ILCAs in the Frostbite Series 2023/24 at Queen Mary Sailing Club - Week 6

A promising forecast of 10-15 knots prompted 24 ILCA 7s to take to the start line at Queen Mary SC, despite a number of absentees already out at the ILCA Masters Worlds in Adelaide.

Class Captain Tony Woods was looking to consolidate his lead at the top of the Frostbite series, while the fleet was again joined by celebrity adventurer Stick Daring (aka Neil Peters) who travelled up from Pevensey.

Wind direction was SE, meaning the upwind leg was directly into a low winter sun making the windward mark hard to spot. The start line seemed pretty square up until the final minute, when a small number spotted a pin-bias and made a dash for that end. Rupert Bedell got away cleanly at the pin, crossing the fleet to lead up the first beat as the breeze softened. After a few minutes the windward mark became visible, placed very far up the reservoir making this one of the longest legs in QM club racing memory.

By the weather mark, the fleet had spread considerably and Bedell had a 20 boat-length lead from Marcus Bird, which remained in place down the run. Tony Woods came through from 4th to 2nd on the downwind leg, showing excellent light wind boatspeed. Back upwind, the top order remained the same as shifts were minimal, but Woods was now pulling away from the rest and closing the gap to Bedell. Sailors were straining to spot patches of pressure looking upwind into the sun, but the reality was it was dying uniformly across the reservoir.

On the next downwind, the leading boats slowed up as the wind died altogether, but a little extra pressure behind brought the fleet closer together. Woods sailed well to continue to close the gap and nosed ahead by the end of the 2nd reach. The RO took the sensible decision to end matters there, so Woods took the win ahead of Bedell, with Marcus Bird taking 3rd place ahead of Andrew Whittaker in 4th and Tom Nash 5th.

The breeze returned in time for the second start, and Bedell was away again at the pin end and led up the beat in light breeze. Steve Pears was well placed for a left handed shift at the end of the beat, and rounded first followed by a pack of boats including Bedell, Neil Peters, Gary Bullock and Tony Woods. Once again the wind frustratingly died on the downwind, with Woods heading for shore for a music gig.

As the fleet drifted along, a line of dark blue was building on the far shore and the sharper-eyed sailors took evasive action to get across to pick it up first. By the time the wind arrived however, the RO had taken the decision to finish the race at the leeward mark. Steve Pears kept a cool head and stayed comfortably ahead throughout taking the win, behind him there was some confusion as some sailors rounded the leeward mark expecting another leg while others went for the finish line. The rest of the fleet crossed the line in close proximity; Bedell was OCS, while Whittaker had another strong result in 2nd, taking the overall win for the day. Gary Bullock, Mike Pryor and Neil Peters closed out the top 5.

A slightly frustrating day given the great forecast which failed to materialise, but great racing across a 24 boat fleet nevertheless.

Finally, best of luck to the Queen Mary sailors representing the club at the upcoming ILCA Masters Worlds in Australia, with several club regulars making the long journey to compete with the world's top masters.

Results can be found here.