Laser Open at Bowmoor Sailing Club

It's official, Spring is here. A perfect sailing day, 15 to 20 knots and glorious sunshine greeted 19 sailors for the first Wessex Grand Prix event of the season, running in parallel with the Byte Open meeting.

Last year's winner John Ling led the first race from the start, finishing a comfortable margin from Tim Keighley and Richard Lymposs.

The second race got off to a competitive start, with Rick Plummer taking an early lead and Ling apparently stuck in the middle of the fleet at the first mark. Two laps of shifty beats, fast reaches and a few impromptu swims later, and that man Ling had taken the lead again, chased by Tim Keighley, and the first Radial sailed by neighboring club Cotswold's Hugo Hanson. Although the lead positions had already been settled, there was too much challenging sailing on offer for anyone to head for an early shower.

The final race repeated the order, of Ling then Keighley with, another previous event winner, Harry Joyce taking third.

So John Ling won all 3 races, with Tim Keighley recording 3 seconds. Local sailors Harry Joyce and Richard Lymposs tied for third on 7 points, with Joyce taking it on countback.

Overall Results: