SYC Laser ILCA Open
Published 11:30 on 19 Sep 2025
Saturday Had Bob Mortimer been present at the weekends ILCA Open he would have described the conditions as fruity.
On Saturday, with a fast ebbing tide and the strongest winds and largest waves that many of the ILCA sailors had faced at Salcombe, the conditions were indeed fruity. So much so that, at the start of Race 1 and with half the fleet upside down, rumour has it that Race Officer Tim Law was preparing the abandonment signals. Suzy Andrews decided to head home for Batson, whilst Venetia Andrew wisely walked her ILCA back to the start line after recovering from a capsize and being swept down the ria. In some disarray, and as the skies cleared to blue, the remainder of the fleet started the 2-3-2-3 course. Edward Alexander in an ILCA 4 and his brother George in an ILCA 6 quickly established themselves at the front of the fleet, in what would become a weekend of domination for the Alexander brothers. Jon Levine and Dylan Doughty the only remaining ILCA 6s after the early retirements proved their resilience simply by pressing on, the bigger rig proving a handful in the conditions. Jane Walker in an ILCA 4 made it to 3 before deciding to retire. After a bruising but mercifully short 40 minutes, seven sailors had finished Race 1, with Edward Alexander taking the win, and assembled on Smalls to await the start of the second race. Race 2 commenced on the same 2-3-2-3 course and produced a familiar pattern at the front of the fleet, with Edward Alexander once again setting the pace. Behind him, the racing was far closer. Ivy Hart and Emily Hoar, the youngest sailors in the fleet, proved their mettle by keeping the pressure on throughout. At the line, Emily and Allan Wilcox finished just two seconds apart, a testament to the competitiveness of the race despite the still-testing conditions. Edward, however, remained untouchable and secured his second win of the day.
Sunday dawned with light winds and a forecast for them to build to higher speeds than the previous day. With racing scheduled around slack water, the sea state was smaller, but Race Officer Tim Law and Assistant Race Officer Jayne Morris kept a close watch on wind speeds, with gusts of 35 knots predicted by early afternoon. All fourteen sailors launched for the earlier start in light airs. The course for both races was set as 1X2X2X, with mark X placed off the Ferry Inn on the edge of the open fairway. The configuration gave tight mark rounding and plenty of opportunities for place changes throughout the fleet. By the time Race 3 was underway the breeze had begun to build, bringing increasingly shifty and gusty conditions. A weak flooding tide split the fleet on the way to the first mark by the Blackstone Rocks, with Mark Fryer, Greg Hoar, and George Alexander opting for the Portlemouth side while the rest of the fleet stayed town side. By mark X, however, Edward Alexander had stamped his authority on the race to take his third consecutive win. Christian Day handled the gusts well to claim second, with Emily Hoar third. George Alexander and Ivy Hart tied on corrected time for fourth. As the day wore on the wind increased further, with the fleet fully hiked and gusts topping 25 knots during Race 4. The racing was close, fast, and hard-fought. This time it was Ivy Hart who mastered the freshening breeze to take a well-deserved win ahead of Edward Alexander and Allan Willcox. Greg Hoar a gifted and experienced ILCA sailor led both races at times but was let down by gear failures on Monkey Business, which he joked was spurning him for recent abandonment.
Tim Law and his team, both in the Watch House and in the Safety Boats, were thanked for delivering two hard-fought races that brought the Open to a thrilling close.
Final Results After four races with one discard, the overall standings were: 1st: Edward Alexander ILCA 4 (Laser 4.7) 2nd: Allan Willcox ILCA 4 (Laser 4.7) 3rd: George Alexander ILCA 6 (Radial) The prize giving was conducted by Will Henderson, rounding off the weekend in measured style, with thanks to The Soar Salcombe for their engraved prize glassware.
Allan Willcox.
