Laser 4000 Open at Grafham Water Sailing Club
by Mark Heather 7 Jun 2007 09:32 BST
2-3 June 2007
21 Laser 4000s turned up for a weekends racing alongside the Laser 2000 inlands and Laser Vagos. With the weather forecast not looking promising and with little or no wind the race officer did not hesitate in postponing.
It wasn’t until 1600 that we managed to squeeze one race. With the wind still being inconsistent the fleet tried their best to avoid the wholes in the wind across the race course. 1st to the windward mark was Chris Webber and James Dickenson followed by Mark Heather and Doug Horner. Downwind this turn around with the leaders sailing into no wind allowing the chasing pack lead by Hugh Watson and Susanna Bickford to overtake. With positions changing at every point of the course it was at last mark rounding that saw Heather and Horner take advantage to lead Pete Barton and Simon Knatchbull closely followed by Watson and Bickford.
Sunday, again brought light winds but looked more promising than Saturday morning. With the race officer having the difficult job of setting the course in the shifting and fickle winds racing got underway. Rounding the windward mark for the 1st time again saw Webber and Dickenson leading closely followed by Barton and Knatchbull. With close racing between the two Webber and Dickenson successfully managed to defend their leading position to take the line honours, closely followed by Barton and Knatchbull. Locals John Reynolds and Fran Howell sailed into 3rd however later found that they had missed the final gate handing 3rd to Watson and Bickford.
Race 3 was much the same at the front of the fleet with Webber and Barton battling for the front two places. An excellently sail first and second beat put Sarah Brewer and Rachel Franks right in contention in the top 3. Crossing the line was Webber 1st, Barton 2nd and Brewer and Franks in 3rd.
Race 4, the final race. First to the windward mark was Watson and Bickford closely followed was the battle between Webber and Barton with Webber covering to keep Barton behind. The finish saw Watson in 1st with Webber in 2nd taking 1st overall and Barton 3rd settling for 2nd overall.
We would like to thank the Grafham Water's race team and safety crews who did a great job considering the difficult conditions. This coming weekend is the last event in the Laser 4000’s UK series for 2006/07 which will be at Felixstowe. With this win for Webber and Dickenson it certainly puts them in good stead for the overall UK series win.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 4223 | Chris Webber | James Dickenson | Oxford and Cambridge | 4 |
| 2nd | 4462 | Peter Barton | Simon Knatchbull | Royal Lymington | 6 |
| 3rd | 4536 | Hugh Watson | Susanna Bickford | Stokes Bay | 9 |
| 4th | 4637 | Mark Heather | Doug Horner | Wilsonian SC | 12 |
| 5th | 4254 | Sarah Brewer | Rachel Franks | Cambridge University | 16 |