Laser Qualifier at Hastings & St Leonards Sailing Club

Forty-one Laser standards made the journey to Hastings for the final UK qualifier of 2007, and the last chance to qualify for the World championships due to take place in Australia in February 2008. The sailors were greeted with a chilly easterly 15-18 knot breeze with the tide flowing from east to west along the Hastings shoreline.

Race 1 - Max Holloway led from Paul Goodison at the windward mark having emerged from the right of the leading bunch who were trying to gain from a slacker tide on the left of the course and some favoured port tack shifts. The tide, taking the sailors downwind, made overtaking difficult. Goodison used his superior downwind speed to ease away from the pack and take his first victory of the event. Holloway sailed a consistent race finishing ahead of Nick Thompson who took third after a blistering last downwind leg. Rob Godwin finished 4th ahead of James Gray who completed the top 5.

Race 2 - Saw the leaders emerge from the port end of the start line. Goodison, in impressive form, was amongst the leaders at the windward mark and again used his downwind edge to good advantage. Goodison sailed away from the fleet to take his second victory, leaving the rest of the pack to battle for the remaining places. Thompson eased away from Rob Godwin and Dan Belben, who had made some big gains on the upwind legs. Thompson took 2nd, Godwin 3rd, Belben 4th, and youth sailor Eifion Mon taking 5th, positioning himself well against his pursuers.

Race 3 - The tide was starting to change, causing the sea conditions to increase to a 3 foot rolling swell. The leaders emerged from the left of the course. Bar the top three boats, Goodison, Thompson, and Godwin, the UK’s up and coming youth stars filled the rest of the top 10. Among the group were Alex Mills-Barton, Rob Spencer, and Phil Reynolds, all who showed impressive downwind speed during the race. Goodison completed a clean sweep on day one taking his third victory, ahead of Thompson and Godwin, following on from their top threes in the previous race. Greg Carey sailed a consistent race finishing 4th ahead of Belben who gained on the final beat using some precise shift work.

Race 4 - Following a gruelling Saturday, a 7-10 knot northeasterly breeze presented the sailors with testing tactical conditions. Goodison and Thompson had a great battle with youth sailors Stuart Godwin and Evan Scott who were making life difficult for the UK number one and two. Thompson got the better of Goodison in this one taking his first victory. Goodison finished 2nd ahead of Stuart Godwin who held off the chase from Ian McKeeman having sailed an excellent last run, demoting James Gray to 5th place. Scott unfortunately found that he had been OCS at the end of the race.

Race 5 - The wind had shifted right providing some tactical racing for the competitors who were trying to sail from gust to gust taking advantage of the presented shifts. Thompson led at the windward mark having picked the left hand side of the course. Using his downwind speed advantage, he sailed away from the fleet to secure his second consecutive victory. Evan Scott, Rob and Stuart Godwin, and Gray enjoyed a close battle on the second beat, closely followed by Spencer and McKeeman who had bridged a large gap on the first two reach legs. Scott held off the chasers to take an impressive 2nd, ahead of Rob Godwin, who got the better of Gray at the leeward mark, having been in a closely fought race with his brother Stuart and Gray for the majority of the race. Gray held onto 4th just ahead of Stuart Godwin who capped off a great day with his second top five result.

Thanks to Hastings SC for putting on such an enjoyable event. Thanks Ken Falcon for providing some great racing and Dot Beadsworth and the shore team for sorting logistics. Well done to all those who qualified for the World Championships. See you all in the spring.

Overall Results:

1st Paul Goodison 5pts
2nd Nick Thompson 6pts
3rd Rob Godwin 13pts
4th James Gray 25pts
5th Dan Belben 27pts

Click here for full results and Ladder standings.