ILCA Open at Papercourt Sailing Club

Papercourt ILCA Open 2022 © Peter Snow

The weather was perfect, dry and warm with a clean north-easterly running straight down the weed free lake. This was champagne conditions for the 22 hardy ILCA sailors signed up to compete. With 18 Papercourt sailors and 5 visitors we had enough boats to create a good sense of energy and action.

Experienced race officer Martin Smith set an exhilarating course with a couple of reaches as a reward after a long windward leg, and then a gate at the leeward end providing an edgy decision point in the final moments of the run. Removing the restriction that everyone had to pass through the start/finish line on all but the final lap meant there were many options open for the beat.

Racing was tight and fun in all 3 classes, with 3 ILCA 4's sharing the first start with 9 ILCA 7 rigs. Such was the standard of sailing in the 4 class that they managed to hold the lead in one of the races, right up to the first gate. The ILCA 6 class, was the largest fleet comprising 11 boats. There were several tense mark roundings, and every shift mattered. A steady wind of around 12 knots, with double that for some gusts, meant a few went in for a swim.

In the ILCA 7 fleet, Simon Hamment posted some excellent starts and managed two first place finishes before lunch. Over lunch, Bruce Ramshaw repaired his broken kicker and James Hall came back from a snapped outhaul in the first race, to complete two wins respectively in the last two races. Unfortunately, Bruce was over the line for the third start so the race was handed to Richard Lymposs, who came in second overall.

Papercourt ILCA Open 2022 - photo © Peter Snow

In the ILCA 6 fleet, Rebecca Clark was squeezed into second place for the first race, but kept everyone in check for the remainder, posting three solid firsts. Congratulations to Joe Mole for coming in second and Charlie Beck third.

Congratulations to Lauren Irons for winning the ILCA 4 Fleet, who like Rebecca Clarke was pipped on the first race by Emily Shears but did not look back after that.

Lunch was excellent - you can't beat a jacket potato and chilli after a morning on the lake, and afternoon tea and cakes reinforced the hospitality of Papercourt. Many thanks to Jill and Cathy in the galley.

Papercourt ILCA Open 2022 - photo © Peter Snow

Many thanks to Andrew Mcleish for making it over from Redbridge, and to Emily Shears from Reading both of whom have been Thames Valley series Stalwarts.

These results put Emily Shears in the lead for the ILCA fleet for the Thames Valley series and Andrew Hill-Smith out front in the ILCA 7s Overall a hugely enjoyable days racing, and not just for those involved, but for the many spectators taking photographs from the walks around the lake.

Many thanks also to Sailing Chandlery for providing sponsorship for the series. We are looking forward to more travellers to the next events, with Queen Mary being on the 22nd May. Do look up future dates on the UKLA website, or the Thames Valley series facebook page. It is 5 races to count for the series.

Overall Results: (Thames Valley Series results to date can be found here)

Papercourt ILCA Open 2022 - photo © Peter Snow