Laser UK National Championships at Largs Sailing Club - Day 3
by Stephanie Videlo, Tony & Nette Woods 31 Jul 2019 09:37 BST
27 July - 2 August 2019
Day 3 of the Laser UK National Championships at Largs © Tony Woods
On Day 3 of the Laser Nationals in Largs the wind was playing to the race schedule with all fleets released from the beach at 10:30 into a decent northerly breeze. Racing took place north of Great Cumbrae so the fleet had a tow/sail of around 90 minutes to get the start.
Radial & 4.7 Fleets
Race 6 in the Radials saw a clean start in around 10 -12 mph of breeze. Jon Emmett led at the leeward mark, pursued by Scott Forbes and Bauke Rijpma. The wind held through the second beat and downwind. At the finish Jon won from Scott with Dan McGaughey in third.
Race 7 for the Radials was another clear start but the wind eased on the first beat. Jon Emmett was again leading at the leeward gate with Bauke Rijpma second and Anja Haji-Michael third. With the wind dropping all the time and becoming patchy there were plenty of place changes. Bauke Rijpma from NED took his first win of the championship with Jon Emmet second and Stephanie Wingeatt third.
The 4.7s race 6 is subject to protest, so results to follow. At the leeward gate Coco Barrett led from Alana Coakley and Lizzie Beardsall in third.
In race 7 the dying wind made for a lengthy first beat for the 4.7s. Alice Snook led at the leeward gate from Oliver Woodley and Josh Morgan. The race officer shortened their second beat and at the finish Josh took the win from Oliver and Alice Snook.
The fleet returned to shore as there was insufficient wind for a third race. In the evening the UK Laser Association AGM was well attended- encouraged by the prize draw of new sails and spars kindly donated by Laser Performance.
Standard Fleet
On day 3 the fleets were greeted with an unusually sunny morning and a local thermal breeze, which soon died but was replaced by a building gradient from the north. For the first time no postponements were announced and the sailors launched ahead of schedule. For Race 6 the competitors were treated to ideal conditions - a good hiking breeze and great waves. The current leader of the Standard fleet, Sam Whaley clocked up another 1st with Joe Drake, also in podium position following to finish 2nd. The U21 Krishan Bhogal, who is lying in the top 10, had his best result yet crossing the finish line in 3rd position.
After enjoying the favourable conditions for Race 6, sadly the wind dropped significantly for race 7. This suited wily apprentice master Roger O Gorman who claimed to have found a wind bend on the right hand side of the first beat, finishing a spectacular 2nd behind Lewis Smith in first. Quite a few place changes on the first run and second beat when there seemed to be more pressure on the left hand side of the course. Crossing the line in 3rd was the U19 George Graham.
Full results can be found here.