It seemed like the first day of spring in Dun Laoghaire as 19 Lasers gathered for the first of two races this weekend. The wind was a gentle southerly and the temperature was a balmy 14 degrees. Not what we're used to!
The line was pretty square for the first race and the wind remained fairly true up the first beat. But the wind did get a little more shifty near the windward mark. Harding led round the first mark with Flanagan and Cahill not far behind. With the wind increasing a little all boats were flat out and I am sure that there were some sore legs and shoulders on Monday morning. However on the race course Flanagan drove his boat hard to squeeze past Harding on the third beat to take the win with Harding second and Cahill third.
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| Harding on a quieter day |
The wind added a few knots for the second race and the conditions were sparkling with tiring beats and fast, exhilarating reaches. Flanagan, who started closer to the committee boat than most, managed to keep to the centre whilst the rest of the fleet went hard left, largely due to the fact that the wind was sufficiently stable to stop anyone managing to cross the fleet on port. Flanagan rounded in the lead but with a gaggle of boats on his tail.
Cahill and Coakley went low on the first reach pushing themselves up to second and third, but Harding re-took second place at the end of the run as he picked up a gust on the way into the third mark of the trapezoidal course. Flanagan was comfortable at the head of the fleet and took his second win of the day. Cahill's downwind speed eventually proved too much for Harding and it was Cahill second, Harding third and Coakley fourth at the end of the three lap race.
Harding leads the second series on 23 points after the application of a second discard. Flanagan is now up to second on 25 points but both Cahill and Coakley are still very much in contention on 31 points each.
Report by Richard Harding
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