Laser 2000s in Wales

Hart and Pickard take honours

Hail, rain, bright sunshine, large wind shifts, a £4.60 charge to get into Wales, and no interest in Euro 2004 – it must be Cardiff!

19 boats converged on Cardiff Bay Yacht Club for the Millennium Cup Series Round 3.
The Race Officer informed the assembled that a triangle/sausage course would be set, with an upwind gate, and so the racing started in light and variable winds. Five minutes after the start a 180 degree wind shift turned the upwind gate into a downwind gate (causing a rules debate that raged on well into lunch). Skip & Chay Atkins and Mike Hart with Olly Pickard were so engrossed in tactics at the front of the field that they tried to lead several boats around the wrong mark, allowing Tim & Linda Hulley to finish in first and mid-fleet boats to gain valuable places. The final downwind race to the upwind gate finish line (!) caused one or two boats to come to grief, namely Richard and Sue Morley who capsized yards from the finish.

After a brief lunch the fleet braved a squall of hail and rain to make its way to the (reset) start line. Throughout the weekend the starts were very competitive demonstrated by a general recall in race two and three boats declared OCS at the restart. The race was taken by Skip & Chay Atkins, followed by Helen & Andrew Phillips, with Trevor & Caroline Bradley in third. Several near capsizes (including a "Timotei" hair washing event for Henley before Jamieson pulled him back on the boat) saw the retirement of a couple of boats from the days events.

The wind had built throughout the day giving challenging reaches on the triangular course with a few capsizes, and mutinous crews divided as to whether to carry the gennaker on the bottom reach. Consequently a reduced field participated in the final race for the day. In what was to be the pattern for the rest of the weekend, first place was taken by Mike Hart & Olly Pickard, followed by the Atkins and the Hulleys.
Going into the clubhouse at the end of the first day, competition in the top half of the fleet was particularly intense, with only two points separating fourth to tenth place.

After an excellent dinner provided by CBYC, discussion turned to the days events, the merits of Hull, hamster burials at sea, and Euro 2004 (for those still with an interest).
Sunday saw more consistent winds, but the new buildings under construction on the western shores of the bay gave some 'interesting' wind shifts at the windward mark. Races 4 & 5 saw Mike Hart and Olly Pickard and Skip and Chay Atkins engaged in some tense match racing at the front of the fleet, with Tim and Linda Hulley never far away. Race 6 saw Mike Hart and Olly Pickard cross the start like Russian footballers on performance enhancing medication. A commanding lead was maintained for the whole of that race, with the Atkins and Hulleys following them across the line.

CBYC commemorative glassware was awarded to the five winning boats, with Kodak sponsoring underwater cameras for the junior competitors (Karen/Mark Baldwin, William Sloper, Chay Atkins, Mark Henley)

Many thanks to CBYC for hosting the event and Rocky Banks/Ms Bedford for selling class merchandise.

1st 2806 Mike Hart & Olly Pickard Royal Hospital School 4pts
2nd 2022 Skip & Chay Atkins Stone Sailing Club 7pts
3rd 2854 Tim & Linda Hulley Weir Wood Sailing Club 9pts
4th 21072 Trevor & Caroline Bradley Littleton Sailing Club 15pts
5th 21033 Helen & Andrew Phillips Cardiff Bay Yacht Club 17pts