Medway RC Laser Club Winter Series - Day 8
by Jamie Blair 9 Feb 09:35 GMT
8 February 2026
Eight boats on the water for round 8 of the Winter series. It was A rigs again in the bright sun with sunglasses on for the beat, initially into a S wind. The six knots gave all a big test for the start with the starboard end favoured. The choice of route to the windward mark with the wind shifting at times almost as far as SW (45o) and SSE!
Jamie Blair (51) had a consistent set of results with two wins in the first three races but as previous weeks the whole fleet grasped all opportunities to get a good result. Overlaps at marks, choice of port or starboard gybe down the run and taking the shifts.
After four races Jamie was on top of the leaderboard, Jon Moon (84) second and Tony Alexander (04) third. Seven races were completed before the break after one hour racing. Tony bagging two wins; Jamie, Tim Townsend (45) and Lucian Stone (75) one each.
At the break the leaderboard remained unchanged but the wind didn't. Most of the fleet opted for the B rig but Tim & Jamie stayed on with the A rig for race eight. Lucian sailed a great race to bag second win. Tim swapped to the B rig but Jamie felt the wind was easing so soldiered on with the A.
By race ten the breeze had become a firm 10 knots and it was B rigs all round. At this point Tony was overall in front. By the finish after the second period of an hour and a half we saw Roger Gibb (32) take back to back wins in races 11 and 12.
For the last three races we saw another shift to SE and back again to S. Mid fleet saw big changes in positions in each race as the wind shifted everywhere! Lucian and Tim had a win a piece and before the start of the last race at 12.30 Tony was heading the leaderboard by one point ahead of Jamie. The last race looked like Tim would take the win but a last minute lunge by Jamie allowed him to steal a fourth win. Tony wasn't far behind but the fourth place gave Jamie the overall for the day.
The next meet is 15th of February. Usual start at 10.00.
Day 8 Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | R15 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 51 | Jamie Blair | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ‑5 | ‑8 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 35 |
| 2nd | 4 | Tony Alexander | 2 | ‑8 | ‑6 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 37 |
| 3rd | 45 | Tim Towsend | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | ‑6 | ‑7 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 42 |
| 4th | 75 | Lucian Stone | ‑8 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1 | ‑8 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 45 |
| 5th | 84 | Jon Moon | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑7 | 2 | 5 | ‑8 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 48 |
| 6th | 32 | Roger Gibb | 6 | 7 | ‑8 | ‑8 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 62 |
| 7th | 3 | Mark Penny | 7 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | ‑8 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 5 | (DNF) | 3 | 6 | 65 |
| 8th | 76 | Bob Woolford | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | (DNF) | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | ‑8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 87 |