Noble Marine / Vaikobi ILCA 7 Qualifier 1 at Stokes Bay Sailing Club

27 ILCA 7 sailors arrived at brisk but sunny Stokes Bay. The buzz around the boat park as the sailors rigged was tangible - being the first UKLA qualifier of the year meant that everyone was on good form.

By 'good form' I mean that the standard of banter was the exact same as usual - poor. After a few bad jokes the attention turned to the sailing and what a venue Stokes Bay is! Wheeling the boats over the beach and trying not to completely empty the tank, the sailors launched and were met with a 15-20 knot southerly wind. This proved to be Champaign sailing, if slightly chilled.

Noble Marine / Vaikobi ILCA 7 Qualifier at Stokes Bay - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Race 1

After a clean start the fleet raced away with Ben Flower taking an early advantage. Currently Ben is running a single boat program, and with his kit out in Palma was lent a 20-year-old boat with spars that were painted black and a hull as rough as, well, Ben Flower's arse. Still, credit where it's due, only in an ILCA fleet would a 20-year-old boat still be competitive in the right hands. Ben continued to sail the fleet well by rounding the windward mark first (leaving the rest of the sailors wondering why they had bothered to spend so much on a new boat) closely followed by James Percival-Cooke and Jack Hopkins. James managed to overtake Ben and open up a healthy lead.

Noble Marine / Vaikobi ILCA 7 Qualifier at Stokes Bay - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

James, who prides himself on the number of watts he can put out on a bike found this ability extremely useful and produced a fine example of how to sail an ILCA low and fast. Jack passed Ben on the next upwind leg, slipping into second place. Finley Dickinson, long locks flowing - matched by his equally smooth downwind style - also passed Ben. With James certain to win, Jack and Finley were left battling for second. Arguably providing the worst joke of the day, Jack missed out the final mark, and Finley took second. Top 3 - James, Finley, Jack.

Noble Marine / Vaikobi ILCA 7 Qualifier at Stokes Bay - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Race 2

After another pin bias line Jack took the early advantage but it was James and Kai Wolgram coming from the newly favoured right-hand side who rounded first and second respectively. With the wind continuing to clock left it was almost impossible to make the next windward mark in one tack, so the race was abandoned.

After a long and (emphasis on) nippy delay, where I thought seriously about changing my name by deed poll from Jack Hopkins to Jack Dawson, the race committee reset the course W. Nothing lights a fire under your arse more than the flag being lowered, and the mental image of a literal fire under your arse waiting onshore. Red and white.

Arthur Farley - who is soon to be flying off to San Francisco to sail some slightly faster boats - had a slow start by his standards. He took control of the pin end and led around the top mark. Arthur, who has an outstanding tactical skill set, used this to its full by governing the chasing James, and then used his speed downwind to take the win. James took second, with Ben overtaking Jack and Kai on the final downwind to take third - quoting 'the conditions were just like Torbados'. Top 3 - Arthur, James, Ben.

Noble Marine / Vaikobi ILCA 7 Qualifier at Stokes Bay - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Race 3

The final race of the day again saw James's upwind speed give him an early advantage over Ben and Jack. Unfortunately for him, up the next beat James had a gear failure, punctuated by some understandable expletives, as he nursed his brand-new Element Six to land. This allowed Ben to take a commanding lead in the bulletproof fender boat - you couldn't write this, but here I am. Jack tried his hardest to catch Ben but was unsuccessful, with a closer race happening behind between Arthur, Finley and returning British Sailing Team member Robert Holmes - proving form is temporary but class is permanent. Clearly, Rob was getting faster throughout the day and would provide the front-runners with serious competition tomorrow. Top 3 - Ben, Jack, Arthur.

Noble Marine / Vaikobi ILCA 7 Qualifier at Stokes Bay - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Race 4

Similar conditions welcomed the sailors early on Sunday with slightly less wind and sun, but still the same amount of questionable banter. After the sailors helped each other launch, and thus preventing multiple shipwrecks and casualties, the racing got swiftly under way.

With James fired up after his breakage, he took the lead early with Kai Wolgam (who knew a diet of chocolate and McDonalds alone can create such potent fuel?) providing stiff competition. Kai, who has an excellent upwind sailing technique, gave James a lot to think about. Namely, Big Macs. Arthur and Finley battled for the third spot with a collision and a rule infringement costing Arthur third. Naughty naughty. Top 3 - James, Kai, Finley.

Noble Marine / Vaikobi ILCA 7 Qualifier at Stokes Bay - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Race 5

James, on fire again, rounded ahead of Arthur and Kai. Arthur went high on the reach and managed to overtake James. He sailed well downwind to build up and maintain a nice lead, winning the race with James coming home in second. Jack, who was putting pressure on Kai (blood-sugar levels likely at a dangerous low), overtook him on the final downwind after Kai went for a swim. Top 3 - Arthur, James, Jack.

Noble Marine / Vaikobi ILCA 7 Qualifier at Stokes Bay - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Race 6

With a few points penalties and breakages James, Arthur, Finley and Jack all had a shot of winning the event. But it was Rob who tapped into his puddle-sailing skills and sailed the now shiftier breeze the best to round the windward mark first. He was overtaken by Jack on the top reach with James, Arthur and Finley all in close pursuit. Arthur, who rounded the leeward gate third behind Jack and James, chose to tack early and pip the rest to the top mark. Out of the four sailors heading downwind only two had recognised the change in laps from three to two. Finley and James rounded the correct mark and went on to grab the top two places, with Arthur and Jack left to despair after setting off upwind again for the non-existent third lap. Rob managed to capitalise on the error and completed the top three. James deservedly took the win overall, followed by Arthur and Jack who were level on points.

What a pleasure it was to race at a great venue with an excellent race team providing square courses in every race. Also, a mention to Drew Barnes, Charlie South and Mark Lytlle who were just outside the top 3 in all the races but were really close.

The ILCA 7 Fleet would like to thank all those at SBSC both on shore and on the water teams for a great weekend of racing - a perfect start to what will be a great season. This is a fully volunteer club and all credit to everyone for making this so enjoyable.

Overall Results:

Thanks to all those who support the ILCA fleets:

• Noble Marine - has crafted a very competitive and excellent insurance product for all Laser/ILCA sailors. A very personal service and an extremely useful website help make this the 'go to' company. www.noblemarine.co.uk

• Sailingfast - Duncan brings his battle bus down from Scotland for most the big events, which is so ridiculously well equipped, you could replace everything on your boat. Although based in Scotland they will get anything to you super fast. He also supplied many of the prizes for the draw on Saturday evening. Check out his website: sailingfast.co.uk

• Vaikobi - a brand born on the waters of Sydney Harbour, out of a passion for all ocean sports. Across the team, we paddle, Surfski, SUP, Wing Foil and Sail. Sailing has been a passion within the business right from the start. The senior management team at Vaikobi comprise more than fifty years of marine industry and sailing experience between them. Visit www.vaikobi.com

• Ovington Boats - Chris Turner lives dinghies and has been a significance presence in the boat building world for decades. OB are now the official UK builders of ILCAs. A very smart new Ovington ILCA Dinghy was on display at the Masters event. Visit www.ovingtonboats.com