Laser World September 2010 © Thom Touw Multala Retains World Title Laser ?Championship Round Up Laser Championship Round Up European Laser 4.7 Youths in Hourtin Up & Coming Champions © Mark Turner / RYA © Albert Cassio © NDK Photography COPYRIGHT AND LIABILITY No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of the publishers. The articles and opinions in LaserWorld may not represent the official views of ILCA. The publishers do not accept any liability for their accuracy. 2 LaserWorld September 2010 © Aivar Kullamaa / European Championships & Trophy 2010 Croatians Take the Title in Tallinn Stipanovic & Mihelic Crowned European Laser Champions © Aivar Kullamaa / European Championships & Trophy 2010 Good weather conditions at Tallinn Bay welcomed was 5-12 knots and really shifty”, he said. Laser Standard and Laser Radial athletes on their first day of the European Championship & Trophy Tonci Stipanovic (CRO), won both races event. in his fleet and ended the day in second place with 27 points, while Geritzer was in With a southern wind of 4-7 m/s and partly cloudy third on 31 points. sky, the Laser Standard sailors started the event in three fleets. Milan Vujasinovic (CRO) won the In the Laser Radial, Mihelic again first race in the Yellow fleet while Yuval Botzer outperformed her competition, winning (ISR) enjoyed victory in the second race. In the both races in her fleet and strengthening Blue group, Malo Leseigneur (FRA) and Tom her leader position once more. Dobson Slingsby (AUS) were winners of the respective was 18 points behind in second place, races. In the Red fleet, which struggled with three while Evi Van Acker ended the day in general recalls and 12 black flag disqualifications third. in the second race, Rutger Schaardenburg (NED) Day five was a day of anticipation with the did a clean job, winning both races and taking the Laser Standard starts being postponed overall leader position. and Laser Radial races abandoned due At the end of the day Schaardenburg was in front, to lack of wind. with Paul Goodison (GBR) in second and Tom The first race for the Laser Standard Slingsby (AUS) in third. sailors was held in shifty winds of up Laser Radial sailors performed smoothly on to eight knots. Ryan Palk (AUS) took © Aivar Kullamaa / European Championships & Trophy 2010 the Pirita waves. Natalia Szymczyk (POL) and the first final race, with Philipp Buhl Francesca Clapcich (ITA) won the first race in (GER) second and Stipanovic in third. their respective fleets but their modest results in After a period of waiting for the wind to the second race pushed both athletes out of the stabilize, the second race was started. top spots for the opening day. Tina Mihelic (CRO) German sailors took a double lead with won her fleet in the second race and, with a stable Simon Grotelschen first, Buhl second performance throughout the day, placed herself and Evangelos Chimonas (GRE) third. as the current leader. Charlotte Dobson (GBR) There was a change in the leaderboard finished the day in second, with Tuula Tenkanen at the end of the day. Stipanovic led the (FIN) in third. Laser Standards with 30 points. Buhl The second day of racing was delayed, as thick managed to climb from eighth to second fog enveloped Tallinn Bay, with racing finally with 34 points, while Paul Goodison starting in the afternoon. (GBR) moved to third with 36 points. Schaardenburg was once again the flying The final day started with slow shifty wind, Dutchman in the first Laser Standard race of the blowing 2 knots, but kept increasing and day, securing his third victory. In the fourth race, reached up to 5 knots by the second race. The Laser Standards held two final races, however, wind and luck both turned their back on © Aivar Kullamaa / European Championships & Trophy 2010 him and he finished 26th. Despite this, at the end managing to complete the full 12 races. of the day he was the overall leader with three The Laser Radials sailed 3 races, to make points, while Slingsby had moved into second, up for the lost racing on the previous day, and Andreas Gertizer (AUT) in third. completing 11 races in total. In the Laser Radial, Mihelic overpowered her In the Laser Standard, Stipanovic was fellow competitors by finishing the races first and crowned European Champion, with a 10 second, propelling her to the top of the leaderboard point lead over Goodison in second place. with four points. Maiken Schütt (DEN) ended the European bronze went to Geritzer. In the day in second with nine points, with Dobson just European Trophy score, which includes one point behind in third place. all competitors, Slingsby came third. The third day of racing saw off-shore gusty and “I