24 Lasers arrived at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club for a full weekend of racing.  The light conditions forecast for Saturday proved to be an underestimate and the conditions were perfect.

Race one got away with both right and left paying such that Pete Sherwin (CVLSC) and Julian Cooke (CVLSC) arriving at the windward mark together despite hitting opposite corners, whilst in the middle boats were stranded.  Julian came through to win from Pete.

Race two proved to be a bizarre affair with huge shifts, gusts and holes such that hundreds of yards could be gained and lost. Pete Sherwin led the way around to win, with Ed Jones (CVLSC) in second for most of the race until finally passed by Julian Cooke.

In contrast to Saturday, the second day of the Laser Open at Chew started with... shall we say determinedly inclement weather. The wind was from the south east and blew up during the day. The rain was constant and, well, very wet. By the last race of the afternoon the wind was delivering precipitation at 25 knots with gusts of 32. It was also shifty at times making the three races exciting and challenging.

The CVLSC sailor Peter Sherwin dominated the first two races in the standard fleet, leading from the start and reassuring the rest of us that it was at least possible to round the top mark and the (worrying) gybe mark. Sure of victory after two races, Peter left the Olympic course to the rest of us with its inevitable run and the risk of death rolls. In these winds the main game was keeping the boat upright and flat. It was difficult to take full advantage of the shifts, since seeing where you were going was not always an option. in addition extra sail area was not an advantage, as Ellie Cumpsty proved in her 4.7 by keeping up with Radials and Standard rigs and, in the third race, making it first to the windward mark! Congratulations to her, she sailed brilliantly with one win, a second and a third place. However this was not quite good enough to keep Duncan Whitrow from taking first place in the Radials. Well done to him too...

In fact well done to all those who sailed. We shared a real camaraderie upon returning to the shore. While the refreshments and post race chin wagging was welcome, the biggest treat was to escape the continual deluge.

Andrew Southall 186838