Dinghy Buyer Direct ILCA/Laser Grand Prix at Bartley Sailing Club

Dinghy Buyer Direct ILCA/Laser Grand Prix at Bartley © John Ling

Dinghy Buyer Direct ILCA/Laser Grand Prix at Bartley © John Ling

Dinghy Buyer Direct ILCA/Laser Grand Prix at Bartley © John Ling

Bartley Sailing Club hosted their ILCA/Laser Grand Prix on 18th Sept and was blessed with sunshine and lots of wind. Sailors enjoyed some close racing in testing conditions with amazing courses set by our professional OD team headed by John Knight and assisted by Steve Hawley and Andy Bownes, plus many other club members helped.

Current GP series winner Andrew Allen (ILCA 6) and George Fereday (sailing an ILCA 4 as he prepares for the Nationals) set off to challenge the fleet. John Ling got a clean start and lead for most of the race until the last buoy, when the shorten course flag appeared and Les Druyf tacked off under him to claim victory! But after coming ashore the handicap times were calculated and George was in fact close enough to take the podium slot.

There were lots of place changes when sailors managed to read the shifts well, which seemed to be the topic of conversation over lunch.

Race two saw Mike Homer and George fly off the port end start line leaving the rest of the fleet bemused and therefore pressure was on. Les and John battled through to eventually get in front and pull away, leaving Ollie Ridgeway, Neil Crosby and Simon Hardiman to fight it out.

This time on handicap John won with Les second but again George was there in third.

The last race started in blustery winds and this challenged all the fleet. Neil and Nils got great starts and were showing the fleet around, but soon Les came back strong and Ollie and Simon lost their command; this allowed for a huge battle to commence at the front which finally included John who came back strong. George Panter was up there in the mix along with Andrew Allen and Megan Hardiman who were in their ILCA 6s so were sailing brilliantly using their handicap.

When the final scores were reviewed Andrew and Megan came first and second with first-past-the-post Neil in second and John clinching fourth.

The prize-giving was well supported and all sailors stayed to thank and cheer our sponsor Dinghy Buyer Direct for the new sail, Combi bag, raceskin, bailers and many other goodies. Richard Bake and Ollie were delighted to walk away with the top prizes. Everyone was a winner today as they got a prize including their personal bandana.

Overall Results:

Dinghy Buyer Direct ILCA/Laser Grand Prix at Bartley - photo © John Ling