dreamt about it every day, but you can shifty winds of 16-24 knots blowing throughout never tell for sure if this is day that you the day, getting a bit heavier during the first race will become the European Champion. but slowing by the second race. Overall it was an But I had a feeling this morning, did the exciting mixture of wind, speed and challenge for best that I could and now I am the first the sailors. Croatian to win the Europeans in Laser Standard,” Stipanovic said. Paul Goodison (GBR), Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) & Andreas Geritzer (AUT) Slingsby enjoyed the challenging conditions, achieving a third and a first place in his group In the Laser Radial, Mihelic was named races, which put him in top spot with 10 points. the new European Champion. The leader The wind also favoured Geritzer, who rose to since the first day of racing, she won the second overall place with 16 points, while with an impressive 19 point lead over the © Aivar Kullamaa / European Championships & Trophy 2010 Schaardenburg slipped to third with 23 points. rest of the fleet. The silver medal went to Dobson and bronze to Gintare Sheidt Mihelic held on firmly to her leader position in the (LTU). Laser Radial for the third consecutive day, scoring a second and an eighth, ending the day on just “I had been sailing really well the entire nine points. Dobson climbed to second place with week and I had a good feeling for today. 20 points, while Sari Multala (FIN) shot into third When we started the final races in the place after winning one race and coming second morning, I was leading by already 15 in the other. points, so I was confident and not under much pressure,” said Mihelic. Day four had a slow start with a cloudy sky and shifty winds of three knots causing the starts to be Chloe Martin (GBR) was the Laser Radial postponed for almost an hour. U21 European Champion, with the silver medal going to Tenkanen and bronze In the Laser Standard, Slingsby maintained his awarded to Mathilde de Kerangat (FRA). leader position with a seventh and a first, finishing the day in the lead with 18 points. “The day was For daily reports, full results good – sort of up and down pressure and the wind and more images, please go to www.laser2010tallinn.eu. Charlotte Dobson (GBR), Tina Mihelic (CRO) & Gintare Sheidt (LTU) www.laserinternational.org LaserWorld September 2010 3 © Mark Turner RYA Conditions Challenge Radials in Largs Multala Retains World Laser Radial Women’s Title © Mark Turner / RYA The breeze in the first race was a attempts to complete the scheduled two races. blustery and damp curtain raiser for the 2010 World Laser Radial Women’s and When the sailors set off in the morning in a north World & European Laser Radial Men’s westerly breeze which was not showing on most Championships. The committee boat of the forecasts, then perhaps that was a foresight recorded a wind of 26 knots, which most of what was likely to happen. Early sunshine was sailors reported was a test of hiking the bonus, but the breeze swung round and the strength and smart sailing. start was delayed. The second contest was raced in On the first downwind for the gold fleets the a diminishing westerly breeze. The breeze died nearly completely and on the second second downwind in particular just upwind the extra pressure had started to push in edged into really difficult territory true to the forecast from east, but when it came with big swings in wind direction and in the course ended slightly skewed. On the final considerable differences in wind beat the wind had finally swung round the best pressure. The race committees on the part of 100 degrees since the start direction. water must have heaved a collective More than five hours of frustrating drifting on the sigh of relief to get racing concluded Clyde on day five proved to be in vain for the before it became too fluky. sailors awaiting racing. Gold Medallist Sari Multala (FIN) With the breezes gusting and swirling, The mirror-like waters were only occasionally © Mark Turner / RYA the sudden changes in direction and ruffled by light airs from conflicting directions, and the pressure rising and falling on only as the appropriate signals were made, was different sides of the race course, the there anything close to a breeze. challenge was especially difficult to stay consistent across the two races It is never an especially satisfying way to win world sailed on day two. titles, but with no racing on the final two days, Sari Multala (FIN) and Marcin Rudawski (POL) Even those who had a good day came prevailed and were piped up on to the podium as ashore admitting how hard they had the 2010 World Laser Radial Champions.