SAILING: Around 70 boats will be coming to Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club this weekend for a Laser 4000 and Laser 5000 open meeting. Felixstowe Ferry is one of the premier sailing venues in the UK due to the standard of competition its events attract.

AROUND 70 boats will be coming to Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club this weekend for a Laser 4000 and Laser 5000 open meeting.

Felixstowe Ferry is one of the premier sailing venues in the UK due to the standard of competition its events attract.

The quality of the sailing water means the tides make the venue a good test for sailors of all

standards.

The club has been hosting major events like this one for 35 years, only three weeks ago the club was host to the Dart 18 British National Championships.

The Laser 4000 and 5000 are both two-man asymmetric dinghies, now probably the most popular type of monohull dinghy sailed in the UK as they provide extremely close and exciting high speed racing.

With races lasting around 45 minutes and the boats finishing downwind with highly coloured spinnakers to the fore this is dinghy sailing as a true spectator sport.

For the 5000's this is the second in a series of four events taking in Graham Water in Cambridgeshire, Dalgety Bay in Edinburgh and Hayling Island in Hampshire, while the 4000's follow the same circuit with an additional stop at Stokes Bay in Gosport, Hampshire.

Racing commences around lunchtime on Saturday, weather permitting, when three races are scheduled followed by a further three races on Sunday starting at 10.30am.

Racing will be at sea off the entrance to the River Deben and should be easily viewed from the beacon car park on Felixstowe's cliff top.