Medway RC Laser Club Winter Series - Day 5
by Jamie Blair 18 Jan 21:35 UTC
18 January 2026
Welcome back to Adrian Tomlinson (30) and Lucian Stone (75) after a skiing accident.
The 7 knots of SE breeze brought out the A rigs for the first time in this series. For the first race the pin end favoured and saw Jamie Blair (51) push down to the pin and lead the race around the triangle sausage, closely followed by Lucian.
Race 2 saw the tables turned with Tim Townsend (45) clocking his first win and Adrian a solid second. Jamie and Lucian brought home the back of the fleet.
Race 3 another jumble and Jamie out in front but with Adrian close on his transom.
Race 4 saw the wind start to veer to the East. Spotted early by Adrian, claiming the front and taking the win. Lucian second.
Race 5 with the wind veering further but still raced with the same layout. A new winner with Mark Penny (03) taking the best of the shift. Lucian another well-earned second.
At the break the course was rotated as best the lake could give without walking to the opposite headland. Talk of the close racing, wind from behind and starting tactics was soon curtailed with the start of the next session.
The new layout provided its own challenge with an area with very little wind. Most found the solution to sail the long course down wind around the light area. Occasionally the wind allowed the direct route but often proved a risk.
Race wins for the next six races went to Lucian - two, Tony Alexander (04) - two and Adrian - one.
The catch of the day by Mark was discovered when his boat slowed as if it had weed around the keel. On lifting the boat out he found that the keel had caught a Sheppey Special - for those of an age, the barbers would say "did you want something for the weekend." A first in the thirteen years we have raced at Barton's Point.
Well done to all, especially Adrian for the overall win and Lucian despite his arm in a sling second and Tony third.
Our next meet is in a week's time on the 25th of January.
Day 5 Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 30 | Adrian Tomlinson | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑5 | 1 | 2 | ‑5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 18 |
| 2nd | 75 | Lucian Stone | 2 | ‑7 | ‑7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 23 |
| 3rd | 4 | Tony Alexander | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ‑7 | 1 | 27 |
| 4th | 51 | Jamie Blair | 1 | ‑6 | 1 | 5 | ‑8 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 31 |
| 5th | 45 | Tim Towsend | ‑7 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | ‑8 | 35 |
| 6th | 3 | Mark Penny | 5 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 1 | ‑9 | 5 | ‑9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 42 |
| 7th | 84 | Jon Moon | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | ‑7 | ‑8 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 49 |
| 8th | 32 | Roger Gibb | ‑8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | ‑9 | 3 | 59 |
| 9th | 76 | Bob Woolford | ‑9 | ‑9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 77 |