Predictable winners

Eddie Mays reports from this weekend's Royal Plymouth Corinthian Laser Qualifier

Conditions for the second of the Spring Qualifiers sailed in Plymouth Sound last weekend were very different from those in the Solent a fortnight ago for the 72 Standard rigs and 83 Radial rigs that made the long trek to the West Country.

A strong and increasing southwesterly breeze blew against the ebbing tide to give swell conditions estimated at about 4ft (1.25 metres) high. PRO Ken Falcon had to use the Black Flag to enforce clean starts and a number of top names suffered. The fleets' problems were somewhat exasperated by the lack of a blackboard after the first General Recall and, in retrospect, Ken Falcon admitted that the gybe mark could have been better placed during the first race. But despite these problems three races for each rig were completed on Saturday.

By Sunday morning the wind had increased to over 30 knots and at 1000 the decision was made to cancel all further races. This left the overnight leaders, Paul Goodison (Standard) and Jon Emmett (Radial) at the top of their respective ladders. The third, and final, Spring Qualifier is at Pwllheli in two weeks' time. But it is the Olympic Trials at Weymouth that will decide who represents Team GBR and the class at Athens in August.

Standard Class by Andrew Commander

Apart from the rain it was some of the most enjoyable sailing at a qualifier for a long time! The strength of the tide inevitably led to many general recalls with some of the top guys getting caught out. Once the fleet waited for the radials to start, everyone held back enough to get a clear start away with the pin end being favoured. The left side of the beat paid considerably with Andrew Commander realising that, due to the tide, the port layline could be reached very quickly. Commander led comfortably at the windward mark from a group who had over-stood the mark by a long way. Mark Howard showed great pace on the long reaches to catch right up to Commander by the leeward mark.

Commander and Howard played the shifts up the middle of the course on the second beat with Commander remaining just ahead of Howard, while Dan Holman was beginning to catch up having caught a nice lift on the left hand side of the beat. A poor windward mark rounding from Commander let Howard inside him on the run and that was enough for Howard to take the victory from Commander and Holman.

Race 2 started with more general recalls as the tide underneath the fleet began to build even more. Once again the pin end was favoured with the left side of the beat paying heavily again. Mark Powell won pole position at the pin and crossed the fleet, anxious not to over-stand the port layline for the windward mark. However, the boats that went slightly further left were able to foot into the windward mark and use the added speed to get over the swell better. The leading eight boats all arrived at the windward mark within five boat lengths so the slightest mistake led to an immediate loss of a place. Paul Goodison was just leading at the windward mark from the rest of the pack. He continued to lead down the reaches with Holman close on his heels.

The second beat saw Goodison being hauled back slightly by the rest of the fleet. He didn’t go quite far enough left as the Radials coming down the run were getting in his way. Goodison then moved up a gear on the run to the finish to take the win comfortably. Stephen Powell came in second, while older brother Mark Powell avoided Commander, who was having a quick swim, to come in third.

The final race of the day got away with everyone piling up at the pin end of the line waiting to hit out left. Hugh Styles managed to get through the starboard tack boats to judge the port layline perfectly and lead around the windward mark, while there continued to be boats overstanding the windward mark on port. Once again, the chasing pack of boats were all within inches of each other. Styles continued to lead down the reaches while Goodison and Holman were chasing hard to catch up. Up the second beat the wind started to swing left further as a rain cloud came over, then a squall pursued with a lot of boats finding the bear away and run rather challenging! It was Goodison that held his nerve the best to take the win from Holman and Styles.

Results:

Pos	Crew		Club	Tot
1	Paul Goodison		Ulley	2
2	Dan Holman		Torpoint Mosquito	5
3	Mark Howard		Stokes Bay	6
4	Hugh Styles		Downs	7
5	Stephen Powell	1st Youth	Hayling Island	8
6	Andy Brooks		Exeter Uni.	8
32	Alistair Green	1st Master	Beer	55

Radial Class – Jon Emmett

The first race really set the scene for the whole event. In 15 knots of breeze Jon Emmett led from the start, but managed to hit the top mark, and whilst completing his penalty was overtaken by Steve Cockerill, Campbell Davidson and Charlotte Dobson. However the leaders could not see the next mark and ended up going low. Cockerill was first to spot the mistake and headed up. Emmett who was just behind, managed to roll Cockerill and take the lead, Dobson suffered the most, but still managed to finish in eighth. Emmett pulled away on the next beat from Cockerill, with Davidson going left up the next beat, moving past into second and putting pressure on Emmett down the final run. Cockerill stayed in third, well clear of John Booth and Vincent Christan in fourth and fifth.

The sea was building for race two and the wind reached up to twenty knots. Emmett got into the shift first, to lead from start to finish, with Davidson once again in the runner up spot. Vincent Christan got his best result of the event with a third, just in front of Dominic Hutton in fourth. Dobson once again showed that girls can compete on equal terms, with a fifth. For the final race on Saturday the wind reached 25 knots and only one lap was sailed. There was lots of capsizing throughout the fleet and more than a couple of gear failures. Emmett grabbed the lead off the start and held it to the end, with the ever-consistent Davidson in second. Likewise Cockerill grabbed another third. James Royston sailed his best race of the regatta with a fourth from Mark Brewster.

Overnight Emmett led with two points from Davidson with four and Cockerill with six. The forecast for Sunday was even windier and the fleet was greeted with thirty knots of breeze. At ten o’clock the decision was made to cancel racing for the day, leaving the results to stand. Team Scotland (Davidson and Dobson) cleaned up the youth prizes first male and female respectively) with Davidson being the only Youth to make it into the top five overall, and Dobson the only lady in the top ten, a testament to the difficult conditions. First Junior and one to watch in the future was Evan Scott in 21st place.

There were of course no surprises that Cockerill was first master,

Results:

Pos	Sailor		Club	Tot
1	Jon Emmett		Weir Wood	2
2	Campbell Davidson	1st Male Youth	Largs	4
3	Steve Cockerill	1st Master	Stokes Bay	6
4	Vincent Christian		Ely	8
5	Dominic Hutton		Lymington	10
6	James Royston		Whitstable	11
7
8	Charlotte Dobson	1st Female Youth	Royal Northern & Clyde	13
21	Evan Scott	1st Junior	Grafham Water	41