - Day 4
by Alison Boyd 5 Aug 2015 22:03 BST
2-7 August 2015
Sponsored by Neil Pryde, Harken UK (Official Hardware Sponsor), Laser Performance and Noble Marine (Association Sponsors)
Yesterday's weather forecast proved to be correct and the Race Committee had to struggle with high winds, rain and poor visibility before they were able to set a course. After a wait ashore, all three fleets were released and racing got under way.
However, after the first race, the conditions deteriorated significantly, with the wind increasing in strength from about 18knts to gusts of 30knts, and the Radial and 4.7 fleets were sent ashore shortly after their first finish. As they had been started first, the Standards managed to complete both of their scheduled races before the weather closed in.
The top four in the Standard fleet finished in that order in both of their races today as Martin Evans continued his dominance of the event. Jack Wetherell came second, James Gray third and Harry Blowers fourth.
In the Radial fleet, Hannah Snellgrove returned to her winning ways and won her race ahead of Jon Emmett. Youth sailors Jordan Giles and Jake Farren-Price were first and second respectively in the other race. Jordan said, 'On the race course it was very windy with some nice waves for sailing downwind. It was a day where hard work and good boat speed were key to doing well. Visibility was poor and I couldn't really see where I was going most of the time!'
After today's racing, the Radial fleet was split into two with Hannah Snellgrove topping Gold fleet, Jon Emmett in second and Ben Elvin in third. The split of the Radial fleet into Gold and Silver occurred after the 53rd placed sailor which means Robby Boyd goes into the next stage of the competition as the top sailor in the Silver fleet.
Benno Marstaller won the one 4.7 race of the day, with Gethin Owen in second. That means that going into the penultimate day Benno is in first overall, with Gethin in second in front of Alex Butler who is now in third.
Despite the poor visibility and rain, which accounts for no photographs today, the sailors enjoyed their time on the water. Due to the light-wind forecast for Friday, three races for each of the fleets are now scheduled for tomorrow.
Results after Day 4: (top three)
Standard
1 Martin Evans, 9pts
2 Jack Wetherell, 13pts
3 James Gray, 27pts
Radial
1 Hannah Snellgrove, 6pts
2 Jon Emmett, 15pts
3 Ben Elvin, 15pts
4.7
1 Benno Marstaller, 7pts
2 Gethin Owen, 18pts
3 Alex Butler, 23pts