Elton Sailing Club www.eltonsailingclub.co.uk

Elton S C hosted the latest round of the Laser Northern Travellers on Sat 9th July on what turned out to be a perfect sailing day weather wise.

The first race was scheduled to start at 11am with two more to follow during the course of the day. Laser Class Captain Dave Gamble busied himself with the meet n greet formalities of welcoming our visitors and organising registration whilst the Race Officer Team led by Mike Seger and assisted by Dave Holmes set about sorting out the first course for the days event. With the wind blowing in from the SW at a steady F3 two long beats were set, two runs and a full length reach making it an ideal course for the Lasers.

Race 1 got underway as plannned and Ian Jones from Dovestones S C soon made his intentions clear as he sailed away into an early lead which was rarely to be challenged. Rick Marsh however had other plans and dogedly stuck to Ians transom for much of the early stages of the race. Dave Gamble, after a magnificent start, sailed the entire race in a credible third position. Ian, Rick and Dave held their positions for the duration of Race One with Dan Stokes finishing in fourth. After an hour and ten minutes lunch was a welcome break and as the competitors ate Seger and his team were busy changing the course to accomodate a shift in the wind direction.

Race 2 once again saw Ian Jones sail away from the fleet but this time 2nd, 3rd and 4th places were being challenged for by Rick Marsh (Elton) Dan Stokes and having recovered from a below par performance in Race 1 Dave Carpenter (Elton).Dave Gamble sailed the entire race in 5th place whilst Wendy Jones and Graham Macwhirter challenged for 6th. After four long laps and a beat to the finish Ian Jones recorded his second bullet for the day with D Carpenter and Rick Marsh both Elton boats coming home in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Meanwhile further down the fleet places were being fought for just as competitively with Scott Worthington, Jed Morris and Robin Grassgroin having thier own little championship at the rear of the fleet.

Race 3 started with a slight change to the previous course and once again Ian Jones was soon to take the lead and maintain it to the end to record his 3rd bullet of the day. David Carpenter having recovered his form maintained 2nd place throughout as did Dan Stokes in 3rd. Rick Marsh was not challenged for 4th spot although the fleet did close up as the race neared its conclusion resulting in an exciting finish for those in mid fleet positions.

Overall Results:

1st Ian Jones (Dovestones SC)
2nd David Carpenter (Elton SC)
3rd Rick Marsh (Elton SC)
4th Dan Stokes
5th Dave Gamble (Elton SC)
6th G Macwhirter (Scammonden SC)
7th Wendy Jones (Dovestones SC)
8th David Read (Elton SC)
9th Ray Cumley (Elton SC)
10th Peter Finney (Elton SC)
11th Robin Grassgroin (Elton SC)
12th Scott Worthington (Elton SC)
13th Jed Morris (Elton SC)