17/8/2014
Harken are proud to be Equipment Sponsors for this year’s
Laser Nationals, catch up on the daily events from this fantastic competition
here:
DAY 1: Sunday 10th August
Event
location: Largs S.C.
Report
from UKLA
Whilst
the big boats competing in the Seven Star Round Britain and Ireland race were
postponed and the Merlin sailors in Looe were playing beach rounders because of
Big Bertha the one hundred and fifty Laser helms in Largs were kept ashore for
lack of wind. Eventually in the early afternoon a Northerly breeze about 10-12
kts arrived to allow all three fleets to complete two races in a fine Scottish
drizzle. All starts used a common trapezoidal course laid near Great Cumbrae.
There
are a very healthy percentage of youth sailors in the standard fleet this year
and it was Ireland’s youth sailor Dougie Power who took the first gun ahead of
Alistair Goodwin and Anthony Parke. Jack Aitken, having finished fourth in race
one, then showed the others the way home in the second race to lead overnight.
Next away were the Laser 4.7 fleet and they also used the outer loop of the
trapezoidal course but with a shortened windward leg. Nearly forty percent of
this fleet have made the trip across from Ireland and so it will be very
interesting to see who wins out overall. The first race was a close run thing with
the British pair Alex King and Aaran Holman just holding off the challenge from
Ireland’s Nicole Hemeryck. Aaran improved his place, by one, in the second race
whilst Alex had to be content with third and second overall.
With
nearly ninety Radials entered the decision was made to split the fleet into two
starts and race the first half of the week in a Round Robin format. If today’s
results are anything to go by this could be one of the most exciting week’s
racing for a long time. Each start had a different winner and at the end of the
day three helms, Jon Emmett, Scotland’s Jamie Calder and Ireland’s Liam Glynn;
were all tied on three points.
The
Championship is being sponsored by Neil Pryde ably assisted by Harken UK as the
equipment sponsors. Racing continues until Friday and with brighter conditions
but stronger winds expected on Monday the fun has just begun.
DAY 2: Monday 11th August
Conditions
were undoubtedly tougher for all the competitors today as the tail end of the
bad weather swept across the north of the UK but there were not the excessive
gusts that the GP 14s suffered in Ireland. We hope that everyone over there is
now fully recovered and their championships continue successfully.
Overnight
the wind had backed to Westerly and, whilst the mean wind speed was about twenty
kts, the gusts were up to twenty four kts and the lulls down to ten kts. The
change in wind direction was a definite advantage enabling the Race Officers to
complete two races for all the rigs. The start line was laid just off the
clubhouse, to the delight of the spectators, and the trapezoidal course was
laid in the channel with the windward marks towards Great Cumbrae, giving as
much shelter as possible.
All
fleets used the outer loop of the course which helped with the allocation of
safety cover and as a further precaution and, to give greater safety cover, the
racing sequence was extended with only two fleets racing at any one time. Read
this slowly as I shall write it only once. The Standards were called afloat
first and started in their first race. Then the Radial Blue Fleet was released
and started. With the Radials on course and the Standards finished Race 1 the
sequence was repeated. Standards started, Radial Blues finished and then
started their Race 2. Standards finished Race 2 and sent ashore thereby
releasing the Laser 4.7 fleet to race. Finally the Radial Yellow fleet went
afloat and raced and apart from a couple of facial injuries and a small amount
of broken gear everyone was back in time for tea.
The
front runners in the Standard fleet had a very mixed day. There were race wins for
Cameron Tweedle and Sam Whaley but the most consistent sailor was junior helm
Hamish Munro with a 2, 4 scoreline. With four races completed the first discard
is allowed and this has enabled Alistair Goodwin to discard his Race 4 8th
place and lead overnight from Sam Whaley. Quite often the Laser 4.7 fleet has
one helm that tends to dominate the fleet. This year looks as if it may buck
the trend. Irish sailor Nicole Hemeryck sailed extremely well today to win her
first race and come 2nd behind 14 year old Milo Gill-Taylor in the
other race but both Arran Holman and Alex King are also sailing very
consistently and only a couple of points separate all three.
