ILCA 4 Rooster / Noble Marine Qualifier 5 at the WPNSA
by Alex Jones 24 Oct 01:37 NZDT
19-20 October 2024
"WATER"...That was close, I only had seconds to spare, squeezing an opponent to go round the outside. It felt like I had just called 'Check mate', I love a good game of chess.
Patience, a great quality in chess but also a much-needed quality at the ILCA 4 qualifier. The Saturday saw westerly winds of 10 to 15 knots. It was an oscillating shift day, but the oscillations were quite long. Having patience was essential.
Like chess, waiting for your opponent to complete their move, the oscillating shifts sometimes felt like forever, but when it moved (the wind shifts) I tacked. If you found yourself making your move and heading out to the right and wanting to get back into the middle, you had to commit to that position until the wind shifted back to make maximum gains in the upwind. Staying connected to the middle was crucial so that any random shifts could be capitalised on, keeping you in the top percent of the fleet.
When I could, I'd line up a few set moves, tactically covering and tacking on top of people, then ducking inside at the marks. I stuck to my plan, patience with tactics paid off. I was consistent, no bullets but I had 3 thirds and a fourth. Others around me were going for gold, Kat Gunn, Ollie Atkin, and Thomas Saunders who all had a bullet (1st), but couldn't put consistent results in. I took the overall win by just being consistent at the top. Kat Gunn with her 1st, 5th and 10th managed to hold off Jess Powell and was the overall female winner.
Unfortunately, on Sunday, the wind called checkmate on us, with 50knts of wind. But predicting the opponents move, the race committee very sensibly decided to cancel the racing on Sunday earlier and did an amazing job of scheduling 4 races for all 3 fleets in the harbour on the Saturday. Excellent race management.
Shout out to all the other volunteers, without you the sailing game of chess couldn't take place. For me personally, I love a good snack on the water, so a special shout out from me to the food rib. For those new ILCA 4's, I've seen a few of you laden with dry bags and juggling water bottles in your boats. Next weekend, load them up, but this time take them to the racecourse but give them to the food rib, it has a white flag with 'FOOD' on it. Don't forget to put your name on it, otherwise I might be tucking into some extra snacks!
ILCA 4 male
1st Alex Jones
2nd Ollie Atkin
3rd Thomas Saunders
ILCA 4 female
1st Kat Gunn
2nd Jessica Powell
3rd Amelia Nuttall
A big thank you goes out to all ILCAuk's sponsors and a special mention to Rooster and Noble Marine who sponsored the weekend's racing.
Overall Results:
Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
1st | 217303 | Alex Jones | Parkstone Yacht Club | ‑4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
2nd | 211111 | Ollie Atkin | | 5 | ‑23 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
3rd | 197632 | Thomas Saunders | Warsash | 1 | 5 | (BFD) | 8 | 14 |
4th | 213140 | Katherine Gunn | Notts County SC / Draycote Academy | 10 | 1 | ‑19 | 5 | 16 |
5th | 211078 | Jessica Powell | Draycote Water Sailing Club | 3 | 12 | ‑15 | 2 | 17 |
6th | 222567 | William Moss | Barnt Green SC | 2 | ‑26 | 1 | 16 | 19 |
7th | 220151 | Ethan Rhodes | Warsash Sailing Club | ‑12 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 23 |
8th | 225637 | Robin Wright | Tynemouth Sailing Club | 15 | 4 | 7 | (BFD) | 26 |
9th | 186111 | Thomas Knight | | ‑20 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 27 |
10th | 222788 | Harry Mills | Saltash Sailing Club | 8 | 11 | ‑14 | 12 | 31 |
