Medway RC Laser Club Winter Series - Day 12
by Jamie Blair 29 Mar 12:48 PDT
29 March 2026
Close at the top for the last session of the Winter Series
The session today marks the end of our RC Winter Series and the change to racing/sailing larger yachts/dinghies; to sit on and make the same errors as the RC racing!
It was close at the top of the leaderboard with Tim Townsend (45) and Jamie Blair (51) in close contention. So would there be fireworks and a degree of match racing. Wind was fluttering between 6 and 10 knots at the start of the session with direction W - SW and even S for a short time. Potential for port tack fliers. B rig was the sail of choice.
The fireworks didn't happen in race 1 with Jamie offline with a mainsheet unclipped (so slow). Tim capitalised with his first win and Mark Penny (03) in his wake for second.
All was not lost with Jamie taking race 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Tim didn't let go matching all of these races with second places.
Race 3 saw the first of the port tack fliers by Roger Gibb (32) who held on from a chasing Tim and Tony Alexander (04). As the morning progressed the starts were sealed off generally for the port fliers with the pin end on starboard giving the block.
Race 8 saw Tim & Jamie close at the start with contact. Jamie took the penalty as windward boat despite a call of "didn't give me time to keep clear"! Tim went on to win that race and race 9 putting the two on equal points. Bob Woolford was showing he can start in the mix and keep his position with a third.
Race 10 saw Roger pick his way through the crowd to reach the windward mark first and keep ahead of Tim with another consistent second.
At the break Tim had a two point lead. Roger, Mark and Tony separated by three points.
After the break the wind speed was up to 15 knots. Most changed to C rig but Tim and Jamie chanced the B rig. Mark with his C rig took the win with another port flier. For race 12 Jamie now on C rig took this race and race 13. Tim still on B rig for race 12 saw the error of his ways and joined the rest with the smaller sail. So up and down was the wind and still swinging that sail choice was paramount along with taking each shift. Tony tried a D rig for race 14 but there was never enough to make it pay. His change back in race 15 gave a third place to count behind Tim and Mark. Jamie and Roger tangled at the top mark and needed a rescue to sort.
So going into the last race Jamie had a one point lead over Tim. Tim kept his consistency and logged a win, Mark second and Bob third. Applause to Bob for sailing really well today with several podium places in the individual races.
With the results computed and the three discards taken Tim won the day by three points from Jamie. Mark in third. This was a great result for Tim giving him the overall for the Winter Series, retaining the trophy for a second year.
Thanks must go to our race officer Fiona for keeping us in order through the whole series. Thanks also to all the sailors turning out in the cold and wind and sometimes rain.
We will be back in November.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Boat No | 30 Nov | 1 | 14 Dec | 2 | 21 Dec | 3 | 11 Jan | 4 | 18 Jan | 5 | 25 Jan | 6 | 1 Feb | 7 | 8 Feb | 8 | 22 Feb | 9 | 15 Mar | 10 | 22 Mar | 11 | 29 Mar | 12 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Tim Townsend | 45 | 1 | 60 | 1 | 66 | 3 | 56 | 1 | 60 | 5 | 59 | 1 | 60 | 1 | 60 | 3 | 62 | | 0 | 2 | 70 | 4 | 38 | 1 | 60 | 557 |
| 2 | Jamie Blair | 51 | 3 | 50 | 3 | 56 | 1 | 66 | 4 | 46 | 4 | 62 | 2 | 54 | 2 | 54 | 1 | 72 | 1 | 60 | 1 | 76 | 1 | 52 | 2 | 54 | 554 |
| 3 | Tony Alexander | 04 | 6 | 40 | | 0 | 2 | 60 | 5 | 43 | 3 | 66 | | 0 | 3 | 50 | 2 | 66 | 5 | 43 | 7 | 54 | 2 | 46 | 5 | 43 | 471 |
| 4 | Jon Moon | 84 | 4 | 46 | 2 | 60 | 6 | 46 | | 0 | 7 | 54 | 3 | 50 | 4 | 46 | 5 | 55 | 2 | 54 | 5 | 59 | | 0 | | 0 | 470 |
| 5 | Roger Gibb | 62 | 5 | 43 | 6 | 46 | | 0 | 3 | 50 | 8 | 52 | 5 | 43 | 5 | 43 | 6 | 52 | 4 | 46 | 8 | 52 | | 0 | 4 | 46 | 430 |
| 6 | Mark Penny | 03 | 2 | 54 | 4 | 52 | 5 | 49 | 2 | 54 | 6 | 56 | 4 | 46 | | 0 | 7 | 50 | 3 | 50 | 6 | 56 | | 0 | 3 | 50 | 422 |
| 7 | Bob Woolford | 76 | | 0 | 7 | 44 | 7 | 44 | 6 | 40 | 9 | 50 | 6 | 40 | 6 | 40 | 8 | 48 | 6 | 40 | 9 | 50 | 5 | 35 | 6 | 40 | 396 |
| 8 | Lucian Stone | 75 | | 0 | 5 | 49 | 4 | 52 | | 0 | 2 | 70 | | 0 | | 0 | 4 | 58 | | 0 | 4 | 62 | 3 | 42 | | 0 | 333 |
| 9 | Adrian Tomlinson | 30 | | 0 | | | | | | | 1 | 76 | | | | | | | | | 3 | 66 | | | | | 142 |