Laser Northern Grand Prix at Delph

Delph Sailing Club, situated just on the West Pennine Moors just North of Bolton Lancashire, hosted the Laser class open in champagne sailing conditions. An Easterly wind of 12 knots coming over the dam wall on a day when bright blue azure skies were the conditions of the day made for a very .

Twenty-four entrants contributed to some very keen and competitive racing, Robert Holmes stated his intentions in the first race when, being led by Chris Pickles sailing with a broken toe, Holmes took the lead from Pickles which he held onto until the finish.

The second race saw Matt Sharman, in a borrowed ageing Laser still with moss on the transom, claiming first place and Holmes had to be content with a third.

This set up a fascinating challenge for Holmes and Sharman in the third and final race. All the top guns started badly at the wrong end of the line, but it was Holmes who recovered best, he was helped by Sharman pushing it too hard and capsizing. Holmes extended his lead and never looked in danger of surrendering it and finished first in the race and was the overall winner.

Special mention has to go to Alan Barton for his outstanding result of third in the final race. Alan is not quite a youngster any more and is more famed for his late starts due to a preference for the home made club scones on offer in the galley. Alan sailed like a true Olympian and showed that reputations stand for nothing on the water - well done Alan.