Big Laser Wednesday at Tynemouth Sailing Club
by Neil Schofield 24 Aug 2022 14:19 BST
17 August 2022
Big Laser Wednesday at Tynemouth © Vivian Branton
Imitation is the best form of flattery...
Well, we unashamedly replicated the format from Parkstone Yacht Club (see www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/239139/ILCA-Laser-Big-Monday-at-Parkstone) in rounding up & cajoling as many Laser sailors as possible to sail one evening.
We have a large number of Lasers on the beach at Tynemouth but rarely see more than 10 boats out for any given race.
After surprisingly little pestering, a large fleet of 26 Lasers were galvanized into action for the usual 7pm Wednesday evening race from TSC on the 17th August - dubbed 'Big Laser Wednesday'. As it turns out this was the largest one design club turnout from TSC in 40 years! With other handicap boats racing, 36 launched for the evening racing - great to see the club so busy these days!
The breeze was steady from the north-east at 6 knots, a slight wind change just prior to the start making the committee boat end the favoured and therefore much busier place to be with a few being pushed out and a few being early, that gave others a great chance of a good start. A relatively short beat making for a busy windward mark with lots of boats arriving at the same time.
Race officer Howard Steavenson set a starboard hand windward mark to keep sailors on their toes, thinking ahead and coming in on starboard gained you a lot of places.
Nathan Batchelor, fresh from a 2nd place at the 505 Worlds led from start to finish having got away from the following pack. 2nd at the finish was Neil Schofield - just back from the RS400 Nationals. 3rd for most the race was Stuart Keegan just back from the International 14 Worlds - notice a theme here! Stuart was piped on the final lap by Neal Piper who overtook 15 boats after a terrible start - easily done with such a congested line. First lady, and first radial rig was Mary Piper in 8th overall.
We returned to the Haven to a mass of identical trolleys, none of which were clearly identifiable as your own, a few boat lifts between trollies later and the bar was open. Many thanks to Ann Lee for putting on a lovely Chilli for all to enjoy, washed down with a couple of beers. As is usual at TSC Neil Piper was invited to give the 'chalk talk' explaining how he picked his way through the fleet and sparked some excellent discussion on approach to the racecourse and fleet management.
It was great to see 6 boats out with helms all in their first season of racing. The Laser is a great boat for taking a sailor from virtual beginner to experienced racer, Tynemouth run a winter series at Ladyburn Lake, circa 30 miles North of the club which has stirred up more interest in Laser sailing with a few new people joining the club/class on the back of the Winter Series.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Class | Sail No | AltSailNo | Helm | PY | Elapsed | Laps | Corrected | Points |
|---|
| 1 | Laser | 184361 | | Nathan Batchelor | 1100 | 49.28 | 3 | 0.44.58 | 1 |
| 2 | Laser | 165491 | | Neil Schofield | 1100 | 51.35 | 3 | 0.46.54 | 2 |
| 3 | Laser / Laser Radial | 163445 | | Neal Piper | 1100 | 52.29 | 3 | 0.47.43 | 3 |
| 4 | Laser | 165491 | | Stuart Keegan | 1100 | 545 | 3 | 0.49.10 | 4 |
| 5 | Laser | 166583 | 210191 | John Pitkethly | 1100 | 54.42 | 3 | 0.49.44 | 5 |
| 6 | Laser | 152808 | | Philip Murray | 1100 | 556 | 3 | 0.505 | 6 |
| 7 | Laser | 210409 | | Jonny Holliday | 1100 | 55.37 | 3 | 0.50.34 | 7 |
| 8 | Laser Radial | 195252 | | Mary Jane Piper | 1147 | 58.12 | 3 | 0.50.44 | 8 |
| 9 | Laser | 148726 | | Adam Ovington | 1100 | 56.15 | 3 | 0.518 | 9 |
| 10 | Laser Radial / Laser | 161643 | 209188 | Melanie Landamore | 1147 | 58.45 | 3 | 0.51.13 | 10 |
| 11 | Laser | 183074 | | Sven Richards | 1100 | 56.38 | 3 | 0.51.29 | 11 |
| 12 | Laser | 138579 | | Ken Murray | 1100 | 56.5 | 3 | 0.51.40 | 12 |
| 13 | Laser | 1137 | | David Gebhard | 1100 | 56.55 | 3 | 0.51.45 | 13 |
| 14 | Laser | 165844 | | Jonathan Deacon | 1100 | 57.47 | 3 | 0.52.32 | 14 |
| 15 | Laser | 166305 | | Andrew Nel | 1100 | 591 | 3 | 0.53.39 | 15 |
| 16 | Laser | 152661 | | Richard Fahey | 1100 | 59.15 | 3 | 0.53.52 | 16 |
| 17 | Laser | 184361 | | Richard Watson | 1100 | 60.26 | 3 | 0.54.56 | 17 |
| 18 | Laser | 159433 | | Graham Fraser | 1100 | 60.4 | 3 | 0.559 | 18 |
| 19 | Laser / Laser Radial / Laser 4.7 | 144530 | 71407 | Chris Brooks | 1100 | 61.41 | 3 | 0.565 | 19 |
| 20 | Laser / Laser Radial | 157392 | | Georgie Vessey | 1147 | 66.39 | 3 | 0.586 | 20 |
| 21 | Laser | 206487 | | Richard Benson | 1100 | 65.22 | 3 | 0.59.25 | 21 |
| 22 | Laser (Club boat) | 117391 | | Adrian Naughton | 1100 | 65.58 | 3 | 0.59.58 | 22 |
| 23 | Laser Radial (Club Boat) | 143592 | 102583 | Mark Cotton | 1100 | 66.54 | 3 | 1.49 | 23 |
| 24 | Laser | 163354 | 130485 | Uschi Hiermeier | 1100 | 67.31 | 3 | 11.23 | 24 |
| 25 | Laser | 201015 | 210905 | Will Branton | 1100 | 68.49 | 3 | 12.34 | 25 |
| 26 | Laser / Laser 4.7 (Club boat) | 160354 | | Patricia Wells | 1100 | 70.35 | 3 | 14.10 | 26 |
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