Medway RC Laser Winter Series 2018-19 - Round 9
by Jamie Blair 3 Feb 2019 14:34 PST
3 February 2019
Medway RC Laser Winter Series round 9 © Jamie Blair
Having lost round 8 to very high winds we were not going to let a bit of snow stop the racing. Again a stark contrast in the weather here gusty winds of 28-32 kts were replaced by NW backing W 8 12 kts.
We welcomed two new sailors to the fleet John Stevens sailing Tony Owens boat and Roger Gibb with a new boat to the fleet. It was a baptism of fire for the new racers with the keenness of the first start. The "A" rig was the sail of choice and after a bit of mark moving the fleet crossed almost as one. Those down the line were pinned out to the port lay line in to the windward mark and with nowhere to go (apart from around the main trust of the fleet on the starboard lay line. Early tackers hoping for a lift were disappointed. Adrian Tomlinson took the advantage and lead from the 1st mark. Pete Freeman and Jon Moon chasing hard.
Race 2 saw more mark moving and a turnaround in fortune with Jamie making around the Triangle sausage course, keeping Pete Freeman at bay and Richard Stone and Mark Penny leading the second cluster.
The overall lead chopped and changed with Adrian, Jamie and Pete all taking it in turns to lead overall until the coffee break. Phil Walker and Jon Moon kept up the chase until Jon ran out of power. Brian Lev'y was always chasing the pack and a fifth in race 4 his best result of the day. David Townshend mastered some PB results with a second and a third place.
Coffee break brought some respite form the sun which made the wing mark and leeward marks often impossible to see. Sadly the downside of racing through the winter but at least the sun provided some warmth.
With a number of halts for mark moving to chase the wind the total race count was down to 11 and the last three races were to provide a change in front runner after each race. First Jamie was leading at race 9, then Pete at race 10 and with a final flurry and a change to "B" rig Adrian won the last race and after discards scored 19 points, Pete finished on 20 and Jamie on 21 points. Similarly the rune for fourth, fifth and sixth was down to the wire with Jon Moon on 42, Phil on 44 and Richard Stone on 46 points. DT with some best ever results took the seventh spot.
Our new racers were at the back of the fleet trying to transfer their dinghy and big boat skills to the handset always a challenge but John Stevens took away a fifth and a sixth place.
For the Winter series with eight rounds actually sailed Jamie is leading and followed by Jon Moon, Phil Walker and Pete Freeman. One discard is in place and with eight rounds still to go there is all to play for.
See you all next Sunday 10th February for Round 10. Details of location and start times on www.rclaser.org.uk/events
Round 9 Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 30 | Adrian Tomlinson | 1 | ‑7 | 1 | 4 | ‑6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| 2nd | 63 | Pete Freeman | 2 | 2 | ‑6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
| 3rd | 51 | Jamie Blair | ‑6 | 1 | 4 | ‑6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 21 |
| 4th | 84 | Jon Moon | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | (DNS) | (DNS) | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 42 |
| 5th | 48 | Phil Walker | ‑7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | ‑8 | 44 |
| 6th | 83 | Richard Stone | 4 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 4 | ‑11 | 9 | ‑11 | 46 |
| 7th | 58 | David Townshend | (DNF) | 8 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 8 | ‑11 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 56 |
| 8th | 613 | Andrew Nicholls | 5 | ‑10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | ‑10 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 64 |
| 9th | 958 | Brian Lev'y | 8 | 9 | ‑10 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | ‑10 | 66 |
| 10th | 3 | Mark Penny | 9 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 5 | (DNF) | ‑12 | 68 |
| 11th | 75 | John Stevens | (DNS) | 11 | 11 | ‑12 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 85 |
| 12th | 32 | Roger Gibb | 10 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 12 | (DNF) | (DNF) | 6 | 92 |