The
Radial Blue fleet starts were comparatively peaceful affairs compared to the
rush of blood to the heads of the Radial Yellow fleet helms where both their
races saw boats excluded by the ‘black flag’ rule. The most notable names were
Irishman Liam Glynn in the first race and Jamie Calder in the second. Jon
Emmett and John Booth are still slogging it out, as they have been for over a
season now. Both raced in the Blue fleet today and ended with a win and a second
place apiece to share the top of the leader board. They are joined on four points
by Jamie Calder, who like Liam has discarded his black flag result. Liam
brother’s Ryan is one point behind his sibling on six points. All very, very
close.
The
evening’s ‘entertainment’ was the Association AGM followed by the NeilPryde
Draw and the new Laser sail from Laser Performance was won by family member
Marshall King from Royal Lymington
There
are another six races scheduled before the end of the championship on Friday.
The regatta is sponsored by NeilPryde and Harken UK
DAY
3: Tuesday 12th
August
The
sun didn’t shine on Largs today until racing was almost finished and the wind
didn’t blow quite as hard as yesterday so all fleets completed another two
races in ‘damp’ conditions. The Race Team took all the fleets out into the main
channel to the north of Gt. Cumbrae and they used both the inner and outer
loops of the single trapezoidal course. The wind stayed at about 15 – 20kts at
260 degrees for the whole time but started to fade as the last fleet was
finishing
After
the first General Recall by the Standards PRO Ken Falcon brought out the Black
Flag for the rest of the day and there was a steady trickle of transgressors in
all the rigs during the racing, including one hapless but unnamed 4.7 helm who
managed a double black. Talking generally afterwards Ken remarked that in strong
breeze conditions races are very rarely won on the start line and with
virtually no tide during the first start sequence he was surprised at the
number of boats caught OCS (& black flagged).
When
the Standards did get away Alistair Goodwin improved his overall position by
taking the first gun ahead of Finn Murphy (not Irish) with Ireland’s Dougie
Power 3rd ahead of Sam Whaley. Alistair couldn’t repeat his success
in the 2nd race slipping to 7th behind the winner Jack
Aitken. Anthony Parke put behind him the disappointment of an earlier black
flag to come 2nd with Dougie & Sam again filling the next two
spots. Alistair, Jack, Sam & Dougie are very slowly putting a bit of
daylight between themselves and the rest of the fleet but with six races still
to go anything could and probably will happen. In the 4.7 fleet Arran Holman
had a day to remember as he took the gun in both his races but even these good
results leave him just 2 pts ahead of Nicole Hemeryck and 3 pts ahead of Alex
King who traded 2nd & 3rd places today. Milo Gill-Taylor is
hanging on in 4th place overall.
The
Radial fleet are still in their qualifying series, final day tomorrow, and if
anything the battle at the top of the leader board is intensifying. After
today’s racing none of the top ten boats are counting a score worse than 10th
and the makeup of this group is five GBR boats, three Irish helms and two
Israeli sailors, who co-incidentally are the top two Lady helms as well. In the
Blue fleet Jon Emmett and Jamie Calder led the way and had identical score
lines with a win & a 2nd apiece. They remain tied together on 7
pts. Tim Brow has been quietly accumulating 2nd & 3rd
places on a regular basis and he added two 3rds to his card and is 6th
overall. In the Yellow fleet the ‘unluckiest’ helm was John Booth. In the first
race he crossed the line first but found that he had been awarded a 20% place
penalty for breaking SI 10.7 (Holding area violations) – see SIs on the event website for
the full explanation. Ryan Glynn (IRE) took 2nd with Oren Jacob
(ISR) 3rd and another Irish helm Mark Bolger 4th. Oren
then went on to complete a great day’s racing by winning the afternoon race
from John (Booth), Liam & Ryan (Glynn) in 2nd, 3rd
& 4th respectively.
The
Radials complete their Qualifying series tomorrow and are then split into Gold
& Silver fleets for the final two days’ racing. The Standards and Laser 4.7
fleets are scheduled to have two races per day until Friday evening. The UKLA
is very grateful for the support it is receiving from the championship sponsors
NeilPryde and Harken UK. The full results can be found on the Assn website.
DAY 4:
Life
became much simpler for everyone today. The sun came out, look at the images if
you don’t believe me, the wind shifted slightly to the left (300 degs) and blew
at a pleasant 15 kts. All fleets went racing and completed two races each with
only one boat called OCS during the day. PRO Ken had had a chat with the
competitors at the morning briefing about the use of the ‘Black Flag’ after
yesterday’s numerous ejections. (I always want to put the words black flag in
apostrophes and with capital letters). The course was laid to the north of Gt.
Cumbrae and with the exception of one General Recall for the Standard fleet’s
second race it was great racing.
The
Standard fleet has a new leader after today’s two races. Anthony Parke took the
morning race ahead of Scotland’s Jack Aitken and Sam Whaley. Overnight leader
Alistair Goodwin had his worst result so far in 12th place, now his
discard. Alistair recovered well in the next race to finish 2nd
behind Sam and ahead of Finn Murphy and Toby Woodings, whose 4th
place was his best result so far. Sam has now moved into a 3 point lead with
Alistair and Jack tied on 27 points apiece. After tomorrow’s first race a 2nd
discard will be allowed and the top of the table could be even tighter.
The
trio at the top of the 4.7 fleet are very slowly pulling away from the rest,
although Milo Gill-Taylor is hanging on to their coat tails with another good
scoreline today. In the morning race all three took the top three places.
Ireland’s Nicole (Hemeryck) won from Arran (Holman) with Alex (King) 3rd
and Milo was 4th. In the afternoon Ireland’s Rory Fekkes put behind
him some his earlier disappointments to take a very good win with Abbie Back
also coming from the middle of the fleet to take 2nd ahead of Milo
(3rd) and Alex (4th). Arran used his discard to get rid
of his 15th place. Least said, soonest mended. However, Arran does
have a 2 point advantage over Nicole with Alex a further 3 points adrift with
four races and another discard to come.
Now the Radials have finished their Qualifying Series they will race the final two
days in Gold and Silver fleets with the two fleets split evenly at 43 boats
each. The discard allowances now get a little more complicated (Oh Vey!).
Unlike the Standards and 4.7s who, after nine races, can discard their worst
two scores the Radials are allowed two discards but only one from the final
series of four races. This has been known to have a significant effect in past
championships.
In
today’s racing Jon Emmett and John Booth were both in Blue fleet whilst Jamie
Calder, Ryan and Liam Glynn were in the Yellow fleet. John Booth took both
winning guns in Blue with Jon Emmett coming 2nd in both. Behind this
pair Oren Jacob and Tim Brow finished 3rd and 4th in the
morning and 4th and 3rd in the afternoon. In the Yellow
start Ryan (Glynn) recorded two 2nd places, Jamie (Calder) won the
morning race and Liam (Glynn) took the gun in the afternoon.
The
overall table now has the following seven helms in the best position:
1st Jon Emmett 11 pts
2nd John Booth 13 pts
3rd Ryan Glynn 15 pts
=4th Jamie Calder, Liam Glynn and Tim Brow 20 pts
7th Oren Jacob 25 pts
The
Silver fleet is headed by Hamish Eckstein with the next seven places separated
by only 17 pts, which is nothing in terms of overall position from hereon in.
Day 5: Thursday, 14th August 2014
Report from UKLA
Today
turned out to be a long day and, in the end, a rather disappointing day for
some of the competitors. When the Race Officers went afloat in the morning
there was NW’erly 7 – 8 kt breeze that looked to be fairly steady. With all the
Lasers on their way to the start area the wind died completely and there was no
alternative but to send everyone back. For the next couple of hours it was just
a matter of sitting and waiting. After a late lunch the
wind returned from the same direction, 300 degrees, and at a healthy 10 kts.
Racing got underway and for the majority of the afternoon went well. During the
second race the arrival of a large dark cloud from the north presaged an
increase in wind speed to 14 kts but then, as the Standards & 4.7s were
finishing their race, there was a massive wind shift from 300 to 110 degs. The
Radial Gold fleet was badly affected by this change and there was an appeal for
redress by a group of the worst affected.
In
the Standard fleet Anthony Parke scored his 2nd win of the week in
the first race ahead of Oliver Davenport & Geoffrey Sherwood. Alistair
Goodwin edged Sam Whaley for 4th place to keep the pressure on the
leader. With nine races completed the 2nd discard kicked in and,
whilst not affecting the top of the leader board too much, it undoubtedly
helped Sam to consolidate his position when he won the 2nd race of
the day. Oliver had another 2nd place ahead of Craig Williamson in 3rd.
Jack Aitken and Alistair rounded out the top five places. Nothing is clear cut
but almost certainly the winner of this fleet will come from the top 3; Sam,
Alistair and Jack. It will depend on who makes the least mistakes, as usual.
