Laser Stratos Coaching & Open at Queen Mary Sailing Club
by Sophie Jezierski 8 Oct 2002 22:28 BST
28/29 September 2002
For the second year running Laser Stratos sailors converged on QMSC for a day’s coaching followed by an Open Meeting. Saturday’s coaching was more onshore than planned due to the wind’s no-show until late afternoon. We spent a profitable day running over gennaker rigging, boat tuning
and honing the five essentials before making the most of
the fitful breeze to brush up on our light airs sailing
technique (lots of people getting tangled up before the
mast and not a lot of kite flying but a definite
improvement in speed around the course) – and we still got
back off water in time for a quick drink in the bar
afterwards.
Sunday dawned brightly with the promise of better wind.
Seven boats competed with Stratos starts included in the
morning’s club racing. Stratos sailors soon demonstrated
their sailing skills but also revealed a shocking lack of
basic arithmetic as several boats sailed four laps instead
of the required three in the second race. The Race Officer
kindly pointed out our lapses only to be thanked by yet
another undercount in the final race that afternoon.
Verdict from the Race Officer: good sailing, terrible
maths. Verdict from the sailors: another enjoyable weekend
at Queen Mary’s – must get a foolproof lapcounter.
Grateful thanks to Charles Wand-Tetley and staff at QMSC
for running the weekend and making us so welcome and to
Laser for setting the event up. Particular thanks to the
Race Officers (and for advice and forbearance beyond the
call of duty) and Safety Boat (and for additional ferrying
services at lunchtime) and to Julian Pearson for his
excellent and accessible coaching on Saturday. See you all
again next year, meanwhile I’m off to my maths revision
classes: one, two, three … um ….
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm | Crew | Club |
|---|
| 1st | 296 | StratosFear | Doug Rivers | Chris & Michael Rivers | Leigh SC |
| 2nd | 454 | First at Last | David Harsant | John Diver | QMSC |
| 3rd | 239 | | Richard Ward | Tish & Chris Bryan | QMSC |