Laser South Coast Grand Prix at Sutton Bingham Sailing Club
by Chris Jones 4 Oct 2016 16:32 BST
1 October 2016
Sutton Bingham Sailing Club hosted the Laser Class for their annual South Coast Grand Prix event on Saturday 1 October. Effective social media promotion secured the highest visitor turnout for many years with 19 sailors battling it out over a series of three races. The Laser has three sail sizes and there were two fleet starts for each race; Laser Standards followed five minutes later by the Laser Radials and 4.7 rigs.*
The shifty north-westerly breeze gave Principal Race Officer, Tim Robertson a challenging task to set good courses but he succeeded in testing the competitors to get the best from their dinghies on all points of sailing. The full spectrum of conditions were experienced during the day with everything from rain and squally gusts which caused a few capsizes, to bright blue sky accompanied by lighter winds.
In the Laser Standard fleet it was Rob Dyer, former Laser 4.7 national champion, who mastered the conditions and although pushed hard at times by Greg Bartlett, Grand Prix series leader, secured victory with three straight race wins.
In the Radial / 4.7 fleet Sutton Bingham sailor Andrew Frost, quickly got to grips with a borrowed boat to win the first race in a close tussle with Martin Cowell. Blustery conditions in the second race saw Chris Jones take an early lead but as the wind moderated Frost and Alex Butler caught up and a close tactical battle ensued. In the end Frost got away to take the win and the Laser Radial title and Jones slipped ahead of Butler on the final beat and covered him to the finish. This set up a three way challenge for second place overall between Jones, Butler and Cowell. Jones led the final race until the second lap when he was overhauled by Butler, who won the race and Laser Radial runner-up.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 4.7 |
|---|
| 1st | 192528 | Hollie Coleman | Castle Cove SC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Radial |
|---|
| 1st | 197782 | Andrew Frost | Sutton Bingham SC | 1 | 1 | ‑3 | 2 |
| 2nd | 197941 | Alex Butler | Hayling Island SC | ‑4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 3rd | 210262 | Chris Jones | Sutton Bingham SC | ‑5 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 4th | 204068 | Martin Cowell | RYA | 2 | ‑7 | 4 | 6 |
| 5th | 206794 | Harry Cowell | Lymington Town SC | 3 | 5 | (RET) | 8 |
| 6th | 1366020 | Kelsey Green | Sutton Bingham SC | ‑7 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| 7th | 174 | Ben Poe | Sutton Bingham SC | 6 | 6 | ‑7 | 12 |
| 8th | 159728 | Malcolm Lee | Keyhaven SC | 8 | 9 | 5 | 13 |
| 9th | 100336 | Sam Barnes Thornton | Sutton Bingham SC | ‑11 | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| 10th | 176843 | Mervyn Clarke | Sutton Bingham SC | 9 | (RET) | DNC | 21 |
| 11th | 172133 | Katie Thomas | Sutton Bingham SC | 10 | (DNC) | DNC | 22 |
| Standard |
|---|
| 1st | 5 | Robert Dyer | Sutton Bingham SC | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2nd | 210404 | Greg Bartlett | Starcross SC | 2 | ‑3 | 2 | 4 |
| 3rd | 202523 | Peter May | Spinnaker SC | ‑6 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 4th | 174696 | David Thomson | Sutton Bingham SC | ‑4 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 5th | 208627 | Rob Jamieson | Sutton Bingham SC | 3 | ‑6 | 5 | 8 |
| 6th | 192843 | Richard Heaton | Sutton Bingham SC | 5 | 5 | ‑6 | 10 |