The
Laser 4.7 fleet were also relatively unaffected by the wind shift. In the first
race Alex King took the gun ahead of Ireland’s Emily Hill, her first top five
finish of the week, with Milo Gill-Taylor 3rd and two more Irish
helms Ben Martin and Anna McNulty filling out the Top 5. For the 2nd
race the wind had moved enough at the end for the boats to have to beat to the
finish line but the order had already been established and the results were
fair. Arran Holman held off Alex for the win. Ireland’s Rory Fekkes finished 3rd
ahead of Josh Haynes, recovering from a poor patch in the middle races, and
Nicole Hemeryck. Again it is hard to see the winner coming from anywhere but
between the top three; Arran, Alex or Nicole.
The
next fleet to finish were the Radial Silver fleet. Hamish Eckstein had started
the day with a small lead over the others. He widened the gap further when he
won the first race. He was followed home by another youth sailor Hugh Braidwood
and junior helm Jack Shepherd. In the second race the PRO decided to shorten
the race after three legs as the wind had shifted and was fading. Sawa
Tretyakov took the gun but, unnoticed by the finishing recorders, Hamish had
already rounded the mark and was on the next leg. Hamish requested and was
granted redress. Sawa retained his single point score, which lifted him to 4th
overall. Hugh came 2nd (5th o/a), Will was 3rd
(2nd o/a). Hamish goes into the final day’s racing with a 30 point
lead and would need a disaster to be overtaken.
Today
was the start of the final series for the Gold fleet and matched all the top
sailors for the first time. John Booth has been sailing extremely well all
week. Even Jon Emmett admitted that John was probably the fastest boat in the
fleet and, apart from his blemish in Race 5, has scored nothing but ones and
twos. It was the same in the first race John takes the gun ahead of Jon. Ryan
Glynn maintained his 3rd place overall by finishing 3rd.
The fun really started in the last race. With the fleet well into the race the
180 deg wind shift caused major upsets. To quote from the bible, Mark 10:31
“But many who are first will be last, and the last first." After everyone had come ashore there was a
‘mass’ request for redress and after due consideration by the Protest Committee
a Solomon like judgement was made to retrospectively abandon the race and hope
to re-sail it tomorrow.
At
the end of a long day afloat the day still had more to offer. After the Protest
Hearings, by popular request, Jon Emmett ran a master class for a large
audience and then followed that up by acting as Draw Master for the Harken
prizes and the second Laser sail. He was so tired after all this
extra-curricular activity that he had forgotten the name of the winner by the
time I caught up with him late into the night.
The
championship concludes tomorrow after two final races with the overall prize
giving. The event is sponsored by Neil Pryde and Harken UK and the full results
can be found on the UKLA website.
Day 6: Friday, 15th
August 2014
In
a week that started with the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha and then gradually
moderated until by Friday there was just enough breeze to allow all four fleets
to get in the two races necessary to complete their full racing programme. Only
the Radial Gold fleet ‘lost’ a race on Thursday evening. The titles in three of
the fleets was not decided until the Friday’s races. Only in the Radial Silver
fleet had Hamish Eckstein a comfortable lead over his rivals going into the
final day and he further improved his score line by winning both of his races.
It was also consistent results on the final day that gave Scotland’s Jack
Aitken (R.N.C.Y.C.) the Standard title, Jon Emmett (Weir Wood) the Radial title
and Arran Holman (Hollowell) the Laser 4.7 title.
Although
numbers in each fleet were down this year it was good to see a strong
contingent from Ireland on the water and whilst not taking any of the major
prizes they were well represented at the top of each fleet. There were far too
many prizes handed out to list them all here but they and all the rest of the
results can be found at the UK Laser website under the Results button.
The
Association would like to thank the club and all its staff and volunteers for
their organisation both on and off the water. This year’s social events were
really good. In particular, the sell-out Bar-B-Que and Grand Draw on Thursday
evening after a very long day afloat was well worth staying for. Thanks also to
Chairman Ken Falcon for acting as PRO and Dot Beadsworth and her team for doing
all the admin. Finally but by no means least of all our sincere thanks to
NeilPryde for being the Title Sponsors and for committing to next year’s
Nationals when the class return to the South Coast, also thanks to Harken UK
for staying on board as the Equipment Sponsors. Both these companies’
contributions added to the ‘overall experience’ of the competitors’ week.