Laser 4000 UK Series Round 1 at Broadstairs Sailing Club

Action from the Laser 4000 UK Series Round 1 at Broadstairs © Dave Webb

Action from the Laser 4000 UK Series Round 1 at Broadstairs © Dave Webb

Action from the Laser 4000 UK Series Round 1 at Broadstairs © Dave Webb

If you were to draw up the components of an ideal “start of season” weekend then you might include some of the following: - moderate breezes, relaxed start times, continuous sunshine, sandy beaches, top race management, excellent curry, kiss me quick hats, great drinking games, no traffic wardens, B&B on tap & donkey derbies. Well the 4000 fleet descended on Broadstairs this weekend and had all of this, together with being hosted by possibly the friendliest club in the country. If you weren’t there you definitely missed out on an event that sets the standard for the rest to follow.

The first real event of the season is always interesting to see who’s new to the class, which ‘old hands’ have played musical chairs, and which new teams have the potential to upset the existing pecking order. A small delay for breeze on Saturday allowed some serious tea drinking and a chance to catch up with who’d been skiing where, before we went afloat for a 1pm start. Strong tides, light winds, and short courses are always entertaining in 4K’s and the leeward mark “left turn to finish” caught out a fair few of our number before we finally woke up and got it dialled down.

The top 10 of the fleet was packed with old hands – well at least in 4000 terms, showing that time in the boat gives you speed. An ‘honourable mention’ must go to the father and son combination of Jeremy & Oliver Short, from Bewl who showed they were contenders with a second in the first race, but then slipped back a little to finish as first newcomers with a 11th overall.

In 6th place Jody & Emma Warner sailing “On all 4’s” proved their speed in the lighter stuff with a 5,7,7 and rounded off their weekend with a bullet in the last race - cheerleading the beer drinking games is obviously good for your speed. In 5th place were Al Hodgeson & Kevin Reed, who were looking good with a 2,4,2 after 4 races, but then psyched themselves and had to count a ‘double-8’, which is only of use on the bingo card!

In 4th place fresh from running the logistics of the Newcomer Training @ Grafham were John Reynolds & Fran Howell, always quick in the lighter stuff, a shredded kite halyard didn’t help their overall scores on the Saturday. In 3rd place, Nick “First on the water” Alp switching to the front of the boat and sailing with Jon Rix managed the “zero to hero to zero again” in a challenging 1st race on Sunday where they were first round the windward mark despite returning due to OCS. A 3,3,4,3,3, shows their ever consistent form.

In second place, having had a bit of a lay-off last season Greg Eaton teamed up with Lizzie Edwards and despite not having sailed together before, rounded off Sunday with a 3,1,2 scoreline to move up to second. However not even that was enough to challenge the supremacy of Tom Glanfield & Kevin Barnard and their “use the force Tom” layline calls. Nailing every single one on Saturday and good speed gave them 3 bullets, and they followed this up with another ( (”lucky” according to Rix) win on the Sunday and a 4th to win by a clear margin.

So has the tone been set for the year? Will the Tom & Kev combination prove unstoppable or will Mr & Mrs. Baker, Tara & John, Hugh “put the nappies down” Watson, come out to show them how it’s really done? Who knows but the next instalment is @ Derwent Reservoir on the first May Bank holiday weekend, where more will be revealed.

The 4000 Class Association would like to give a big thank you to Broadstairs SC and its members for making us feel so welcome, and running a fantastic weekend. If you have the opportunity to go there this year then make sure you do!

Overall Results: