Virtual Racing Week 3 - May 2020
The week saw two main events involving UK Laser sailors:
The Battle of the Splashes
Sailing Chandlery Team Racing e-Championships
UKLA Lockdown ladder
Battle of the Splashes
The biggest of the week was probably the Battle of the Splashes, which was an e-sailing contest between GBR and Australia. This tussle between sailors literally in the hall of fame of sailing including a mix of host of Olympians, America's Cup winners and World and National Champions.
Australia was represented by:
Tom Slingsby, Tom Burton, Kyle Langford, Matt Chew and Ted Hackney.
Team GB on the other hand was represented by:
Luke Patience, Stuart Bithell, Ben Saxton, Jonny McGovern, and our own UKLA Sam Whaley.
There were guest appearances from Andrew Strauss and Sir Ben Ainslie.
In this event, the Brits proved too strong for the Aussies, with the first race going to Stuart Bithell, ahead of Luke Patience in second and Tom Burton of Australia in third. The second race went to Tom Burton, ahead of Sam Whaley in second and Luke Patience in third. There was still a lot to fight for going into race three, which was in F-50 cats.
However, Sam Whaley practically lead the race from the start, to take gold for the GBR, ahead of Matt Chew in second and Tom Burton in third. Congratulations to Sam for bringing the splAshes home.
The event can be relived here
UKLA Lockdown Ladder-3
Meanwhile, the UKLA’s Lockdown Ladder continued as usual.
Mike O’Donovan of the Laser Standard fleet won on the first day, ahead of Keijiro Kikkawa in second and Max Steele in third (both Laser 4.7 sailors). Mike won again on the second day, this time ahead of Scott Forbes in second and Arthur Farley in third (both Laser Radial sailors).
This leads to the Ladder rankings as shown in the table.
Mike O’Donovan is a clear front runner for the Laser Standards, ahead of Sam Whaley in second and Charlie South in a distant third. Scott Forbes, Arthur Farley and Shotaro Kikkawa are battling for the Laser Radial crown, while it is neck and neck between Keijiro Kikkawa and Max Steele for the Laser 4.7 crown, with Tom Williamson in third.
