ILCA Thames Valley Series Grand Prix at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club

ILCA Thames Valley Series GP at Island Barn © David Symons

Thirty nine entries made Saturday's Island Barn ILCA Open the largest of the Thames Valley Grand Prix series so far this year. The club worked hard to encourage all sailing levels to enter and the sunny conditions made for a wonderful early autumn day's racing in Surrey.

The morning two races saw a moderate and building breeze which was excellent for all. The wind then picked up significantly for the afternoon races which was challenging even for the more experienced sailors on the water.

ILCA Thames Valley Series GP at Island Barn - photo © David Symons

In the full rig, Wembley's Joza Cic saw off clubmate, William Macdonald by a single point. Honorary mention to Martin Yates for persevering through the challenging conditions.

In the ILCA 6, the top three places went down to the wire with Papercourt's Lauren Irons just holding off Island Barn's Isla Todd and Lucas Symons who both finished with a win each and were separated by just by countback. It was great to see the evergreen Mark Dence putting his L&SE Topper experience on the water, and also kudos to Mike Goldring, Andrea Bassani and Theodore Butcher who sailed out their comfort zones for the afternoon racing.

ILCA Thames Valley Series GP at Island Barn - photo © David Symons

The ILCA 4 class saw a number of sailors putting their ILCA Skills Week training into practice as they moved out the Topper class. Desborough's Oscar Lay came out on top with Aqua Sports', Evan Hellyer and IB's Dexter Corkin picking up second and third places with a win each in the series.

Big thanks to all the Island Barn volunteers who put on an excellent day and to Dave Ryder for his pragmatic and proficient role as Race Officer.

ILCA Thames Valley Series GP at Island Barn - photo © David Symons

ILCA 7 Results:

ILCA 6 Results:

ILCA 4 Results:

ILCA Thames Valley Series GP at Island Barn - photo © David Symons