SailingFast Laser 4.7 open meeting at Datchet Water Sailing Club

SailingFast Laser 4.7 Open at Datchet Water © Keith Videlo

A fleet of 26 Laser 4.7s launched shortly before noon on Saturday 18th, in a reasonably steady sub 10 knots of wind, but with the odd gust topping 10 knots. A lovely brisk and sunny day; in the absence of tide, it was felt that it was better to get the boats on the water and try and get some races in, as the ripple seemed to be dissipating and the forecast for Sunday was even lighter wind.

The winds fortunately strengthened slightly as the day progressed, although there were some shifts as the temperatures dropped at the same time. Thanks to the experienced judgement of race officer Paul Jackson, the U-flag was used actively, and we managed to get four races in just before dark started to fall at 4pm.

The leaderboard changed hands as much as four times during the day, with Oliver Allen-Wilcox topping the table after the first race, Max Steele after the second, Jack Graham-Troll after the third, and Keijiro Kikkawa after the fourth. In the girls' fleet, Emily Elms was consistently at the top of the board except for the first race which went to Honor Proctor.

Sunday brought in even lighter winds, as predicted, and the decision was made to get the boats on the water as quickly as possible in case the winds did not hold out. Again, excellent judgement from the race officer, as he was able to steward two races by noon, at which point the wind all but died. However, it meant that we managed to achieve a full set of the six targeted races for the regatta.

In the boys' fleet, the leader board again changed hands, with the regatta being won in the end by Oliver Allen-Wilcox, with Keijiro Kikkawa in second and Jack Graham-Troll in third. The positioning in the Under 16 category was Jack Graham-Troll in first, Max Steele in second, and Tim Evans in third.

In the girls' fleet, Emily Elms won both the U16 category as well as the overall regatta, ahead of Dru Townsend and Honor Proctor in the U16, and ahead of Alice Snook and Dru Townsend overall.

A special thanks must go to Paul Jackson (Race officer) and the Laser 4.7 parents for running the event. Also, to SailingFast chandlery for sponsoring the event and providing the prizes.

The final results were as follows:

Overall Results: