ILCA Thames Valley Grand Prix Series Open at Papercourt Sailing Club

ILCA Thames Valley Grand Prix Series Open at Papercourt Sailing Club © Sarah Mair

ILCA Thames Valley Grand Prix Series Open at Papercourt Sailing Club © Sarah Mair

On Sunday 12th April Papercourt Sailing Club hosted the ILCA Thames Valley Grand Prix Open Meeting. The forecast looked good and we were rewarded with sunshine and a moderate south westerly breeze making ideal sailing conditions.

There were some very strong gusts touch 30 mph during the day which caused plenty of capsizing and a few breakages. There were fast reaches and runs for those who managed to stay in the boat. The course included two gybe marks adding to the excitement and on shore entertainment particularly when the gusts hit just before a gybe.

There was an excellent turn out with 28 boats in total, consisting of 11 ILCA 7s and 17 ILCA 6s, with eleven visitors making the trip. There were four female competitors and two youths. This was nearly double the previous year's turn out, so bucking the trend for open meeting events across the nation. Quite a few first timers from Papercourt joined the ILCA 6 fleet, making the event special in so many ways.

In the ILCA 7 fleet the first race was won by Richard Thomas who set off at a canter from the start. He was closely followed by Tim Granger in 2nd, Simon Hamment in 3rd and Joe Cic in 4th. Tim won the second race with Simon and Jo 2nd and 3rd.

The ILCA 6 fleet was just as competitive. Lauren Irons outclassed everyone showing her team GB squad skills at the front, winning the mornings races. Rebecca Clark also from Papercourt came in second, with the youths nipping at their heels.

Following lunch, with most competitors already feeling exhausted from the morning's sailing, there were a further two races. In the 7s, the third race was won by Simon with Joe coming 2nd and Tim 3rd. It was all to play for in the final race. Bruce Ramshaw took an early lead followed closely by Joe then Andrew Hill Smith (Last year's winner) then Tim.

Halfway through the race Tim managed to get into the lead. Heading down the final run a brutal gust blew through, causing Joe to capsize, and in so doing taking out Andrew with a blow to his back and then a tumble into the water. Bruce gybed and the power of the wind caused his mainsheet block to break, which left Tim to sail home and win the final race, and with luck in his sails, the event overall. Simon came in third, so jumped to second overall, squeezing out Joe into 3rd place.

In the 6s, Lauren pressed on with her morning gracious form, making the conditions look easy. Rebecca closely followed behind, keeping Harry Ramshaw and Josh Blackman in her wake, to come in 3rd and 4th respectively. The other good news is that both Hill-Smith's (Andrew and Liz) came in 6th place in the respective fleets, which made for an harmonious evening.

Martin Smith as the race officer had provided and excellent course, using the full length of the lake. Jill Hamment led an amazing team pulling together a delicious lunch as ever. We all had a wonderful Papercourt day and had a lot of fun. Thank you to everyone for taking part.

Overall Results: