Laser UK National Championships at Largs Sailing Club - Day 2

Day 2 of the Laser UK National Championships at Largs © Tony Woods

Day two of the UK Laser Nationals started with what seems to now be a traditional heavy showering of Scottish rain accompanied by a lack of wind. However, after a short postponement wind finally did arrive and the fleet got under way with race 3.

Joe Drake, Roger O'Gorman and Ben Flower made the best out of the first beat to lead around the windward mark but the first downwind was quite light causing the fleet to bunch up with strong gusts behind. Sam Whaley managed to move up to second at the gate with Lewis Smith up to 3rd as Jake Farren Price unfortunately got yellow flagged whilst pursuing the front group.

Positions stayed the same as Drake and Whaley pulled out from the fleet and engaging on a dual on the top reach. Unfortunately mixing in with the Radial fleet on the outer loop meant that Whaley managed to sneak inside to take the lead of the race, whilst positions stayed the same behind with Lewis Smith 3rd, Krishan Bhogal 4th and Chris Jones 5th.

The wind increased steadily for race 4 allowing some nice hiking for sailors to stretch their legs. Whaley started at the pin end and crossed the fleet, leading over to the right with Joe Drake close behind. Lewis Smith was up there in 3rd, Joe Woodley showing good post-retirement form in 4th and Jack Hopkins in 5th. With the wind very stable positions didn't really change, with the only change being Smith closing in on Drake on the final downwind to get heart rates substantially elevated!

Race 3 dawned with the clouds clearing. Shift was critical on the upwind leg and Whaley managed to round first with the legendary Tony Woods storming into 2nd place whilst Joe Drake was 3rd, Lewis Smith 4th and Jake FP 5th.

The inner loop run was a tricky affair but boats that bore away hard were rewarded with a right shift and lots of pressure. Whaley and Chris Jones made the most of this to pull ahead at the leeward gate with Lewis Smith third. The second beat was dominated by an early right shift followed by a huge lefty and some big pressure holes. Whaley managed to string together the beat to have a reasonable lead with Joe Woodley storming up to second place with Chris Jones 3rd.

With the wind dying off there wasn't much movement in the fleet and positions stayed the same.

Overall Whaley had the best day to lead overall with Lewis Smith moving up to 2nd overall and Joe Drake 3rd. Unfortunately overnight leader Ben Flower was involved in a finish line incident in race 1 and was unable to compete in the remaining two races of the day.

In the Radials, pin end bias attracted all the major contenders to the left of the course. At the first windward Jon Emmett led from Arthur Farley and Scott Forbes. Jon held on to his lead but there were battles behind with Scott taking second and Gordon Sivarajan third.

In the 4.7s, the start was again pin end biased and the fleet were treated to some sunshine to the first windward where Drew Gibbons lead from Keelin Greene and Jack Graham-Troll. Drew and Keelin continued their form to the subsequent windward. At the finish the winner was Drew from Keelin and Lizzie Beardsall. Unfortunately, Drew had forgotten to tally when going afloat so in accordance with the SI was given a 5 point penalty - a costly mistake.

For race 4, the rain had stopped and wind was still between 9-11 knots. Once again the key protagonists in the Radial fleet started down at the pin. At the first windward, Arthur Farley led from Dan McGaughey and Jeff Loosemore. Dan took the win from Arthur with Jon Emmet providing a masterclass of downwind sailing to finish in third.

In the 4.7s, huge line sag at the start meant that anyone on the line had a huge advantage. Lizzie Beardsall took full advantage and at the leeward gate had the lead from Luke Anstey and Coco Barrett. Lizzie went on to lead with Coco second and Keelin Greene in third- go girls!

With the forecast for the rest of the week looking variable, the PRO decided to run a third race- Race 5. The wind had dropped slightly to 8-10 knots for the Radial start. At the leeward gate Jon Emmett led from Anya Haji-Michael and Scott Forbes. The wind was dropping, shifty and a general preference for the right side of the course. At the finish Jon took another bullet with Scott in second and Gordon Sivarajan third.

Race 5 for the 4.7s started with pin end bias but as the wind shifted right it became hard for the early leaders to cross the fleet. After the first beat the wind became very light with big gains and losses to be made in the shifting conditions. Jack Graham- Troll took the win from Drew Gibbons and Thomas Williamson.

The forecast for the next few days doesn't look amazing but we are all praying for less rain and more wind!

Full results can be found here.