Medway RC Laser Club Winter Series at Barton's Point Coastal Park - Day 12
by Jamie Blair 28 Mar 23:56 BST
26 March 2023
Medway RC Laser Club Winter Series day 12 © Fiona Blair
The forecast was for rain all morning with 10-15knots. With sailors away and other commitments we welcomed 7 sailors to race in the 12th Round in our Winter Series. Our usual triangle/sausage course with the start/finish a third way up the beat was set up, with the NNW wind at 10 knots allowed a longish course in front of the cafe.
All racers took to the water with A rigs. The start line was starboard bias creating a bit of a crowd but fair play and shouts of "up..up" broke the silence under the rain. Even with depleted numbers all the starts were fiercely competed.
In Race 1 Jamie Blair (51) popped a nose ahead and with clear air and some tacks in the shifts got to the 1st mark in the lead with Mark Penny (03), Tim Townsend (45) and Tony Alexander (04) close behind. The group interface and disturbed wind allowed Jamie to extend away to take the race.
Jamie seemed to have a motor running to lead in races 1 - 6. Tim was a close contender 2nd in most races, apart from race 6 when a number of penalty turns took him to the back of the fleet. Even with a sail change to the B rig as the wind increased to just under 18knots there was no stopping Jamie.
Just before the break the wind veered through 40 degrees to the NNE and race 6 was continued even with it essentially being a reaching exercise.
The course was changed to a pseudo Sail GP style with a reaching start. The revised course put the leeward mark some 50 metres from the group with the beat directly towards them. Gauging the rounding did bring through some early rounding that never went unnoticed.
Eager starters were always called back and included the leader Jamie. Tony squeezing through the pack after the start of Race 7; heart rates raised, especially in the beat to the finish where an area of confused wind created an random wind or no wind offering boats behind the opportunity to pick off places.
The next three races after the break brought change to the results with wins by Tony, Mark and Tim. The start, two beats either making it work for you or not.
With the wind strengthening Bob had chosen a C rig but with a slower boat reliable results were always difficult. That and a few contacts giving valuable rule learning gave him lots of practice doing penalty turns.
In Race 14 Jamie and Tim resumed some match racing up the last beat and banging left up the beat. Lucian Stone (75) got what he wished for and the lift into the windward mark cemented his best race of the day - a bullet, closely followed by Tony.
Jamie won the day. Tim with the second place and Tony Alexander took 3rd.
Our next set of races will be on Sunday 3rd April 2023. This will be the end of our Winter Series and the start of the bigger dinghy/yacht season.
Day 12 Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 51 | Jamie Blair | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑4 | 18 |
| 2nd | 45 | Tim Townsend | 2 | ‑5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | (DNF) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 25 |
| 3rd | 4 | Tony Alexander | ‑6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 31 |
| 4th | 3 | Mark Penny | 3 | 4 | ‑5 | ‑5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 44 |
| 5th | 75 | Lucian Stone | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | (DNF) | (DNC) | DNC | 5 | 1 | 47 |
| 6th | 62 | Spencer Pope | 5 | 6 | 6 | ‑7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | ‑7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 71 |
| 7th | 76 | Bob Woolford | ‑7 | ‑7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 73 |