Noble Marine Vaikobi UKLA Qualifier 6 at Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy

by Leo Yates 6 Oct 2022 17:03 BST

From rain to sunshine and light to strong winds, Weymouth had it all

After a brief two-week break, 139 ILCAs descended on Weymouth for this season's third qualifier event. The forecast was for a windy Saturday, but this did not deter the 54 strong ILCA 4 fleet. Then as the morning came, all launched into a 20kt south-westerly with gusts of up to 27kts keeping the whole fleet challenged and working hard throughout the day.

When race one began, the slight port bias meant the fleet was evenly spread across the line making for a tight start to the race. On the first leg the strategies in play varied wildly but generally those who went left came out on top with Archie Munro-Price leading the fleet round mark 1. Then followed an intense downwind where surfing the chop without running into the wave in front was paramount to success.

Noble Marine Vaikobi UKLA Qualifier 6 at Weymouth - photo © Georgie Altham / www.facebook.com/galthamphotography

A chaotic leeward mark with plenty of death rolls led into the second up-wind where the fleet all followed to the left side of the course. Then after another challenging downwind and reach to finish, the race came to an end with Archie Munro-Price taking first, followed by Toby Smith and Harry West.

Race 2 followed much the same pattern of the first. The fleet, mostly having learnt from the first race, went out to the left hand side of the first leg with some even over-laying the mark in an attempt to get best pressure. Samson Cross lead at the first mark followed closely by a chasing pack including Archie, Leo Yates and Amelia Hacker.

Another tiring lap ensued with Archie eventually taking the win closely followed by Leo Yates after overtaking Amelia Hacker on the downwind.

Noble Marine Vaikobi UKLA Qualifier 6 at Weymouth - photo © Georgie Altham / www.facebook.com/galthamphotography

By race 3 everyone was getting tired, but the competition was as strong as ever. On the start everyone was more evenly spread along and the slight right shift that came through meant that going up the middle was a valid option up leg 1. Many used this to their advantage, then followed another lap of close racing where Toby Smith took his first win of the event followed by Amelia and behind her was Archie.

Sunday morning came about with lots of rain in the air, a quiet boat park and rumours of a possible postponement dominated the early part of the morning, but then despite the heavy rain, tally opened on time and the boat park sprung into action rigging boats while trying to stay warm and dry. When we got out to the course we found a steady 10kt Northerly wind which was slowly dropping throughout the day.

Noble Marine Vaikobi UKLA Qualifier 6 at Weymouth - photo © Georgie Altham / www.facebook.com/galthamphotography

Race 4 featured a tight start with a heavily port biased line. Up the beat sailors went to different sides of the course but it was clear at the top mark the further left you went the better you did. Then followed a downwind with rapidly dropping wind, but we all made it round the leeward mark.

On the final downwind the wind went to less than 3 kts. And the fleet then limped across the finish just inside the time limit in a rather anticlimactic finish. The race was won by Archie closely followed by Cameron Bignold-Kyles then Erin Pank.

Then after another couple hours of waiting on the water, the race committee hoisted AP over A, ending the event early after just four races due to a lack of wind.

Archie Munro Price, 1st - Noble Marine Vaikobi UKLA Qualifier 6 at Weymouth - photo © Georgie Altham / www.facebook.com/galthamphotography

Congratulations to all who managed the difficult conditions throughout the weekend. The top six sailors were Archie Munro-Price, Toby Smith, Amelia Hacker, Leo Yates, Millie Lewis and Ciara Murphy.

Finally, a big thanks to all the volunteers who helped out and allowed the event to happen and thanks also to our main weekend sponsors, Noble Marine, Vaikobi and SailingFast who support the class so loyally and both provide amazing services to the class and sailors.

ILCA 4 Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	220097	Archie Munro‑Price	CCSC & RLYMYC	1	1	‑3	1	3
2	206959	Toby Smith	Rutland / Royal Hospital School	2	4	1	‑7	7
3	216607	Amalie Hacker	Rutland SC	5	3	2	‑16	10
4	179546	Leo Yates	Island Barn / Shoreham	8	2	5	‑36	15
5	220514	Millie Lewis	Medway YC	7	10	‑12	4	21
6	CAY 220039	Ciara Murphy		4	‑9	9	8	21
7	216703	Joe Rowe	Draycote Academy	9	5	7	‑29	21
8	195154	Angus Beale	Corinthian Otters	‑13	7	4	13	24
9	198211	Harry West	Royal Lymington Yacht Club	3	6	18	(DNC)	27
10	173537	Ralph Surguy	Corinthian Otters	10	12	6	‑18	28
11	201872	Hugh Andrews	Blackwater SC	14	‑17	11	5	30
12	218043	Tom Rawlings	Lyme Regis Sailing Club	6	11	14	‑25	31
13	205176	Samson Cross	Shoreham	17	8	8	‑41	33
14	218981	Harry Courts		11	13	10	‑32	34
15	204915	Cameron Bignold‑Kyles	RLymYC	‑27	16	17	2	35
16	189059	Kaitlyn Wyatt	Shoreham / Papercourt	‑18	15	16	11	42
17	209979	Jack McCormick	Parkstone YC	15	14	13	‑50	42
18	210099	Ben Anderson	Gurnard Sailing Club	21	23	‑27	9	53
19	198827	Joseph Henderson	Welsh Harp Sailing Club	12	‑28	19	22	53
20	218413	Erin Pank	Castle Cove Sailing Club	29	‑32	23	3	55
21	6191			‑25	20	15	24	59
22	210618	Jacoby Keegan		20	18	21	‑39	59
23	220823	Spirit Alderson	Derwent Reservoir	19	27	‑31	15	61
24	212943	Monty Desforges	Guernsey Yacht Club	23	19	22	‑27	64
25	206446	Lily Browning	TSC / IBRSC	16	‑38	20	31	67
26	199492	Jessica Watson	Guernsey Yacht Club	22	‑34	33	14	69
27	207649	Harriet George	RHS / Royal Corinthian	‑39	24	28	17	69
28	218865	Maia Delin	WPNSA	26	25	‑29	19	70
29	177612	Nathan Flynn	Corinthian Otters	30	21	24	‑44	75
30	195819	Max Bromilow	Parkstone Yacht Club	28	22	26	‑43	76
31	198317	Oliver McCormick		32	44	(DNS)	6	82
32	212661	Josie Kelly	Felpham SC	31	29	‑37	23	83
33	209984	Tatiana Hazelwood	Royal Hospital School/Rutland	‑44	33	36	20	89
34	215417	Stella Nygard	Draycote Water Sailing Club	33	26	30	‑38	89
35	211166	Seb Lyttle		‑37	30	32	30	92
36	201022	Eddie Dorsett	Parkstone YC	35	40	(DNS)	21	96
37	220457	Tetiana Fedorenko	Gurnard SC	24	‑45	38	34	96
38	219627	Grace Stephens	Hayling Island	‑46	43	42	12	97
39	215283	Bronwen Thomas		‑38	37	35	26	98
40	212233	Amelia Nuttall	Tenby Sailing Club	34	31	‑41	33	98
41	159450	Tim Czura		41	‑42	25	42	108
42	217181	Thalya Ambroziak	HLSTC/FPSC	40	36	34	‑47	110
43	199865	Olly Mayo	Gurnard SC	36	35	40	‑45	111
44	212405	Tom Hakes	Parkstone Yacht Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	10	120
45	201861	Sara Goujon	Hunts Sailing Club	47	‑48	46	28	121
46	166624	Ines Green		43	39	39	‑52	121
47	167848	Freya Halsall	WOSC	45	‑47	44	37	126
48	191333	Teo Sheffield		42	41	43	‑46	126
49	210220	Mortimer Mastin		(NSC)	46	45	40	131
50	219330	Emily Campbell		(RET)	DNC	DNC	35	145
51	188584	Max Tait	Royal Lymington yacht club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	48	158
52	221319	Edward Roberts‑Straw	CBYC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	49	159
53	171897	George Hutcheon	Burnham / Royal Corinthian	(RET)	DNC	DNC	51	161
54	208933	Ethan Mitchell‑Clarke	Rutland Sailing Club	(NSC)	DNS	DNC	53	163