Laser Grand Prix Open at Bury Lake Young Mariners
by Craig Johnson 3 Mar 2008 23:29 PST
2 March 2008
With the weather near perfect; sunny, windy and warm (for early March anyway!), it must be time
for the Bury Lake Young Mariners Laser Grand Prix Open Meeting. With the wind fairly constant and
in a good direction for the lake, setting the course was simple and allowed the event to begin on
time.
The first race started with around 12 knots of wind. This enabled Toby Linnell (BLYM) in a radial to stay ahead of the full rigs of Edward Harrison (Waldringfield SC) and Gary Bullock (W.S.C) for the first 4 laps. As the wind moderated slightly however, Linnell slipped to 3rd. Harrison and Bullock had a short tussle after which Bullock got the win with Harrison in second.
Race 2 begun with a hard fought start, after which Bullock and Harrison assumed their usual
positions of 1st and 2nd respectively. Paul Knight (BLYM) finished the first lap in 3rd, but was soon caught by Linnell who took his place leaving Knight to take 4th.
The first 4 boats maintained their consistent form in the third race which ended Bullock, Harrison,
Linnell, Knight in 1,2,3,4 respectively. At this point in the regatta, James Barton (BLYM) and Chris Paterson (BLYM) were tying on points for 5th overall. Critically, Barton finished ahead of Paterson in this race which handed him 5th position overall on count back. Sam Flint (HYDRS) put in a good performance to pinch 5th spot, but it was too little too late to move her up the leader board.
At the end of the day, Gary Bullock took the overall regatta win and first Standard. Edward Harrison took 2nd overall and the first youth trophy. Toby Linnell was 3rd overall and first Radial. The first Lady trophy went to Sam Flint.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Rig | Sail No | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Gary Bullock | S | 174569 | W.S.C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Edward Harrison | S | 160532 | Waldringfield SC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Toby Linnell | R | 182537 | BLYM | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | Paul Knight | S | 16 | BLYM | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | James Barton | R | 5 | BLYM | 15 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| 6 | Chris Paterson | R | 182530 | BLYM | 5 | 6 | 7 | 11 |
| 7 | Richard Dixon | R | 162786 | Marconi SC | 6 | 7 | 9 | 13 |
| 8 | Sam Flint | R | 142236 | BLYM | 15 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 9 | Mike Herman | R | 182535 | R.S.C | 8 | 11 | 8 | 16 |
| 10 | James Hamilton | R | 182528 | BLYM | 9 | 9 | 11 | 18 |
| 11 | Dave Langston | R | 182532 | BLYM | 7 | 12 | 12 | 19 |
| 12 | Mark Gardener | R | 42007 | BLYM | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| 13 | Dee Osmond | 4.7 | 10 | BLYM | 11 | 13 | 13 | 24 |
| 14 | Ollie Smith | 4.7 | 12 | BLYM | 12 | 14 | 16 | 26 |