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.
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