Noble Marine Ovington UKLA Qualifier 5 at Hayling Island Sailing Club

After the success of the Nationals this summer, Hayling Island invited us back for the second Autumn qualifier of the year. 50 ILCA 7s from all over the country arrived on Saturday morning and were greeted by the warm Hayling Bay sun.

After a quick briefing from the Race Committee, we were notified that the 7s would be starting second after the 6s. Back to bed it was for half the 7 fleet that arrived early - expecting a few generals from the 6s.

The first race got under way with a slight delay as the wind wasn't playing ball. Due to the northerly gradient wind rushing over strawberry fields we had shifts of about 60 degrees with lull to gust difference of about 12 knots. Also some decent weed had made it's way onto the course hoping to latch onto some foils. It was like an Octopus's Garden out there.

That does make for exciting racing, but we would need about five discards for that - or at least I would.

Noble Marine Ovington UKLA Qualifier 5 at Hayling Island - photo © Peter Hickson

After the wind stabilised slightly, we were under way. Straight out of the blocks it was the young guns Luke Anstey and Tom Mitchell showing the fleet how to sail in these uncertain conditions, piecing the beat together nicely and rounding in the front group. Sam Whaley and Arthur Farley showed their skill pulling away from the fleet up the second beat and battling it out for the win of the first race by the bottom.

Whaley managed to get the first bullet of the series with Farley and Micky Beckett rounding off the top 3.

The second race had just as many crazy shifts, this time Mark Lyttle, our chairman, was showing how to do it with an excellent start and had the fleet by the scruff of the neck all the way up that first beat. Mark has some serious expertise in this class and this was he take from the day: "The offshore wind provided a constant battle between looking for pressure and long slow wind shifts. Do I tack now for more pressure or wait for the shift back which may not come until the end of the beat. This created challenging conditions to master."

Jake Farren-Price and Beckett managed to slither past him on the final approach to the windward mark. Beckett managed to sail away with it up the second beat and Farren-Price had to keep Finley Dickinson and Sebastian Kemp who were picking the shifts nicely up the second beat at bay. The finish was Becket, Farren-Price, Dickinson.

With the tide switching and now pushing us over the line, getting the time to line accurate was crucial. After waiting for the 6s to get their final start under way after some serious pushing off the line. About 70 boats were up to 30 boat lengths over the line. This was not an exaggeration in some cases. The Race Committee decided to let it be. We would later find out that that race to be abandoned. At the committee boat you could see the pin end behind the whole fleet. Over my whole racing career, I have never seen that in my life.

Noble Marine Ovington UKLA Qualifier 5 at Hayling Island - photo © Peter Hickson

After a healthy amount of the fleet were black-flagged in the 7s the final start got away with a lot of shouting of 'get back' to try and hold off another recall. Farley sailed well throughout this race, unfortunately not piecing the final beat together as well as Beckett and Whaley and losing out to both of them. Again, Beckett sailed impressively, clawing his way up the field and then extending away once he reached the top spot.

Sunday morning and there were some tired faces around the boat park. The ILCA 6s were greeted by the news that they would have to do four races in the tricky conditions again. Some were thinking yesterday was tough mentally, I've got a feeling it's going to be a game of who can make the least mistakes out there today. It was a similar story for the 7s, with only one discard and most people already having banked a discard early doors, putting together a consistent set of results on day 2 was going to be key.

Race 1 of the day saw similar conditions to the previous day with heavy gusts falling out of the sky. Norman Struthers (CAN), played the start the best coming off the committee boat and tacking into good breeze and sending it right for the inevitable next shift. Beckett and Kempe made best use of hefty righty to break away from the fleet and battle it out for the win in that race. Whaley who was playing a safer strategy up the middle got left behind and had to work hard up the second beat to fight back to third.

Noble Marine Ovington UKLA Qualifier 5 at Hayling Island - photo © Peter Hickson

Race 5 and Farren-Price and Whaley get the best starts of the fleet and made the charge to the right-hand side. Waiting for a sizeable righty to come back on, they were slightly caught out as a group from the left come back into it nicely at the top and were right on Whaley and Farren-Price's heels. Beckett wiggled himself down the run nicely in pressure and rounded just behind Farren-Price at the bottom mark and then executed a better second beat to get back into first. Farley sailed well done the final run to take second ahead of James Percival-Cooke.

The final race of the series and the boats down towards the pin end that managed to get the tack in were controlling the race. Beckett was in a powerful position but it was Charlie South who was dropping the blocks and reaching over the fleet from the left to round the windward mark first, followed in hot pursuit by Beckett. Down the run Beckett edged into first and the chasing peloton caught up to South. The battle up the second beat was fierce with lots of boats very close. Percival-Cooke sailed an impeccable final downwind to clinch the second with Whaley in third.

A short reach blast back to shore for a quick pack up ahead of the 6s doing their final race. With a little help from my friends I was back on the road nice and quickly before the 6s returned to shore. Well done to Mark Lyttle, first grand master finishing 3 points ahead of Alan Davis, the real grudge match we are all watching.

Noble Marine Ovington UKLA Qualifier 5 at Hayling Island - photo © Peter Hickson

I managed to catch up with the winner Micky Beckett after the weekend, he seemed to know something about the way the wind moved during the weekend. This is what he had to say: "Mike Tyson never attended a UKLA qualifier. However, he did once say that 'everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face'. With every race I had a plan, but if it hadn't already gone terribly wrong at start time, it usually went wrong shortly thereafter. Was it the enormous wind range left, and right? Or the thoroughly frustrating gusts that appeared with such short notice? Or the tide that never seemed to go in the direction that my Google search that morning had told me it was supposed to be going in?

"After taking these blows in short succession, usually just after that start, I was generally feeling like a man with little to lose. Fortunately, I usually found some success as the race progressed to the outer loop, taking advantage of the unease with which everyone was making decisions due to the erratic conditions. The racing I had at the front with Sam, Arthur, Seb, Jake and James was tight and of a really high quality, the positions were never settled till right at the finish."

For the final qualifier of the season we travel across the universe to Weymouth where we will come together to battle it out for the 2022 series. It is set to be a nail-biter. Hope to see you all there.

The ILCA7 Fleet would like to thank all the volunteers who put on another great event hosted by HISC. A special thank you to Tim Hancock and the race committee.

Thanks also to our main weekend sponsors, Noble Marine and Ovington Boats who support the class so loyally. 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. Ovington Boats are one of the biggest and best dinghy builders in the world and are now the official UK builders of ILCAs.

Noble Marine Ovington UKLA Qualifier 5 at Hayling Island - photo © Peter Hickson

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