RC Laser open event at West Lancashire Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson 15 Mar 2022 23:15 NZDT
6 March 2022
RC Laser open event at Wes Lancs © Alan Tickle
You could be excused for wearing sun cream at West Lancs and it was well advisable for a gorgeous day outing with the Lasers. The chance of there being more than a handful of skippers was looking less likely as this was only their second outing in a very long time.
The wind was forecast 9MPH-ish and coming from the east, so Alan had already preset a course just outside the clubhouse. Initially we had a mark and spreaders at both ends, but the leeward extra along with an outer wing mark were soon dropped to simplify the course.
Shaun offered his services to be the scorer for the fleet. As it was whoever was first back to take note and it was his privilege for the day. A couple of new local faces to those that had travelled in and it must have been nearly two years since the club had hosted an Open due to all that has been going on in the world, so it was going to be great just to sail the waters again.
Shaun was straight on to his winning streak and the first race was just head east, back through to the leeward, another lap and finish. We then made the rest of the races 3 laps including the start and finish section.
Ken came along for a short Laser dip part way through the day, just to check out his gear.
The sails we were all using were the B rigs until just before lunch. Tony and John Armstrong then went for the tall rig and it worked well for them. Shaun had still pipped that race, as John had miscalculated a finish and Tony stalled. The next race Shaun joined us Big, but stripped a winch gear so was out for 2 races.
The latter couple of races had Alan and Steve eventually making good gains through the fleet, but on Alan's best race, he decided to miss the windward mark for a second time. Shaun had also, unusual for him, missed the same mark a couple of times but took the day still with plenty of ease.
It was great to sail again at Southport and we had made 10 races. Also good to see the incoming road has had some nice new resurfacing work done. Usually quite a bouncy road and not too pleasant straight after your breakfast.
Results:
1 Shaun Holbeche 8 pts
2 Tony Wilson 14 pts
3 John Armstrong 20 pts