ILCA Lakeland & Borders Grand Prix at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club
by Greg Liggins 19 Oct 00:20 NZDT
12 October 2024
ILCA Lakeland & Borders GP at Derwent Reservoir © John Evans
Nineteen ILCAs entered for the Lakeland & Borders Grand Prix at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club on 12th October 2024. The forecast of 12 to 28 knots meant some uncertainty over what conditions would be expected.
Competitors rigged up on the grassy lawns in bright sunshine and watched as the wind speed increased to gusts of around 25kts - evidentially it was going to be at the upper end.
Five back to back races were scheduled using a mix of triangle and sausage courses, and RO John Evans got the fleet away on time at midday. Races 1 to 3 were held in close to survival conditions and the fleet was decimated quite quickly. The ILCA7s could not compete on PY with the 4s and 6s. Spirit Alderson started as he meant to go on with a dominant race 1 win on the water in his ILCA6, closely followed by Matthew Summerville in an ILCA4.
Alastair Conn (ILCA7), Stuart Belfield (ILCA6) and Greg Liggins (ILCA7) completed the top 5 on the water and on PY, with 12 finishers in total. The same top 5 traded places for the next two races, with the addition of Dave Shilling putting in a good turn in race 3, but still not able to rein in Spirit.
The wind surprisingly abated somewhat for races 4 and 5, by which point there were only 7 and 6 finishers respectively. Spirit and Matthew continued to score strongly on PY in the slightly lighter conditions, resulting in a dominant overall event win for Spirit counting 3 wins in his tally. Matthew was second with Alastair in third.
Warm thanks were given afterwards to the RO for conducting a great day of racing in challenging conditions. The fleet look forward to the completion of the Lakeland & Borders series at Ullswater YC on 19th October.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Rig | Sail N | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 220823 | Spirit Alderson | DRSC | 1 | ‑4 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 4.5 |
| 2nd | ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7 | 218865 | Matthew Summerville | | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑4 | 8 |
| 3rd | ILCA 7 / Laser | 179022 | Alastair Conn | DRSC | 3 | 2 | ‑6 | 4 | 1.5 | 10.5 |
| 4th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 213580 | Stuart Belfield | | 4 | 3 | 4 | ‑5 | 3 | 14 |
| 5th | ILCA 7 / Laser | 223847 | Greg Liggins | DRSC | ‑5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 17 |
| 6th | ILCA 7 / Laser | 218043 | David Shilling | DRSC | 6 | 8 | 3 | 6 | (DNC) | 23 |
| 7th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 183115 | Charles Bragg | DRSC | ‑8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 26 |
| 8th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 188193 | Kevin Brown | DRSC | 7 | 7 | 8 | (DNC) | DNC | 42 |
| 9th | ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7 | 195846 | Nicola Leech | DRSC | 10 | 9 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 59 |
| 10th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 195850 | Shaun Billany | DRSC | 9 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 69 |
| 11th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 179822 | Matthew Coates | DRSC | 11 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 71 |
| 12th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 133423 | Zara Dryden | DRSC | 12 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 72 |
| 13th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 170196 | Richard Bevan | DRSC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 80 |
| 13th | ILCA 7 / Laser | 192498 | Andy Weatherspoon | DRSC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 80 |
| 13th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 154 | Julie Tomkinson | | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 80 |
| 13th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 120128 | Ian Malcolm | | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 80 |
| 13th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 179030 | Andrew Hewett | | (DNF) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 80 |
| 13th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 113986 | Rich Alderson | DRSC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 80 |
| 13th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | | Mike Saunders | | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 80 |
