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Only seven boats launched at the Hastings & St Leonards Sailing Club for the final races in the Spring Series. A combination of viciously gusting strong northerly winds put off the less confident sailors and bank holiday weekend commitments kept others away.

Various sailors in the Laser Fleet were in with a chance to take the Series. Hugh Ashford was top of the leaderboard but did not sail which opened up the competition even more.

Boats manoeuvred around the start line either accelerating in the gusts or battling to stay upright.

It was a clean start to the race with most of the fleet making it to the first mark at the same time. Sailors fought to keep their positions without infringing the rules; all made it round and on to a run out to sea. Matthew Wiseman (Laser 4.7) was at the front and although his lead ebbed and flowed throughout the race, he kept ahead and took first.

Lasers in close proximity at the first mark

Melanie Clark (Laser 4.7) put him under greatest pressure but couldn’t find a way past and took second; Lucy Barrie (Laser 4.7) was third. Sergio Velluti (Laser 4.7) had been up with the pack until yet another vicious gust blew him over and put him out of contention.

The second race played out similarly for the top three with Wiseman again taking first followed by Clark and Barrie respectively.

The day’s results meant that Wiseman won the Laser Fleet Spring Series, Melanie Clark was second and Hugh Ashford, who had done enough in previous races, was third.

Away from the Laser fleet, the only other boat on the water was the Hobie 14 catamaran of Juan Ces who took the points and with it the Series in the catamaran fleet; Maurice and Janey Nash (Dart 16) were second overall. Ces had raced some Spring Series' races in his Buzz in the General Handicap Fleet and with no boats from the General Handicap Fleet racing, his previous results meant that he had won the Series in that Fleet too; Philip & Tristan Blurton (Buzz) were second overall in the General Handicap Fleet.

The club is hoping for more benign conditions when it opens its doors on Saturday 10th May for visitors to look around and take a taster session on the water, weather permitting. More details at https://www.hastingssc.org/article/open-day-discover-sailing.

Wiseman and Ces are Spring Series winners for Hastings and St Leonards Sailing Club