Medway RC Laser Club Winter Series Day 3

Medway RC Laser Club Winter Series day 3 © Fiona Blair

Christmas done and New Year too so a welcome break out to resume where we left off in 2022. The prospect of a damp outing was scotched by a window in the weather with a dry spell and 11 races completed. The wind at the first race was SSW with 12 knots but quickly ramped up to above 20 knots.

Great to see eleven boats on the water racing on our usual triangle sausage course. The line was set with some port bias but soon became starboard end favoured. With eleven boats there was always a cluster of boats vying for best spot. Some adopting a late (seconds) start to take hold of the most windward track.

On the gun for Race 1 all were using C Rigs. Mark Penny (03) started in the middle of the fleet a used all the space on that tack to get to the less rough water. Tacking on to port and making the windward mark first. The mark was some distance from the guys on shore so perception on lay lines was tricky. Some contact between boats was resolved by penalty turns.

He held on to this position to the finish followed by Tony Alexander (04) and Jamie Blair (51). Mark continued his winning streak with a win in Race 2, closely followed by Tim Townsend (45). Again the distance of the windward mark made racing interesting with places lost and won.

At Race 3 the wind strength led to one D rig but C rigs still won with Jamie (51) taking honours. Jon Moon (84) was rewarded with second after a difficult first two races. Lucian Stone (75), our newest member a well-earned fourth. Phil Walker (48) made his best showing of the day with a fifth.

The beat was shortened to allow better view of the top mark and reduce the potential contact. Race 4 and all had D rigs fully strapped down - Tim Townsend mastered the change with a win in this race and the next race. With the wind up to 20 plus knots and an increased wave height tacking became difficult. Lucian found the D rig difficult to use and attempted to race with the C rig but too much nose diving drew him back to the D rig and more of the steep learning curve.

Medway RC Laser Club Winter Series day 3 - photo © Fiona Blair

At the break Tim was leading the pack overall; Mark and Jamie on same points and only two behind. Jon a clear fourth with the remaining 7 within a point of each other.

Race 6 saw Jon Moon (84) take to the front. Small wind shifts and the shortened beat caused a few to overstand the top mark arriving on the port lay line with some tricky manoeuvring to do for the rounding.

Race 7 saw a change in the order of boats. The fortunate (well sailed) ones were Roger Gibb (32) and Spencer Pope (62). Spencer has been showing some excellent starting but missing out on top results so this was a welcome reward.

Race 8 saw Jamie and Tim in a windward boat tangle that saw them as DNF, even with Tim doing turns for the misdemeanour. Tony Alexander (04) had been sailing consistently all morning and pushed to the front at the right time to take the win. Jon Moon a close second, with Mark still chasing to add to his good results earlier.

Race 9 and 10 played out the same competitive racing with the start ultra-important and being able to tack in the waves - a touch of nerves spoilt potentially good results as the fleet could be seen passing boats stricken by the "No tacking ailment"! Jamie won both races but with Mark, Jon and Tim always snapping at his heals

Jamie won the day. Tim and Mark on equal points but on count back Mark took the second place.

Our next set of races will be on Sunday 15th January 2023.

Medway RC Laser Club Winter Series day 3 - photo © Fiona Blair

Overall Results: