A&O Regatta

The Bank Holiday weekend saw a few tight results in the Derek Atkins Trophy and Owen Memorial Shield, better known as the A&O Regatta. After 8 races spread out on two days, the Fast fleet trophy went to Ollie Page on his RS700, narrowly beating Ian Beale on his RS400. Ian had the unfortunate idea to go on holiday on the Sunday night and chose not to sail on the Monday. Ah well, if he can't get his priorities right...
In the Slow fleet, it was a Topper at the top! Our esteemed fleet captain decided to show everyone how it was done and took the victory off the hands of the Lasers and other Streakers. Results are available in the RESULTS page on this site.
Congratulations to the winners and well done to all participants.

Last of the Wednesday series

This Wednesday, 22nd August will see the last race for the Wednesday series 2007. Racing will start at the earlier time of 6.30pm and will be followed by a barbecue.
The Wednesday series this year has been a bit of a mixed bag, with a couple of races in winds so light we were planning to spend the night at sea, but the main features of the season were strong winds and the uncertain weather that's been a plague this summer. Many sailors were quite daunted by winds regularly reaching a good force 5.
However, others thrived in these conditions and the battle is intense for the first 3 places. Paul Fewster, Jim Powell and Julian Wilkins will be promptly on the water on Wednesday to compete in the decisive race. Will Paul's skills secure him a first? Will Jim's swiftness get the upper hand? Will Julian's frame, optimized for strong winds, overcome the opposition? All will be revealed on Wednesday.
Whatever the results, it's going to be a triple victory for Lasers, as you can see in the RESULTS of the series. Good luck to all of the participants.

*** NEWS UPDATE ***
In Paul's absence, it was the battle between Jim and Julian that was the order of the day on Wednesday night. In tricky conditions, more reminiscent of a winter series than and August evening, Julian played it fair by starting the race with an elegant capsize, then catching everyone up. The strong northerly gusts kept the diminished fleet on their toes and the shore-bound crowd entertained, especially in the impromptu display of synchronized capsize-recovery. Straight after the gybe mark, a strong gust got Jim then David then Julian (maybe not in that order). They all righted their boats at the same speed and rejoined the race with exactly the same distance between them. The manoeuvre prompted a round of applause from the race box.
In the end, Julian's handling of his new Laser got the upper hand and he came off the water having won the Wednesday series for this year. Not bad for someone who only got his boat on Race 10. Congratulations to Julian and well done to all participants.
Same place next year?

The 1st September will be a busy day at LSC! From 11am to 3pm, visitors are welcome to come and try their hand at sailing a dinghy. Let's hope that the weather will be a little less fierce than it was the first time round.
Later on, club members will take to the water and compete in the second pursuit race of the season. Jenn Austin won the first event on her Topper; no doubt she can do it again!
After sailing, it will be time to cool off with the Beer festival, with brews carefully selected by Sarah and Lawrence Ringshaw and Jim Powell. It's a tough job yep, but it will benefit the community...

Topper League

Every season, all Topper helms (including anyone who joined a race one day on a Topper just for fun) compete in the Topper League, monitored with great care by the Topper fleet captain, Nick Muggridge. The regularly updated results are available on the Junior notice board in the changing room corridor and many Topper helms keep a close eye on their own progress.
The table displayed here summarizes the League as it stands on the 26th August. The names in blue are all entered in the Topper Novice Trophy, awarded every year to the highest-achiever helm who hasn't won any series or any other trophy.
The points are gained as much for participation as they are for results. Entering and finishing a race add to the total, as well as the number of boats beaten. Taking part in events such as the Topper Open gets the helm to gain many points as there are plenty of boats to beat!
The Topper League and the Novice Trophy are great incentives to get Toppers on the water.

Current series

The Class/AM Handicap started at the end of April and will run until the end of September.

The afternoon race belongs to a shorter series, the Summer PM series, finishing at the end of September.

Results!

First of all, great results for Sam Littlejohn who beat 59 other RS200 at Chichester Harbour Fed Week and won the event! Congratulations to Sam and his crew. Complete results are available on the Chichester Harbour website.

Our own Mike and Di Croker took a bit of time off LSC to visit Felpham on the Bank Holiday weekend and came back with the coveted title of Laser>> national champions. Admittedly, it wasn't a huge event in numbers, but the quality was there. Read Mike's report in Yachts & Yachting here. Great achievement, Mike and Di!

Finally, congratulations to everyone who obtained good results in their A-Levels and GCSEs, including Hannah McGrath whose big smile illuminated the local paper. Well done to Hannah and everyone else and good luck for the future.