ILCA Open at Hastings & St Leonards Sailing Club
by HSSC 1 Sep 22:46 BST
27 August 2022
Hastings & St Leonards Sailing Club held its annual ILCA / Laser Open meeting on the Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend. Twelve sailors competed, four from visiting clubs.
Racing was delayed in the absence of wind, and even when under way the first two races were held in light airs. Three boats were over the line at the start of the first race and were required to return to begin again. Their error lost them places and gave them the challenge of catching-up in barely a breath of wind. As boats moved serenely across a millpond sea, the top sailors began to assert themselves. Tony Woods (fresh from completing the UKLA Skills week training) of Queen Mary's Sailing Club, found enough breeze for two straight wins, well ahead of the others behind him. Best placed local sailor, after the two morning races was Said Toubi with a second and a third.
The wind backed south easterly during the break for lunch and increased to force two to three. Back on the water, it was again Tony Woods who made it look easy with a further two firsts. Another visitor, Ian Gregory of Frensham Pond and Stokes Bay sailing clubs, had Woods in his sights but could not pass him and had to settle for two seconds.
After the final race started the wind shifted easterly changing the points of sail around the course. The top sailors coped easily with the alteration but there was confusion further down the fleet with one boat heading for the wrong mark and another causing a "pile up" at the penultimate buoy. With all results in, Tony Woods won the trophy, Ian Gregory was second and Hugh Ashford took third and best placed Hasting's sailor. Best placed novice went to Bijan Rafraf from Hastings and best placed youth sailor to Dimithry Bykov of Sovereign Sailing Club.
Thanks to all competitors and volunteers for a slow but great day.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Rig | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | ILCA 7 | 214610 | Tony Woods | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd | ILCA 6 | 220041 | Ian Gregory | ‑4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3rd | ILCA 7 | 211347 | Hugh Ashford | 3 | ‑6 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| 4th | ILCA 7 | 213642 | Melanie Clark | ‑8 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| 5th | ILCA 7 | 217722 | Said Toubi | 2 | 3 | ‑10 | 8 | 13 |
| 6th | ILCA 7 | 208666 | Mark Early | 5 | ‑7 | 6 | 3 | 14 |
| 7th | ILCA 7 | 91448 | Bijan Rafraf | 7 | 5 | 9 | (DSQ) | 21 |
| 8th | ILCA 7 | 217721 | David Caffrey | ‑9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 22 |
| 9th | ILCA 6 | 213901 | Dimithry Bycov | 10 | ‑11 | 5 | 9 | 24 |
| 10th | ILCA 7 | 211346 | Paul Sandford | 6 | ‑10 | 8 | 10 | 24 |
| 11th | ILCA 7 | 186160 | Eric Petersen | (DNF) | 8 | 11 | 7 | 26 |
| 12th | ILCA 6 | 158364 | Lucas Terry | 11 | ‑12 | 12 | 11 | 34 |