RC Laser Nationals at Poole Radio Yacht Club

by UK RC Laser Class Association 30 Jun 2006 09:07 BST 24-25 June 2006

We had the sun, we had the best fleet of RC Lasers yet assembled and we had the superb venue of Poole RYC for the sixth running of the RC Laser National Championships. It was always going to be a closely contested result but what a 'nail-biter' it turned out to be!

The forty four strong fleet was made up of the usual suspects plus a healthy dose of fresh talent from Burnham and Royal Temple, both newly formed and very enthusiastic clubs - could they upset the 'old guard'? The three seeding races quickly provided the answers, Burnham's John Sturmer and Jamie Blair clocked up a first and second place respectively in the light, A rig conditions. Alec Powell and Adam Kissick each got off to a winning start with Ken Binks and Peter Spence each posting a second, regular front runners John Arundell and John Tushingham each came home a solid third.

So, seeding races out of the way the fleet was split into A, B and C heats with a four-up, four-down promotion/relegation set up to keep everyone on their toes throughout the races. Andy Kissick continued his recent blistering form by taking race two from Burnham's Pete Hutchings, an excellent third place for David Edwards from defending champion John Arundell. Race three, and a popular win for Chris Jackson continuing his strong start to the series, Pete Hutchings showing consistency in second from John Tushingham in third recovering well from a quick dip into B fleet. John, after coming through the fleet after a premature start, took what was to be his only race win of the weekend from regular sparring partner John Arundell with the ever present Pete Hutchings and Andy Kissick.

A glance at the results after four races had Pete Hutchings, in his first national event, sharing the lead with John Tushingham, Andy Kissick and John Arundell shared the next spot from the chasing pack of David Edwards, Chris Jackson, Peter Spence and Ken Binks.

The blazing sun produced a light sea breeze to bolster the weak prevailing wind, a combination that let race officer Peter Wiles complete a further two races before the cut-off time. Ken Binks moved himself further up the leaderboard by winning race five and Adam Kissick finished the first day as he had started it, taking the last race by the narrowest of margins from John Tushingham. A team trophy was being run alongside the individual event, each team of five was pre-drawn from a ranking list closely guarded by the organisers. At the half way stage team E (John Sturmer, Pete Hutchings, John Park, Nigel Seary & Chris Treagust) held a healthy nineteen point advantage over Team J (Jamie Blair, David Edwards, Peter Land, John Tushingham & Paul Woodward), but any one of the nine teams could still stake a claim.

The splendid and impressive RNLI Academy made a great venue for the Saturday night get together, John Arundell, after three early pints of cider, did a fine compare job on the microphone (we're still trying to work out the meal bill!), the Academy served a fine meal and Nigel Seary, of the RC Laser distributors Peterkin, donated the prizes for the draw, after a few more drinks we all went home to apply a bit more after-sun cream.

Sunday, and what a change. Grey skies, intermittent showers and virtually no wind - but racing had to go on, John Arundell (joint overnight leader with John Tushingham, closely followed by Pete Hutchings) drifted round in fine style to win the day's first race, John Cleave, looking to put a poor first day behind him, looked happier in second from third placed Ken Binks. John then strenghtened his bid to retain his title after a virtual match race with John Tushingham to win race eight by the narrowest of margins. A light breeze had filled in by now but the sun would fail to make a return, talking of returns, it was terrific to see class founder David Smythe meeting and greeting after long term illness had forced his withdrawal from the active RC Laser scene.

Alec Powell and Peter Spence deservedly nailed their names to the winners board in races nine and ten, meanwhile, John Tushingham had been clawing back John's overall lead and going in to the last race the updated results had them now all square with all to play for, but a good result was still called for as Pete Hutchings still had an outside chance of getting in on the act.

After a general recall, John T came away from the line in a significantly better position than John A, but by the windward mark John A had fought back to virtually close the gap. Ken Binks sailed off into an unassailable lead, leaving the championship contenders to scrap it out in the following bunch. John A once again put in a strong beat to arrive at the second windward mark with a slight gap to John T with Pete Hutchings right on John A's transom. John A and Pete were forced high on the reach allowing John T to immediately take the 'low road' and gain the advantage at the wing mark, by the leeward mark the gap was big enough for John T to comfortably cover John A up the last beat and cross the line a distant second to the runaway race winner Ken Binks, it might have been a light wind finale but it was great spectator sport.

In the team event, despite a narrowing of the point gap and much to Nigel Seary's delight, team E (Sturmer, Hutchings, Park, Seary & Treagust) stepped up to recieve their trophies.

Poole RYC deserve the highest praise for their warm welcome the efficient and effective manner in which they ran the event. The class continues to go from strength to strength, the influx of new faces seem set to continue the fine spirit of RC Laser racing, it might be the same two names at the top of the result sheet - but for how long!

Visit the class website for more information.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	Pts
1st	311	John Tushingham	Keighley	24
2nd	27	John Arundell	Burghfield	26
3rd	17	Pete Hutchings	Burnham	36
4th	59	Ken Binks	Eastbourne	41
5th	68	Alec Powell	Gosport	49
6th	25	Andy Kissick	Alderney	51
7th	15	Peter Spence	Chelmsford	55
8th	44	John Cleave	Ryde	70
9th	540	David Edwards	Gosport	74
10th	580	Adam Kissick	Fleetwood	78