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ILCA Open at Royal Harwich Yacht Club

by Chris Woodard 1 Nov 2021 05:14 GMT 9 October 2021
Royal Harwich YC ILCA Open © Bob & Amanda Portway

The Royal Harwich Yacht Club Autumn Laser/ILCA Open Meeting on Saturday 9th October was up against the double challenge of an extremely poor advance weather forecast, indicating little or no wind, and the absence of several regular club sailors due to clashing events including the Endeavour Trophy at Burnham and a popular local Yacht race, and consequently the turnout was down on expectations.

The day dawned, as forecast, with virtually no wind, and unsurprisingly a number of potential competitors decided to stay at home, including four pre-entrants who were facing a longish drive from Norfolk Broads YC and Waveney and Oulton Broad YC. Fortunately, nine other visitors bravely ignored the forecast and arrived at Woolverstone to join the depleted eight-boat home fleet, and together with 20 Solo sailors everyone congregated on the magnificent club lawn, coffee in hand, waiting for the wind!

In the event only a 30 minute postponement was required before PRO Chris Brown sensed a gentle easterly sea breeze making its way up the river, and, as the fleets launched and made their way to the race area between the club and Pin Mill, the wind settled at a gentle 5-6 knots, and remained generally stable in strength and direction throughout the day's racing.

The plan was for 4 back-to-back races, and this was achieved with some slick race management and an interesting variety of courses. The light wind conditions were very much to the liking of local Laser legend Graham Ireland who put in some uncharacteristically good starts which, together with his customary fast boat speed, secured a resounding overall victory counting two firsts and a second and discarding a third! He didn't have it all his own way however, and going into the final race Jonathan Jones, visiting from Waveney and Oulton Broad, could still have clinched victory with a race 4 win, but he had to settle for the runners up spot, with the podium completed by local youth sailor Robin Dean, moving up from Radials and racing a ILCA 7 / Standard rig for the very first time.

First overall in the ILCA 6 / Radials went to Harry McTiernan from Brightlingsea SC, followed by Toby Hunt, and first ILCA 4 / 4.7 rig went to Nathan Russell.

Many thanks as always to all the volunteers and helpers who enabled this event to take place, and particularly PRO Chris Brown and his team on the committee boat who didn't have the easiest of conditions but nonetheless pulled off an enjoyable event with some great racing.

We plan to host two ILCA / Laser open meetings at Royal Harwich again next year, one in the Spring (early April) and one in the Autumn (early October) so please keep an eye on the RHYC website, and we hope to welcome as many, if not more, Eastern region sailors again then.

Overall Results:

PosRigSail NoHelmClubR1R2R3R4Pts
1stILCA 7188081Graham IrelandRoyal Harwich Yacht Club121‑34
2ndILCA 7213542Jonathan JonesWaveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club21‑658
3rdILCA 7170494Robin DeanRoyal Harwich Yacht Club33‑528
4thILCA 7201478Ben ReasonHarwich Town Sailing Club4‑6419
5thILCA 7164569Richard KeywothFelixstowe Ferry Sailing Club5‑92411
6thILCA 7200680Chris WoodardRoyal Harwich Yacht Club64‑10616
7thILCA 7193562George FinchRoyal Harwich Yacht Club773‑817
8thILCA 7135820David ReasonHarwich Town Sailing Club‑959721
9thILCA 781Michael HillRoyal Harwich Yacht Club1088‑1326
10thILCA 6205148Harry McTiernanBrightlingsea Sailing Club810‑111028
11thILCA 7146653Richard MaidstoneRoyal Harwich Yacht Club12‑1371130
12thILCA 6209009Toby HuntRoyal Harwich Yacht Club11‑1212932
13thILCA 7244Josh ReasonHarwich Town Sailing Club‑1411141237
14thILCA 6153856Miles MawdittThorpe Bay Yacht Club13‑14131440
15thILCA 4185604Nathan RussellRoyal Harwich Yacht Club15‑16151545
16thILCA 6190711Fred Petty‑MayorThorpe Bay Yacht Club171516(DNF)48
17thILCA 4159492Lawson NunnBrightlingsea Sailing Club16‑17171649
18thILCA 7168838Ellie RingwoodNorfolk Broads Yacht Club(DNC)DNCDNCDNC66
18thILCA 6172128Joshua JonesWaveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club(DNC)DNCDNCDNC66
18thILCA 7180288Simon BeckettWaveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club(DNC)DNCDNCDNC66
18thILCA 4172689Adam BarkerNorfolk Broads Yacht Club(DNC)DNCDNCDNC66

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