Papercourt Weather

PSC Laser Open Meeting - Sunday 10 May 2009

Laser Open 2009 winners

Standard Report

The forecast hadn’t been looking too hopeful in regard to wind, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a bit of a breeze coming down the lake…  Didn’t last long though, as soon as the 18 home boats and 5 visitors were on the water the wind had dropped and was inter-dispersed with sharp, shifty little gusts.

Four races were contested for two fleets, with two back-to-back in both the morning and afternoon, the Standards went first, and then the Radials & 4.7s that raced together.  The first race saw a complete wind drop for the standards right at the start but Colin Smith, Dave Goddard and Russell Hayden found a little breeze up the left side of the lake and moved away from the rest of the fleet. The remainder of the race was a light wind affair with the odd gust and the three that pulled away finished in that order.

At the start of the second race there was slightly more wind and a few sharper gusts, the start saw several re-calls and it was Andrew Boyce that took the lead up the left side of the lake, after that the lead kept changing until 8 boats in line all looking for water at the leeward mark saw Colin and Dave pull ahead and again the race was taken by Colin, followed by Dave and this time Rob Hardwick took third.

Over lunch the wind started to fill in and the afternoon looked breezier.  The third race started with more wind, and again it was Dave and Colin battling it out at the front, then following up behind John Peck took 3rd over Rob who managed to nab 4th on the line from Daniel Francis.

For the final race the breeze filled in nicely with stronger gusts around 15mph or so.  At the start most of the fleet went left but the better wind was on the right and first to the windward mark was Daniel, followed by Rob, Dave and John.  Rob managed to get past Daniel on the second lap and it finished with Rob in 1st, Daniel 2nd, then Dave, John and Colin.

Overall Standard winner was Colin Smith of Papercourt Sailing club, full results below. 

Radial / 4.7 Report

The constantly changing wind speed and direction made for some exciting racing and a considerable amount of place changing during each race.  Peter Hamment led for much of the first race but was unlucky towards the end which resulted in a photo finish between Sue Michelmore and Sarah Smith, with Sarah just taking it and Simon Hamment in his 4.7 narrowly beating his brother Peter on handicap.  The eventual winner, Julia Beck, decided after a few laps that her time would be better spent doing some Spanish GCSE revision on the shore! 

There was less place changing at the front in the second race with Sarah winning fairly comfortably from Julia in 2nd and Sue in 3rd.  A welcome hot lunch was provided by Jill Hamment, Penny Boyce and Sue Whitehill which was enjoyed by all in the sunshine while watching the breeze fill in.

Julia took the lead early in Race 3, showing the rest of the fleet she meant business.  Sue, Peter and Sarah kept her on her toes though with some exciting challenges to the lead, but eventually finishing in that order.

Sarah needed Julia not to win the final race in order to secure victory overall and, although the lead changed between Sue and Julia several times, Julia won the race and the event.

A huge thank you to our sponsors, Guildford Marine, who provided a wonderful selection of very welcome prizes.

Standard Results

1st Colin Smith (Papercourt)
2nd David Goddard (Bewl Valley)
3rd Rob Hardwick (Papercourt)

Radial & 4.7 Results

1st Julia Beck (Papercourt)
2nd Sarah Smith (Papercourt)
3rd Sue Michelmore (Papercourt)

For full results click here

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