South East Laser Grand Prix at Chipstead Sailing Club

by John Masters 30 Apr 2019 17:15 HKT 28 April 2019

Chipstead Laser Open © Peter Gillow

Chipstead's Laser Open, part of the South East Laser Grand Prix Circuit, held on 28th April was blessed with some wind, but regrettably generally from a northerly direction which created some large holes and shifts making conditions difficult for not only the Race Officer in setting courses, but for the record turnout of 15 visiting boats supplemented by 10 club boats.

The two morning races were sailed in a wind which gusted at times up to 15 knots making for some planing. The Race Officer, Ric Lewis was able to set a course the length of the lake, although finding a decent beat proved difficult.

Chipstead Laser Open - photo © Peter Gillow

Race 1 saw an inevitably biased Committee boat end, and despite some testing the muddy shallows of the Lake, the racing was close, resulting in a win for Duncan Lawson (Weirwood) a few boat lengths ahead of David Goddard (Weirwood), with Simon Gillow (CSC) in third place.

Race 2 followed immediately and this time Goddard made no mistake, taking the win, with the Italian stallion, Sergio Messina (Bough Beech) in second, with the consistent Lawson and Gillow in third and fourth.

Chipstead Laser Open - photo © Peter Gillow

After a lunch provided by Lucas Catering, the Club's caterers, the wind unfortunately remained in the same direction as the morning but reduced in strength somewhat, although it did not get any warmer.

Race 3 saw Goddard win again to wrap up the meeting, but this time there was a new face in second, Matt Cox (Bewl Valley), with Messina managing a third, and Lawson again snapping at their heels in fourth.

Chipstead Laser Open - photo © Peter Gillow

The last race of the day saw Messina accelerate off the start line into a lead which was not to be lost, taking the win and securing second place overall, with Cox having another good result in second, and Goddard taking a leisurely third. Lawson was able to discard his result in this race, to take third overall.

The Radial fleet had 4 entries and was dominated by Callum Sarsfield of the home Club with three firsts.

There was one 4.7 sailor, Ed Rollestone (Newhaven & Seaford) who not surprisingly took home the prize for that category!

Chipstead Laser Open - photo © Peter Gillow

Many thanks are due to Ric Lewis and his hard working Graduate fleet team, for once again ensuring a successful and efficiently run meeting which left a number of sailors saying how much they had enjoyed coming.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
Standard Rig
1	214073	D.Goddard	Weirwood	2	1	1	3	4
2	197693	S.Messina	Bough Beech	4	2	3	1	6
3	205320	D.Lawson	Weirwood	1	3	4	7	8
4	197939	M.Cox	Bewl Valley	9	5	2	2	9
5	213572	R.Foster‑Taylor	Thorpe Bay	15	7	5	4	16
6	213052	D.Binding	Weirwood	5	6	10	5	16
7	164635	S.Gillow	Chipstead	3	4	11	10	17
8	208509	G.Field	Chipstead	6	10	7	6	19
9	207753	M.Dennant	Bewl Valley	8	12	8	8	24
10	213772	M.Graham	Chipstead	7	13	6	12	25
11	203324	P.Carter‑Haines	Bewl Valley	16	9	14	9	32
12	205892	R.Paxman	Thorpe Bay	14	8	18	11	33
13	210779	J.Masters	Chipstead	11	14	9	15	34
14	203311	A. Ross	Chipstead	12	11	12	13	35
15	200663	R.Levermore	Chipstead	10	18	16	14	40
16	210975	A.Smith	Thorpe Bay	19	17	13	16	46
17	178078	A.Johnson	Chipstead	20	15	15	17	47
18	150714	M.Dell	Thorpe Bay	13	20	17	18	48
19	147142	H.Warrington	Thorpe Bay	17	16	20	19	52
20	190995	P.Squires	Starcross	18	19	19	RTD	56
Radial Rig
1	143596	C.Sarsfield	Chipstead	1	1	1	DNS	3
2	141201	M.Vidler	Crawley	2	3	2	1	5
3	174959	D.Pearson	Chipstead	3	2	3	DNS	8
4	112147	T.Rakhimov	Chipstead	4	4	4	2	10
4.7 Rig
1	207462	E.Rollestone	Newhaven	1	1	1	1	3