RC Laser TT and Northern District Open at West Lancashire Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson 11 Apr 2019 06:01 BST
7 April 2019
With a somewhat favourable forecast and a gentle breeze from the East, it was with excitement to whether we were going to get a bumper crop entry for Sunday's TT at Southport. The newly formed RC Laser gang at the Cardiff sailing centre's event had been cancelled due to nasty weather, so this would be the official start to the series.
Off to the start line and we only had ten skippers in attendance. Although it seemed a low turn out for a double scoring RC Laser outing, we had seven clubs represented from all over the country and two top star players to set the standard. Adrian being one of the mentioned, had a good start on the first race and he won it.
Race two and Dave got a flying start from the port end of the line and it was the right call as he was able to seal the win on that race. The start line always looked busy and we were sailing the typical triangle sausage course with just the one minute interval and all using the big sail.
We were treated again to a gate at the leeward end and both marks were actually being used as the shifts came through, so it must have been roughly in the right place. Most favoured the outer buoy but not always.
On to the third race and Dave had chanced his B rig as the wind had strengthened slightly. A few skippers followed in his choice, but it was wrong as the wind lessened again. Adrian was stringing a few wins together and Skip was coming in second. A tea break after the fourth race then we soldiered on until lunch break was called just as the wind looked like turning from the easterly to a south east direction.
The course and start line was adjusted and play continued. Dave was now also arriving home first and John Armstrong was mixing in with the favourites to come in second a couple of times.
Again Dave was tempted to drop a sail size and this time more skippers followed suit. Sometimes it may have been the right choice. Others kept on 'A' rig, either because they just couldn't be bothered or were happy to ride out the strong gusts.
The last couple of races had more swapping back and fourth, then just as it looked really windy, a seagull flock of about fifty in number were approaching. Only Adrian, Amy and Tony held on to their 'A' sails as it looked like we were going to be slap bang in the middle of a thermal. Adrian won the last race, so it may have been the right choice.
We had fourteen races and three individual skippers got firsts.
If you missed this day, don't worry as we have a list of at least eight TTs and also Northern events throughout the year with your best three to count for each of either series.
Overall Results: (top three)
1st Adrian Tomlinson 18pts
2nd Skip Reasor 27pts
3rd Dave Fowler 33pts