UK Laser National Championships at Paignton S.C.

by UK Laser Association on 31 Jul 2009 On the penultimate day of racing at the UK Laser National Championship, the Standards managed two races in good conditions, less wind and more sunshine albeit with some showers.

Dan Holman (Torpoint Mosquito) won the day’s first race and had a solid fifth place in the afternoon behind Weston’s Ian Morgan. James Green (Beer – Club not drink) holds second place overall with Matt Reid (Spinnaker) having to discard his 20th place from the morning race. Will Harris (Queen Mary) maintains his lead at the top of the Laser 4.7 fleet after finishing behind James Parker-Mowbray (Frampton-on-Severn), Dan Bullock (Burghfield) and Ross Williams (Grafham Water) in the morning but then getting back to form to take the afternoon race from his main rivals.

The Radials started their final series with the fleet split into Gold, Silver and Bronze. In the Gold fleet the overnight leader Steve Cockerill (Stokes Bay) won the morning race from Jon Emmett (Weir Wood) and Richard Talbot (Royal Victoria). No surprises there. Jack Wetherell came in 10th to slip slightly. The afternoon was a very different affair. Only Emmett in fourth was near the front of the field. Richard was 11th, Jack 25th and Steve 26th!! Christian Townrow (Restronguet) who had been recording finishes in the top 10 took the gun with West Country helms Dan Ellis and John Currie second and third respectively.

In the Silver fleet the competition is even fiercer with no clear leader. After the first day Jamie Watts (Mosquito Torpoint) leads with a 5, 1 scoreline but in close order behind him are two Grafham Water sailors Richard Major (6, 6) and David Williams (1, 18 – discard). In the Bronze fleet Christopher Wheeler (Leigh and Lowton) has made a real charge for the finish line. He won both of the day’s races to lead Eleanor Sansom (Dabchicks) by a handful of points. The next few places are very close and any one of seven helms could be on the podium after today’s races.

The full results on the UKLA website, www.laser.org.uk

The provisional final results will be declared after the prizegiving this evening.

Previous Report:

With five World or European championships occurring within the four week period around and during the UK Laser Nationals it is not surprising that the numbers in all divisions was lowered than in recent years. A quick count up shows that there are 80 of the UK’s top helms away on international duty this week. However this means that there are opportunities for the best of the rest to show their true skills.

So far this week has been a tough work out for the competitors. Plenty of wind and not too much sunshine but the Race Management teams have been able to complete most of the scheduled races so far. Local sailor Dan Holman has been setting the pace in the Standard rig and apart from a blemish in Race 5 when he pushed too hard and was ‘Black flagged’ he has finished first or second in the other five races. Behind him Rob Spencer, Matt Reid and James Green are all contesting the other podium places and have each won a race.

The 97 Radials have been racing in flights so far and the fleet is now split into Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets. The top of the Gold fleet is an interesting mix of old & new names. Steve Cockerill has won all his seven races so far, including his discard. Allowing for a third place discard Jack Wetherell has matched him with six wins. Jon Emmett has had to discard his ‘black flag’ in Race 5c but is lying third one point ahead of Isle of Wight helm Richard Talbot. Kerry Morgan is one of six women helms that have made the cut into the Gold fleet. There are two days, and hopefully, four races to decide the overall title with all the main contenders in the same starts.

In the smallest rig, the 4.7s, Will Harris from Queen Mary S.C. has really take charge of the division. He has had a run of three wins and put a relatively large distance between himself and the chasing group. There is only 12 points between Michael Molloy in second and William Nicholls in seventh place.

The full results on the UKLA website, www.laser.org.uk