11th | 187036 | Kit Lester | Royal Harwich YC | ‑26 | 7 | 2 | 23 | 32 |
12th | 224335 | Thomas Semmens | Brixham YC / Paignton SC | 13 | 13 | 8 | ‑15 | 34 |
13th | 212233 | Amelia Nuttall | Neyland Yacht Club | ‑28 | 2 | 25 | 11 | 38 |
14th | 215413 | Holly Cole | Thorpe Bay Yacht Club | 7 | (SCP) | 26 | 7 | 40 |
15th | 224296 | Chloe Grayton | Notts County SC | 9 | 15 | 16 | ‑18 | 40 |
16th | 209134 | Tristan Harding | Frensham Pond Sailing Club | 6 | 24 | ‑32 | 17 | 47 |
17th | 222568 | Olivia Dembinska | Ullswater Yacht Club | 37 | 6 | (SCP) | 6 | 49 |
18th | 216958 | Callum Aldridge | HISC | 19 | 9 | ‑24 | 21 | 49 |
19th | 223826 | Sara Goujon | Hunts Sailing Club | 11 | 21 | ‑28 | 19 | 51 |
20th | 222576 | Finley Moss | Barnt Green SC | 17 | ‑40 | 12 | 24 | 53 |
21st | 212055 | Ava Harris‑Scott | Elton SC | ‑31 | 20 | 21 | 13 | 54 |
22nd | 219830 | Gethin Kelly | Llyn Brenig | 21 | ‑28 | 10.5 | 25 | 56.5 |
23rd | 216391 | Jacob Jull | | ‑32 | 18 | 13 | 26 | 57 |
24th | 189093 | Noah Mathers | Burnham Sailing Club | ‑25 | 25 | 23 | 10 | 58 |
25th | 208712 | Harry Whelan | Weirwood SC | ‑40 | 30 | 17 | 14 | 61 |
26th | 221852 | Ollie Rawlings | Lyme Regis Sailing Club | 24 | 17 | 20 | ‑34 | 61 |
27th | 207296 | Zachary Chappell | Parkstone Yacht Club | 23 | ‑38 | 18 | 20 | 61 |
28th | 219091 | Jasmine Pillon‑Simpson | Hailing Island Sailing Club | 18 | 10 | 38 | (BFD) | 66 |
29th | 209216 | Oliver Smith | HISC | ‑41 | 29 | 10.5 | 27 | 66.5 |
30th | 213658 | Alexa Atkins | Cardiff Bay Yacht Club and Barry Yacht | ‑44 | 36 | 5 | 31 | 72 |
31st | 198964 | Merry Lewis | Hayling Island Sailing Club | 16 | ‑32 | 31 | 28 | 75 |
32nd | 206192 | Felix Harle | Parkstone Yacht Club | 29 | 19 | ‑41 | 33 | 81 |
33rd | 212946 | Ben Angell | Draycote Water Sailing Club | ‑48 | 31 | 36 | 22 | 89 |
34th | 216402 | Jake Davies | Warsash SC | 14 | 42 | 34 | ‑50 | 90 |
35th | 222485 | Charles Wood | | 38 | ‑55 | 22 | 30 | 90 |
36th | 184840 | Lottie Eyre | Poole YC | 35 | 16 | ‑54 | 40 | 91 |
37th | 222777 | William Swann | Grafham Water Sailing Club | 33 | 35 | 30 | ‑46 | 98 |
38th | 212026 | Ellie Thwaites | Norwich School | 22 | 39 | 39 | ‑43 | 100 |
39th | 204005 | Max Guiguet‑Belcher | | 34 | ‑41 | 27 | 39 | 100 |
40th | 221799 | Emily Shearer | Clyde Cruising Club | 27 | 37 | ‑42 | 32 | 101 |
41st | 199495 | Alanna Starkie | Derwent reservoir sailing club | ‑45 | 27 | 40 | 37 | 104 |
42nd | 210611 | Kate Shelley | Largs SC | 30 | 34 | 45 | ‑48 | 109 |
43rd | 206428 | Sebastian Sitton | Warsash Sailing Club | ‑52 | 46 | 35 | 29 | 110 |
44th | 221322 | George Hutcheon | Burnham‑on‑Crouch Sailing Club / Corinth | 36 | ‑45 | 44 | 36 | 116 |
45th | 173537 | Ryan Surguy | | 46 | ‑53 | 29 | 42 | 117 |
46th | 212232 | Aedan Hadaway | | 49 | 33 | ‑50 | 41 | 123 |
47th | 125470 | George Hunter | Royal Harwich Yacht Club | ‑55 | 47 | 47 | 35 | 129 |
48th | 183038 | Ellie Bonar | Rutland Sailing Club | 39 | ‑49 | 46 | 45 | 130 |
49th | 180956 | Tayah Gilboy | Paignton sailing club | 43 | 43 | ‑48 | 44 | 130 |
50th | 215613 | William Haines | Gurnard Sailing Club | 42 | 52 | 37 | ‑53 | 131 |
51st | 185966 | William Adams | HISC | ‑54 | 50 | 52 | 38 | 140 |
52nd | 173611 | Meg Webb | Warsash sailing club | 47 | 44 | 51 | ‑52 | 142 |
53rd | 204720 | William Murphy | Cayman Islands Sailing Club | 53 | ‑54 | 43 | 47 | 143 |
54th | 206881 | Rory Murphy | Cayman Islands Sailing Club | 50 | 48 | 49 | ‑51 | 147 |
55th | 209991 | Dexter Corkin | Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club | 56 | 51 | (RET) | 49 | 156 |
56th | 212430 | Henry Moss | Downs Sailing Club | 51 | ‑56 | 53 | 54 | 158 |