Medway RC Laser Winter Series 2018-19 - Round 1
by Jamie Blair 3 Dec 09:58 GMT
2 December 2018
The first race of the Winter Series for 2018/2019 attracted ten boats, all with eager sailors to relive some of the exciting sailing experienced last year. Our Class Chairman unfortunately was not able to stay to enjoy the racing reducing the fleet to nine boats.
The wind was up around 12 kts and blowing from the SW. Waves were braking on the jetty in front of the café so the course was set in the cove away from the long fetch down the lake. Triangle loop course was set and retained for the whole period. We showed off our new electric outboard to shift the whole course from last week's position. Saved all that rowing and very sustainable.
The first race saw a pin end rush with Tony Owens making it the windward mark first. Phil Walker and Jamie Blair never far behind. Tony would have scored a bullet but missed going through the line thinking there was another round. Boats were using the C rig and with the wind oscillating and varying in strength there were times when nose diving was common right across the fleet.
Jamie was the first to change to a D rig and showed that this was the sail of choice notching up four race wins. Tony Owens chasing hard to score a string of second place results. Phil found the strong breeze (we peaked at 20 knots during both sessions before and after coffee) and came good again when the D Rig was taken. Jon Moon showed a consistent set of results all through the day only to be scuppered by loss of power for the last two races. Starting was very close and Jamie suffered a number of OCS calls – pulled the trigger too early! Race officer is his other half so no favouritism shown there.
Thirteen races were completed by our 12.30 cut-off. The racing provided lead changes and the leader overall changed between Jamie Blair and Tony Owens right up to near the end; Jamie came out on top by 1 point to Tony Owens. Well-earned results by all the other sailors showed that all have the potential of being near the top. Perseverance gave Brian Lev'y a 3rd in race 3 and David Townshend a couple of 4th places. Richard Stone and Andrew Nicholls finished on equal points but count back gave the 5th position to Andrew.
A great start to the Winter Series and already looking forward to next weekend.
Round 1 Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 51 | Jamie Blair | 2 | ‑3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| 2nd | 75 | Tony Owens | ‑7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
| 3rd | 84 | Jon Moon | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | (DNS) | (DNS) | 46 |
| 4th | 48 | Phil Walker | 1 | 5 | ‑7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | (DNF) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 48 |
| 5th | 613 | Andrew Nicholls | 4 | ‑6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2 | (DNS) | 5 | 4 | 53 |
| 6th | 83 | Richard Stone | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | ‑9 | ‑8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 53 |
| 7th | 958 | Brian Lev'y | 6 | ‑8 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3 | ‑8 | 6 | 55 |
| 8th | 58 | David Townshend | ‑8 | 7 | ‑8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 71 |
| 9th | 17 | Sarah Mason | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | (DNF) | (DNS) | DNS | 6 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 88 |