ILCA Midland Grand Prix at Bartley Sailing Club

ILCA Midland Grand Prix at Bartley © John Bellamy

Eighteen ILCA sailors lined up at Bartley Sailing Club for the Midland Grand Prix, contesting three races with the best two scores to count. A shifty north-westerly of 10-12 knots, gusting into the high 20s and touching 30, made for a properly challenging day, and there were few competitors who didn't take a dunking at least once before racing was done.

John Ling set the tone in race one, with Oliver Ridgway close behind in second and Megan Hardiman leading the Laser 4.7 fleet home in third.

Race two saw Steve Thomas take an early lead and never look back. Steve had the race of his life, leading from the first mark and crossing the line the best part of two minutes ahead of John Ling in the next best ILCA 7, only to discover that Audrey Yang (Bartley) had also had the race of her life and on corrected time had pipped Steve by just four seconds. A fall out of the boat on the way upwind probably didn't help Steve's cause. Sophie Forbes completed the podium in third.

After 2 races things were close with John Ling on 6 points and Sophie Forbes and Audrey Yang tied on seven points apiece, with Megan Hardiman a further two back on nine and Steve Thomas keeping on ten. Nobody in that group could afford to relax.

John Ling made the final race his own, pulling away to a big margin at the front — a convincing break for freedom, much as Steve Thomas had managed in race two. Behind him, Megan Hardiman crossed second to move into second overall, with Sophie Forbes third both in the race and on the final leaderboard, and Isabelle Beechey fourth.

Overall honours went to John Ling, with Megan Hardiman second and Sophie Forbes third, the top three separated by just four points after discards. As Oliver Ridgway put it, 'extremely gusty and absurdly shifty conditions against a tough crowd produced a fantastic day of racing with positions traded right to the line — nobody was ever safe in their position within the fleet, or even just within their boat. The definition of snakes and ladders.'

In the ILCA 7 fleet, John Ling took the class win from Oliver Ridgway in second and Steve Thomas in third. Olly Rogers led the way for the ILCA 6s and the ILCA 4 fleet produced some of the closest racing of the day: Megan Hardiman won the class from Sophie Forbes and Audrey Yang, with Isabelle Beechey close behind in fourth. Megan aside, the top four in the 4.7s were all junior sailors, and the standard of racing they produced in such demanding conditions was one of the highlights of the day.

Thanks to Performance Sailcraft for sponsoring the event, all who braved the conditions, and to Bartley Sailing Club for hosting another memorable Grand Prix.

Overall Results: