Thames Valley ILCA Open at QMSC on 27 July 2025
Published 17:40 on 30 Jul 2025
On Sunday 27 July 2025, Peter, Ilker and Tom took their ILCAs to the rearranged Thames Valley ILCA Open Event at Queen Mary SC. Unfortunately Henry was unable to join this time. The racing consisted of the standard QMSC summer series two races plus an additional third consecutive race. With no discards the local sailors had to compete in the last race to be in with a chance. The standard on the reservoir was incredibly high, with the event won by an ex-Olympian (1996, Ireland helm for the Soling) and two firsts in race two and three. So it was with some pride that Tom was second... to the top mark in race three. We think he was 10th, await Tom's final overall result owing to a mix up in registration, but he definitely had fewer points than Ilker who had one less than Peter! Ilker 17th and Peter 18th out of 23.
The conditions were very different to Tamesis of course, although the low water level in the reservoir was causing the familiar swirls and unpredictable shifts that the trees and buildings create along our stretch of the river. We all learned a great deal and were all happily shattered by the end. Tom spotted that newer sails and mark II cuts seemed to allow higher pointing and there were a lot of newish boats in the fleet. We were asked back and we extended an invitation to the Laser Barometer.
Last updated 17:40 on 30 July 2025