Noble Marine / Sailingfast ILCA 7 UK Qualifier 2 at the WPNSA

122 ILCAs raced at WPNSA in the second qualifier of the year. The weekend looked like it would have one day of racing: howling on Saturday and unstable light wind on Sunday. Check out the dramatic photos by Lotte Johnson from Saturday's racing!

As forecast, Saturday was a breezy one with an Easterly 26knots/35knots bringing nice chop to the bottom of the harbour, upping the physicality for an already challenging day. The prospect of four races in a day in these conditions elevated the challenge even further. Elliot Hanson showed the fleet some Olympic speed with Ali Brown and Kai Wolgram closely behind. Mark Lyttle, proved consistently quick, securing three 4ths only to be UFD in the first race. Finlay Tulett had a good first race coming in 6th. The youth also seemed to be vying for the front but some unfortunate capsizing led to some mixed results.

ILCA 7 UK Qualifier 2 at the WPNSA - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Unfortunately as the conditions became harsher and with many in the fleet calling it after the second race, PJ decided to cancel the planned 4th race to save the sailors' hiking legs from any more pain. After the first day the results were exceptionally tidy with Elliot, Ali and Kai scoring straight bullets, seconds and thirds respectively.

Overnight the scores looked very mixed with some hoping for at least one race on the Sunday others happy to bin Sunday! The middle of the fleet had a solid group of Masters, Mark Lyttle 7th, Guy Noble 8th and Andy Le Grice 9th, showing experience and maturity counts occasionally.

ILCA 7 UK Qualifier 2 at the WPNSA - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Sunday saw a complete change to the conditions with about 5 knots from the West once it filled in. The morning saw a postponement allowing the 7 sailors to talk strategy, by diving into the newest update on Clash of Clans, Kai and Ali's favourite past times... maybe Elliot's too but he wasn't around for the debate. Once the wait was up the 7s squeezed in two challenging races before the last signal deadline. On the outer-loop the 7s saw the classic go left gain on the upwinds which Elliot used to secure his final bullet and seal the win.

The lighter wind enabled Ewan McAnally 2nd in R4, Henry Redmond with two 3rds and Terry Hacker with a 5th and 6th to move up the overall standings. After 5 races Elliot finished 1st, Ali second, Kai third (1st u21) and George Colquitt 1st u19.

The UKLA Qualifier series is kindly sponsored by Noble Marine, Ovington Boats, Sailingfast and Rooster. In Qualifier 2 Noble Marine and Sailingfast supplied the prizes which were gratefully received by all the sailors.

Massive thanks to all the volunteers, who without this event would not be possible. WPNSA were also fantastic, making pasta after sailing and making us feel very welcome. Sailors are looking forward to the next weekend where we back in Weymouth.

Overall Results: