Teva Laser Nationals at Paignton Sailing Club

by John Smith 30 Jul 2001 14:00 BST

Sunday:

The day started fine but cloudy but the weather improved throughout the day to become a fine and sunny afternoon with a fine 2 to 3 sailing breeze. This was an ideal introduction to the new sponsor “Teva Sports Shoes” to introduce the concept and feel of Laser and Laser Radial National Sailing.

After race officer Ken Falcon’s briefing the fleet were allowed to launch in time for a midday start o the practice race to be immediately followed by race 1. Practice races for the Full Rig and Radial fleets were completed successfully on a large course set perhaps a little closer into the shore than intended due to pressure from the yacht racing completing their week in the bay. Winner was Paul Goodison from Ulley followed by Mark Powell from Hayling Island.

Race 1: The start was a general recall which prompted the race officer to bring forward the Radial start and brought the immediate introduction of the black flag.

James Date was leading at the windward mark with a handy lead over Matt Howard. After their inner loop and reach going into the final run Paul Goodison had pulled into the lead followed closely by Mark Littlejohn and James Date. After a small gap the chasing pack were led by Andy Smith followed closely by Matt Howard, Ben Todd and Mark Powell. James Date moved into second on the run and Ben Todd into fourth. Mark Powell took Andy Smith to get fifth on the short beat to the finish.

Monday:

The day dawned with sunshine which gave the promise of a sea breeze but darkish clouds over the land behind the bay soon killed this prospect.

Today we were honoured by a guest appearance from Sydney Olympic Gold Medallist Ben Ainslie (also Nationals winner for the past 4 years) who had borrowed the Laser of club Commodore John Maynard himself an Olympian in the Finn in 1968. As you can see below even this illustrious presence was not going to be sufficient for the wind gods.

After a frustrating wait ashore the fleet were called out when steady wind appeared this was however the signal for the wind to back steadily and die so before all the boats were even launched they were sent back in to wait again.

At about 4:00 pm they were called out again and this time made it out to the start line.

Three attempts were made in pretty shifty winds to get the full rigs away all leading to major pile ups at the favoured end as the wind shifted. As the wind now failed to settle, race officer Ken Falcon decided to call it a day and send the fleet in.

Tuesday:

Early morning once again showed promise with blue sky and sunshine and the white puffy clouds over the land started to develop. Darker clouds appeared and again threatened the days wind but at least the system had progressed a little further than the previous day. The fleet launched after a short delay as the wind steadied, with a declared intention to try for three races and only suffered a short postponement at the line before the business of the day commenced.

Race 2: After two attempts both general recalls the Radial fleet was promoted to be the first start and managed to get away to a clean start. The fleet got away at the third time of asking. Approaching he windward mark first to show were Paul Goodison, Keith Wilkins, James Date and Nick Harrison.

Olympic prospect Paul Goodison was first to round the windward mark closely followed by Keith Wilkins and James Date. The chasing group were led by Nick Harrison followed closely by Paul Hilliar, Mark Littlejohn and Andy Smith. Notably Stephen Powell younger bother of Youth Worlds winner Mark was next several paces ahead of his brother.

James Date overhauled Keith Wilkins on the run to move into second place by the leeward mark and Andy Smith passed Mark Littlejon to take sixth, other leading positions remaining the same. Barney Chandler pulled through into fifth on the next beat Andy Smith dropping to 9th other places remaining largely the same.

Race 3: The fleet managed to get away at the third time of asking. This time the was a shift of advantage to the right at the end of the beat which led to a few changes to the pecking order.

At the first mark Mark Littlejohn was the leader followed by Nick Harrison, Matt Howard and James Briggs. Paul Goodison was fifth with work to do followed by Stephen Powell, David Royse and Tim Pearse.

The fleet slowly sorted itself out with Paul Goodison eventually pulling through to first and Mark Powell getting near the leaders.

Wednesday:

Today we had a morning of little wind initially but far less cloud inland which held the possibility of wind to come. Race Officer Ken Falcon held his usual morning briefing where he reported on the wind in the bay being unsuitable at present but he had hopes that a sea breeze would develop with a hope of three races to help catch p with the program. A postponement flag was raised to keep the fleet ashore until suitable wind appeared.

After a delay of about 45 minutes when the view from the shore showed a promising breeze had become established the fleet were released to launch. The course was laid in the bay and an attempt at a start was made in a force 2 breeze. After a late swing to the starboard end the fleet bunched and the inevitable general recall followed. The wind now decide to swing about and the died off completely.

This prompted Ken Falcon to take the fleet much further out to the mouth of the bay in a successful search for more wind. The wind here was now blowing a good force 3 maybe 4 promising more interesting action.

Race 4: The fleet got off to a successful start at he first time of asking with the fleet well spread down the line.

Paul Goodison went on to win the race with Mark Littlejohn 2nd and James Date 3rd.

Race 5: Despite a large bunch at the port end the full rig start was clean away at the first attempt with a black flag in force.

Approaching the windward mark Mark Mellors, Andrew Smith and Nick Livingstone showed from the left but the right appeared favoured and Paul Goodison and James Date led from that side. Paul Goodison once again led the fleet round the fist mark closely followed by James Date and Barney Chandler with local sailor Bob Cudmore after a small gap. Leading the chasing pack were another local competitor Paul Proctor and Mark Powell closely followed by his coach Mark Littlejohn.

By the end of the next run Mark Powell had pulled through to third as Paul Goodison stretched away n the lead to the finish.

Race 6: As a late shift to the left favoured the port tack approach, both Barney Proctor and Andy Smith crossed ahead of early leaders Paul Goodison and James Date. These were all threatened by a large bunch coming in from the right but at the windward mark the fleet was led by a new local face Barney Proctor followed closely by Paul Goodison, Andrew Smith, Ben Todd and Barney Chandler.

Goodison and Smith over took Proctor on the reach to lead down the run. Ben Todd pulled into second and Mark Powell overtook Andy Smith at the end of the run. Up the next beat James Date and Mark Littlejohn picked the best route moving in to second and third Mark Powell moved into 4th ahead of Ben Todd on the run with Andrew Smith maintaining his sixth place.

That was enough for the full rigs and they headed ashore.

Thursday:

The basic pattern of the week was continued with the day starting with virtually no wind in the dinghy park. Only wispy high clouds over the land made the development of a sea breeze seem likely. By the normal 10:45 briefing time very little had changed so an indefinite postponement was ordered.

During this the building tension was relieved somewhat by the impromptu performance of the “Rooster Duo”, Tony Woods on alto sax and Steve Cockerill on guitar which included a very appropriate delightfully jazzed up rendering of “Sailing”. Tony is a professional musician so this was an excellent performance and very well received by the dinghy park and passing “promenaders” alike.

Race Officer Ken Falcon was hopeful of a sea breeze and by about 1:30 news came from the mouth of Torbay that he was experiencing around 10 knots of breeze. The fleet was launched but typically on the long sail out the breeze started to die and had virtually disappeared by the time the fleet assembled.

After some further hanging around some 4 to 5 knots appeared and we went for a full rig start. A port bias developed during the sequence and the start was postponed with seconds to go as a pile up at that end developed.

After one further start attempt the fleet were seen returning to shore.

Friday:

More of the same in terms of weather this time but today it started even hotter. Once again it looked as though the heat inland would stir up a sea breeze but today being the last day we were restricted by a “no warning signal after 15:00” instruction in deference to the need for a prize giving, packing up and departure for some. (we had people with 11 hour journeys to Scotland and ferries booked for Guernsey!)

Once again Ken Falcons briefing was witty and hopeful but he really wasn’t happy with the prospect of running Championship racing in very light and shifty breezes. So an indefinite postponement was signalled and the wait for wind started again.

It was pretty obvious to all that unless very close inshore course was laid the practical deadline to start the launch with any prospect of a successful start was about 1:30 pm. The wind remained fitful and obviously patchy as far as could be seen from the shore but Ken spent his time out there searching and waiting. At about 1:40 the committee boat sailed inshore and signalled an end to the proceedings before disappearing into the harbour.

So we were left with a six race series and after a minor adjustment for the yellow flag awards the final results were posted.

The prize giving was held outside the marquee in baking hot sunshine more memorable of a continental venue like La Rochelle than a UK summers day. The usual long groaning tableful of prizes were distributed in relatively smooth fashion and that was it for another year.

The competitors and helpers are thankful to Paignton Sailing Club for their superb organisation and to race officer Ken Falcon and his team for organising as many races as they could in really trying circumstances at times.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	172411	Paul Goodison	Ulley SC	1	1	1	1	1	1	5
2	169155	James Date	Port Dinorwic	2	2	9	3	2	2	11
3	172801	Mark Littlejohn	Lancing SC	3	5	2	2	5	3	15
4	170594	Mark Powell	Hayling Island	5	12	3	4	3	4	19
5	166442	Barney Chandler	Guernsey YC	9	7	26	5	4	7	32
6	172796	Nick Harrison	Stokes Bay	8	4	4	10	11	15	37
7	172154	Ben Todd	Holyhead	4	14	10	16	6	5	39
8	168842	Andrew I Smith	Island Barn	6	8	11	15	13	6	44
9	172696	Matt Howard	Stokes Bay	7	18	5	23	9	9	48
10	155163	Alistair Keitel	Parkstone	13	15	24	14	7	14	63
11	172847	Keith Wilkins	Chelmarsh	14	3	17	18	24	12	64
12	17059	Stephen Powell	Hayllng Island	19	10	7	24	29	10	70
13	163426	Paul Proctor	Paignton	12	35	16	6	12	29	75
14	167994	Nick Scott	Grafham	15	57	23	8	15	16	77
15	166606	Dan Ward	Frensham Pond	10	20	29	19	21	11	81
16	171965	Luke Cross	Royal Lymington	22	81	12	7	22	24	87
17	171892	David Royse	Frensham Pond	24	27	8	32	19	19	97
18	178076	Tony Woods	Stokes Bay	16	36	13	42	18	18	101
19	172163	Paul Hilliar	Frensham Pond	41	6	33	22	27	21	109
20	167842	Bob Cudmore	Paignton	42	21	25	20	10	34	110
21	171777	Steve Birbeck	Paignton	11	56	27	17	39	22	116
22	172357	Mac Courts	Stokes Bay	23	81	14	12	20	49	118
23	167786	Edward Greig	Hayling Island	25	34	38	9	14	39	120
24	167968	Matt McGovern	Ballyholme YC	20	37	36	21	17	26	120
25	165639	Barney Procter	Cardiff Bay YC	27	24	32	31	32	8	122
26	167595	Richard Williams	R Harwich	18	26	46	11	35	36	126
27	170208	Nick Houchin	Burghfield	34	25	40	30	26	13	128
28	167937	Ian Falcon	Bristol Corinthian	21	16	45	36	16	43	132
29	164759	Mark Mellors	Ogston	17	9	28	45	36	81	135
30	164481	Matthew Bell	Frensham Pond	29	28	48	26	28	27	138
31	164793	Tim Pearse	Stokes Bay	47	11	15	46	33	40	145
32	165514	Robin Row	Penzance	31	81	81	13	8	17	150
33	168725	Alex Knight	Chew Valley	44	31	20	28	47	28	151
34	172006	Mark Mulrooney	Datchet Water	49	33	42	27	25	25	152
35	166440	James Briggs	Guernsey	46	81	6	53	23	31	159
36	170861	Will Hemsley	Burghfield	38	32	39	35	46	23	167
37	171914	Nick Livingstone	Oxford	36	41	31	38	31	35	171
38	161557	Toby Ashton	Starcross	81	19	35	34	40	46	174
39	172164	Andrew Bowes	Chipstead	26	30	34	44	48	41	175
40	172347	Phil Kennard	Bewl Valley	43	61	81	25	30	20	179
41	133327	Richard Horn	Weston	35	44	41	29	41	33	179
42	167853	Ben Swann	Parkstone	48	52	21	37	37	42	185
43	172600	Nick Carus	Datchet Water	30	81	44	39	43	30	186
44	166605	Matthew Dry	Burghfield	32	39	30	41	60	48	190
45	154729	Andrew Wilde	Ogston	55	13	51	50	42	44	200
46	172844	Simon Cray	Hollowell	39	43	18	43	61	64	204
47	85106	Hywel Poole	Port Dinorwic	50	46	19	63	45	45	205
48	170221	David Nelson	Ballyholme YC	33	40	50	40	44	63	207
49	170606	Simon McCarthy	Fishers Green	45	23	53	51	56	38	210
50	168934	Luke Chapman	Paignton	28	38	37	81	34	81	218
51	161357	Robert Hardwick	Papercourt	70	29	58	49	38	50	224
52	165219	Tim Granger	Papercourt	37	17	22	81	81	81	238
53	160550	Oliver Bush	Weir Wood	40	49	81	64	54	37	244
54	123957	Richard Anderton	Weston	53	42	55	52	51	52	250
55	165485	Dave Pilkington	Stokes Bay	59	22	54	60	63	68	258
56	130463	Angus Nicholson	Oxford	54	58	59	58	66	32	261
57	170599	Ian Morgan	Weston	56	81	43	47	65	56	267
58	170438	David Woolf	Weston SC	52	60	52	55	49	59	267
59	146900	Jon Smith	London Corinthian	60	51	61	54	53	53	271
60	155969	Tom Corfield	R Lymington	67	47	62	56	52	55	272
61	169034	Mark Andrews	Largs SC	61	59	63	33	58	62	273
62	154841	Stephen Brian	Plym YC	51	66	60	57	59	54	281
63	146589	Tim Uren		68	45	47	65	68	60	285
64	172348	Gordon Belcher	Wilsonian	63	62	64	75	57	47	293
65	166704	Joel Burchett	Locks	64	53	65	61	50	81	293
66	158114	Christopher Cant	Weston	66	54	56	59	64	61	294
67	123625	Nick Royse	Frensham Pond	72	67	49	48	67	69	300
68	143754	Tom Smith	Papercourt	65	50	71	66	62	58	301
69	164877	Edward Stevenson	Dabchicks	58	48	57	71	75	73	307
70	167775	John Shorrocks	Llandudno	76	55	68	69	74	51	317
71	141555	Stuart McCartney	Helensburgh YC	81	64	67	70	71	57	329
72	126076	Glenn Andrews	Largs	62	65	66	73	73	66	332
73	170234	Paul Connell	South Cerney	71	63	69	67	76	65	335
74	144533	Henry Bagnell	Dittisham	73	81	72	62	69	67	343
75	122217	Dean Jung	Sutton	81	81	73	68	55	71	348
76	161785	Jonathon Higgins		75	68	70	74	72	70	354
77	139859	Joe Goyder	Oxford	74	81	74	72	70	72	362
78	146413	Jeoff Wyatt	Scaling Dam	57	81	81	81	81	81	381
79	52440	Alan Bristow	Chew Valley	77	81	81	76	77	74	385
80	135843	Oliver Wyatt	Scaling Dam	69	81	81	81	81	81	393