Nationals & Youth Nationals by Ashley Stoddart

Well both the Nationals and Youth Nationals are over and a new year of preparations will begin. It has been a great year, producing satisfying results considering the circumstances.

The Australian Laser Nationals for 2009 at Adelaide Sailing Club was an excellent regatta with a mixed bag of conditions and great depth within the 95 competitors. In the qualifying series I had extremely consistent results over the different conditions. I then had a reasonably satisfying final series in such a hot fleet also. By the end of the regatta I finished 17th overall and was the 11th Australian. Placing 2nd Australian Women and 1st Youth Women has meant my qualification for the Radial Women’s Worlds and Radial Youth Worlds which are to be held in Largs, Scotland later in July this year.

The OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Championship was raced out of Largs Bay Sailing Club, turning out to be an interesting regatta where I didn’t race as well as I would have liked. Ultimately it was not my year to win the position for the Radial girl at the Youth Worlds in Turkey. However I am able to compete against the Open Women instead, which should enable an equally positive experience.

With my preparation being restricted due to my back injury I am very pleased with the summer I have had. My back has handled both regattas successfully. I look forward to what adventures this year will bring and I am excited for the improvements to be made to my sailing.

Thank you to my support team, who have helped me with my sailing and got me through the tough few months it has been with my back.

2010 Laser Champs full report

Hundreds of kilometres of pristine sandy beaches surround the coast of South Australia but despite the temperatures soaring into the forties, there wasn't a soul swimming in the shallows yet out to sea in the enormous rolling and crashing waves there were plenty of Laser sailors going for an involuntary dip just off of Adelaide Sailing Club where the 2010 Australian Laser Championship was hosted from 29th Dec to 4th January.

The conditions made for fantastic racing with a couple of lighter wind days but the regatta was predominantly a strong wind event. The massive waves created some high adrenaline rides downwind and adding to the adrenaline buzz were several shark sightings as well as pods of dolphins cutting through the course creating some memorable moments for competitors and supporters alike.

The race management was the best ever with the Class Association hiring ex-Olympian, Kevin Wilson as the PRO. The club's team of volunteers did an excellent job and it is the intent of the Class President, Ken Hurling to keep the standard of racing at this high level by keeping Kevin as the Laser Class Championship PRO.

The Laser 4.7 class is making a surging growth nationwide as the Youth Class of choice for many Clubs and States. 46 boats competed for the title of Australian Laser 4.7 Champion with Victoria's, Lloyd Collings winning from Queensland's Josh Franklin and close behind in third was Mark Spearman from WA. Taking the overall win was France's Laszlo Horvath with Llody Collings second and Terence Jianjie Choo from Singapore in third place. An impressive 20 girls were racing with the highest placed being Ella Evens eighth and Madison Kennedy ninth, both from Queensland and Milly Bennet from NSW finishing third girl. The Laser 4.7 is Yachting Australia's equipment of choice for the trials for the Youth Olympic Games to be hosted in Singapore later this year. The trials event is the OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Championship that kicks off at Largs Bay in South Australia tomorrow.

The largest fleet was the Laser Radial with 95 boats racing with 21 being skippered by ladies. Singapore's Seng Leong Koh won overall with an impressive 29 point lead from Malaysia's Mohd Romzi Muhamed and in third overall, the winner of the Australian Laser Radial Championship title was Queensland's, Benjamin Franklin who won over Tristan Brown from WA and in third place was Tasmania's, Christopher Jones.
Winning the Laser Radial Women's Championship title was Laura Baldwin from NSW followed by fellow Australian Sailing Development Squad sailor, Ashley Stoddart from Queensland. Third was Megan De Lange from Victoria. The leading Master's Lady was Vanessa Dudley who impressively finished 1st Master. The Laser Radial Master's Championship title was won by Apprentice Master, Danny Fuller from Queensland who finished 10th overall with fellow Queenslander, Grant Willmott the runner up. In the Laser Standard fleet, Olympian and dual Laser World Champion, Tom Slingsby beat the 55 competitors in 10 out of 11 races to win the title of Australian Laser Champion for the second time. Swiss sailor, Christoph Bottoni made the second best performance with Australian Sailing Development Squad sailor, Ashley Brunning finishing third overall and second Australian over team mate, James Burman in third. This regatta formed the first of a two part trials process to select the OAMPS Australian Youth Team to compete at the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Turkey in July. The top Laser Radial boy and girl will represent Australia at this prestigious event. Leading the chase is Ashley Stoddart for the girls and Benjamin Franklin in the boys, both sailors are products of Olympic Coach, Adrian Finglass's Youth Program in Queensland. The trials continue this week in Adelaide at the OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australia Youth Championship. Good luck all! Next year's Laser Championship will be hosted at Georges River Sailing Club in NSW from 28th December to 4th January 2011.

Sabot Nats - A huge Success

09/10 Sabot Nationals @ Gosford Sailing Club...

Team captains from Tasmania, South Queensland, Victoria, Southern NSW, North Queensland and host zone Northern NSW hoisted their flags and more than 300 visitors packed into Gosford Sailing Club for a barbecue dinner.

MC James Ellis thanked gold sponsor Performance Sailcraft Australia for bringing along a couple of brand new 4.7 Lasers to allow the youngsters to try out the class during the event.``It’s fabulous that the Laser class has come to the party, as all the Sabot kids have to move on somewhere eventually’’ Mr Ellis said.PSA will also provide a Laser 4.7 for use at next year’s Youth Championships in Adelaide to one of the top 10 sailors by way of a ballot when the Sabot championships wind up on Sunday.

Mayor Holstein reminisced about being encouraged to hop into a Sabot 35 years ago by long-time club identity Lenny Walpole, his former Gosford High School teacher.``I think I spent four hours out there and got no further than 100 metres from shore,’’ Mr Holstein laughed.The mayor reminded guests of the council’s active plan to integrate the city with the waterfront.Mr Walpole once made trophies in the woodwork department of his school for the nationals when they were last held at Gosford in ’66-’67.

Trophies at the regatta this year have been generously funded by gold sponsor Robson Civil Projects, represented by Peter Robson described as ``a legend and icon in relation to GSC and the Sabot class.’’ Peter still has four grandchildren involved in sailing.Peter’s daughter Debbie Graham, as Sabot Week patron along with husband Steve, recalled how when she first sailed the class 30 years ago she was one of only three females to qualify for the nationals. Today there are 46 girls in the championships.

GSC president Andrew McDougall said the development of junior sailing was the club’s number 1 priority and full-time sailing administrator Peter Walsh had been employed to bring more sailors to the club through the junior sailing program.Yesterday there was no shortage of youngsters, now all they need is a bit of breeze in the days for the 10 races to come