Laser Open at Fishers Green Sailing Club

by Nick Yannakoyorgos 18 Jul 2017 14:21 BST 15 July 2017

Saturday the 15th of July saw a combined Laser and Cadet open at Fishers Green Sailing Club. A number of parents who brought their children to the Cadet open decided to either bring their own Laser or charter a club one, so we ended up with 24 Lasers on the water in what was a bright day with a small amount of cloud and a moderate breeze blowing from the south west.

Race Officer Colin Hill ably assisted by Alan Appleton had their work cut out for them with 4 races for each of the two fleets. The wind was shifting between a westerly and a southerly making the first beat difficult to set: a long start line was the order of the day and due the shape of the lake 2 beats were needed. The intention was for three 15 minute laps which would allow the Cadets starting 5 minutes after the Lasers to do 2 laps in a similar time.

Race 1 got away cleanly with the fleet spread over the whole start line. The first beat showed the competitors that whoever mastered the shifts upwind would be at the front end of the fleet. Much place changing occurred over the whole course with the results at the end of each lap different to the previous lap. A few stronger gusts were always present to catch some out whilst providing decent planning conditions for others. Local top sailor Matthew Aldous-Horne was in the lead at the end of lap 2, but lost it to visitor Daniel Wigmore on the last lap for a fairly close finish. In third place was Adam Meekings with James Leeming in 4th, setting the pattern for the rest of the day.

With another boat joining the fleet we were now up to 24 boats on the water. Same course for Race 2, but a right shift just before the start made the pin end of the line biased: a large group formed on the starboard end but only one boat was over the line. Thankfully he was well aware of it and came back to start again and was back in the race in no time. With similar place changing as the first race throughout the fleet, the top 4 were the same as in race 1 but with slightly different finishing places.

After a quick lunch break, Race 3 got underway with a slightly modified course as the wind was now steadily in the South West: using a temporary mark as the windward mark the RO helped keep the fleet away from the tree lined shore in clearer wind. First to the windward mark was Jamie Mears in a chartered club boat. This time Matthew got swallowed up on the first beat and rounded in the teens, but immediately went low on the first reach to get clear air. Whilst the leaders luffed each other on the western shore, Matthew and Daniel were running by the lee (on opposite tacks, but only a couple of boat lengths away from each other!) and got to the next mark of the course in the lead. Matthew made no mistakes this time and held the lead to the finish from Daniel in second, followed by Jamie Mears and Aaron Chadwick in 4th.

On to the 4th race and the wind looked like it had gone back to the west so everyone opted for a pin end start: with about 5 seconds to go a couple of boats were over the line so everyone thought they might as well go for it resulting in the inevitable general recall. As per the briefing the Cadets started on time, so the Lasers had to wait a further 5 minutes for the restart. The fleet got away cleanly this time with Matthew and Daniel again fighting each other for the lead which again changed places a number of times. As time was getting on now the RO decided to finish the race after 2 laps which found Daniel and Matthew very close to each other at the leeward mark. They decided to push each other as hard as possible finishing the race off with a tacking duel all the way to the line with Daniel keeping his cool to take the win by a couple of feet. Adam Meekings finished third to give him the third place overall.

A special mention is due to Jack Graham-Troll who completed all 4 races in his Laser 4.7 and looked spectacular reaching in the gusts. Also worth mentioning is Aaron Chadwick who finished 5th overall with two 4th places in a battered old club Laser demonstrating superbly that the equipment bears no relation to the results.

Overall Results:

Poss	Boat	Rig	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1st		Standard	211405	Daniel Wigmore	Grafham Water SC	1	1	‑2	1	3
2nd		Standard	203297	Matthew Aldous‑Horne	Fishers Green SC	2	‑3	1	2	5
3rd		Standard	181358	Adam Meekings	Maidenhead SC	3	4	‑8	3	10
4th		Standard	203302	James Leeming	Emsworth Slipper SC	4	2	‑6	5	11
5th		Standard	52385	Aaron chadwick	Fishers Green SC	‑6	6	4	4	14
6th		Standard	152760	James Mears	RCYC	8	8	3	‑10	19
7th	Luna	Standard	206327	Peter Edel	King George SC	‑10	7	7	6	20
8th		Standard	182444	James Hague	Fishers Green SC	9	‑14	5	8	22
9th	Dad Knows Best	Standard	133254	Super Mo	Fishers Green SC	5	9	11	‑13	25
10th		Standard	209002	Colin Carver	Aldenham	(DNF)	5	13	7	25
11th		Standard	207086	James Le Couilliard	Aldenham	‑11	10	9	9	28
12th		Standard	179856	Peter Dean	Havering Sailing Club	7	‑15	12	11	30
13th		Standard	149316	Jeremy Clayden	Fishers Green SC	14	12	‑17	14	40
14th		Standard	86868	Graeme McCormack	Broxbourne SC	(DNC)	13	10	18	41
15th	Miss England	Standard	164566	Darren Heslin	Broxbourne SC	12	11	18	(DNF)	41
16th		Standard	181899	Andrew McLeish	RYA	13	‑16	14	15	42
17th		Standard	164442	Nick Pighills	Fishers Green SC	16	17	15	‑19	48
18th		Standard	211320	Simon Wigmore	Grafham Water SC	17	‑19	16	16	49
19th		Standard	No Num	Jamie Whittle	Waldringfield	‑21	18	19	12	49
20th		Standard	17216	Tim Gummer	Fishers Green SC	18	21	21	‑23	60
1st	Anonymous	Radial	130581	Chris Gladwin	Fishers Green SC	15	20	‑22	17	52
2nd		Radial	207301	Claudia Mancini	Fishers Green SC	19	‑23	20	21	60
3rd		Radial	193722	Joshua Mills	Fishers Green SC	20	‑24	23	20	63
1st	Sumo	4.7	206715	Jack Graham‑Troll	Banbury SC	22	22	‑24	22	66