Laser 4000s at Pevensey Bay

Hugh Watson reports on proceedings as difficult conditions produce a worthy winner

Its always refreshing when a fleet visits a venue which is new to them and when the Crewsaver Laser 4000 fleet turned up at Pevensey Bay they were delighted with what they found. A large area of open water, a nice clubhouse with bar and large veranda and plenty of on site camping makes this an ideal venue. The beautiful sunny weather helped as well.

Eight knots of breeze and a very strong tide made for a very one sided first race which was led from start to finish by Andy Palmer-Felgate and Jon Modral. They had headed hard right to get inshore straight off the start line and gained a 50m advantage on those boats who had started at the favoured port end and had to wait to be able to tack across. They were followed home by Pete Barton and Sally Cuthbert and John Reynolds and Fran Howell.

For the second race everyone expected that the same format would apply and there was a mad dash for the right hand side. Sailing is never quite like that though and Andy Palmer-Felgate and Pete Barton who had gone hardest right found themselves on the wrong side of a left hand shift and were right at the back at the first mark. It was at this point that Pete first started to impose himself on the event as he put his head down and worked extremely hard to make a recovery to 4th . Whilst Andy could only manage a 9th. The race was won by Derwent winners Al Hodgson and Kevin Reed in Robson Rhodes, but with their next best result being 9th they could only finish 12th overall. Mark Cam sailing with Pete Scott was 2nd on his way to 5th overall. Making a comeback from injury Team Control, Mark Cotgrove and Ian Gotts were 3rd. Combined with 2,4 in the other races this put them into a comfortable 2nd place overnight.

The wind then decided to have a little play to its self and died away before filling in from a new direction. The third race of the day was held in a very puffy and shifty breeze, which combined with a strong tide made for lots of place changing in the middle order. No doubts about the winner though as Pete Barton led from start to finish. Special mention for Jules Richards and Pippa Wheeler who were last around the first mark and managed to finish 7th. Overnight Pete and Sally led convincingly followed by the consistent showing of Mark and Ian. A long way back there was a large group very close on points all of whom hoped they had had their discard!

A very mellow barbecue and evening refreshments on the veranda then followed, all accompanied by Dels Amazing Disco!

Sunday turned out to be a perfect day for racing. A consistent 12 knots, enough shifts to keep you awake and bright sunshine was maintained for all 3 races of the day. Hugh & Helen Watson who have been strangely inconsistent all season showed their intention to improve on their overnight 7th place by leading the first race in a close tussle with Pete Barton. However Pete picked a couple of nice shifts on the last beat to steal the win from Hugh & Helen with Tom Glanfield and Rich Mayo 3rd. The first two places were repeated in the next race as well with Greg Eaton and CC Summerhayes 3rd this time. This all meant that Pete and Sally had already won with a performance a class above everyone else. Excellent speed and Pete's tenacious approach shone through. The battle for 2nd was much more open however. A combination of being slightly off the pace in the stronger breeze and some unconventional tactics meant Cotgrove and Gotts had been restricted to a 10,7 in the first two races. This left the door open for the Watsons and Andy Palmer_Felgate in the last race.

Andy did all he could to steal the place by leading from the start. He was helped by Hugh & Helen being OCS and having to go back, and Mark and Ian being caught on the left as the wind shifted right. However on the 2nd beat the left paid dividends and Mark pulled back up to third ahead of the Watsons in 5th. Pete Barton eventually managed to steal the win from Andy and Jon right at the finish which was all enough for Mark and Ian to keep their second place with Andy and John grabbing 3rd on count back.

Many thanks to all at Pevensey Bay sailing club for making the fleet feel very welcome and providing such a great venue. Thanks also to series sponsor Crewsaver who provided the excellent prizes.

1st Peter Barton - Sally Cuthbert Royal Lymington 6pts
2nd Mark Cottgrove - Ian Gotts HISC 19pts
3rd Andy Palmer-Felgate - Jon Modral Tamesis 21pts
4th Hugh Watson - Helen Watson Stokes Bay 21pts
5th Mark Camm The Scotts RAF Yacht Club 32pts
6th Christina Summehayes - Kevin Barnard Warsash 35pts