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RC Laser UKRCLA TT Open Meeting at Medway RC Laser Club

by Jamie Blair 11 Oct 18:07 BST 6 October 2018
RC Laser UKRCLA TT Open Meeting at Medway © John Armstrong

6th October saw the UKRCLA TT open meeting for the National Class Travellers Trophy at Barton Point, Isle of Sheppey. Medway RC Laser Club hosted the event with Robert Owens as Race Officer.

There were eleven competitors; five travelled from as far away as Mid Wales and Mansfield. Thirteen races were sailed during the event with the start of the day with fog and wind strength as low as 5knts. This was all set to change as the day progressed with heavy rain and wind forecast for later in the day.

Our Race Officer set a pattern of three races back to back with a triangle loop configuration providing a good width but still with the wing mark in sight. Sail changes were possible after each race but the break between batches of three allowed for a bit more time to adjust sails.

For race 1 the rig choice was straight forward with the A rig giving the best performance and with Dave Fowler, followed by Adrian Tomlinson and Jamie Blair. The line was sufficiently long to provide a fair start, even with the wind oscillating by 5-10 degrees. Places were won and lost with the wind shifts but Dave Fowler and Adrian Tomlinson dominated the races throughout the morning swapping positions for first and second.

RC Laser UKRCLA TT Open Meeting at Medway - photo © John Armstrong
RC Laser UKRCLA TT Open Meeting at Medway - photo © John Armstrong

Sail changes came quite frequent with first the B Rig and then C rig for the last race before lunch. A number of boats had issues with electrics leaving them scoring maximum points for races not sailed or not finished.

After lunch, and now with the D Rig, the ever-chasing Jamie Blair broke the stranglehold of the two fast boats and scored wins in races 11 and 13. The winner of the event was in the balance right up to the last race with Adrian being one place ahead and winning the event by one point. Jamie Blair finished third.

Wind up to 30 knts and heavy rain ended the day. All the visiting sailors battled hard but changing weather conditions, using all four sizes of rig showed that for some having not raced the RC Laser since April more time on the water is the best solution.

Medway Winter Series

Winter Series at Medway Radio Controlled Laser Club will be starting in November providing close and exciting close racing from now until the end of March 2019. Visit www.medwayyachtclub.com/radio-controlled-lasers for details.

Come and join us, and if you don't get a sail the breakfast in the cafe is good.

RC Laser UKRCLA TT Open Meeting at Medway - photo © John Armstrong
RC Laser UKRCLA TT Open Meeting at Medway - photo © John Armstrong

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13Pts
1st30Adrian Tomlinson‑3111211221‑32216
2nd840Dave Fowler1‑22212211221‑317
3rd51Jamie Blair‑433333‑433313129
4th36Roger White6775‑8DNF847665465
5th613Andrew Nicholls5666755DNF5‑877665
6th1008John Armstrong8487DNF66DNF474DNF874
7th58David Townshend10DNFDNF8671056988582
8th977Roger Atkins75994436DNFDNFDNCDNCDNC83
9th908Nick Hodshon9DNF4DNF599DNFDNF554DNC86
10th3Mark Penny11DNF54987DNF810DNF6787
11th75Tony Owens2DNF10DNFDNFDNFDNCDNCDNC4DNCDNCDNC112

RC Laser UKRCLA TT Open Meeting at Medway - photo © John Armstrong
RC Laser UKRCLA TT Open Meeting at Medway - photo © John Armstrong

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