Lasers in action on final day of Sail Brisbane
Strong winds have brought about an early finish to the 2009 Sail Brisbane regatta with a number of classes decided in day’s one and only race.
The northerly wind of 20 knots, with gusts up to 25 knots, and heavy swell, made life difficult for the more than 160 competitors who took part in the opening round of the 2009 Sail Down Under series.
Australian Sailing Development Squad athlete Ashley Brunning claimed victory in the Laser class, winning the final three races of the regatta to finish with a slender four point lead over the UK’s Robert Godwin with Matias Del Solar Go third.
Angus MacGregor
Last Friday evening, local sailor Angus MacGregor was announced as the Junior Male Athlete of the year at a gala event run by the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association of Queensland in Brisbane.
Angus has had a stellar year with his sailing in 2009. His successes include competing in New Zealand, Japan, the Gold Coast and locally. He was recognised recently by Yachting Australia at their annual awards ceremony in Melbourne where he was announced as a finalist in the “Sailor of the Year with a Disability” category.
Tom Slingsby on Day 1 of Sail Brisbane
The 2009 Sail Brisbane regatta is underway with a full day of racing for the record sized fleet.
The Australian Sailing Team’s Tom Slingsby leads the way in the Laser fleet in his first race since winning the Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth in September. Slingsby took victory in race one and a second place in race two, and is followed by Chile’s Martias Del Solar Go in second and Tom Burton in third.
Sunshine Coast sailors will face their first serious tactical racing test of the 2009 -10 championship season during the Yachting Queensland International Sail Brisbane regatta on Moreton Bay this weekend.
Collectively all clubs from Lake Cootharaba, Noosa, Maroochydore, Lake Baroon and Mooloolaba will be represented in the 14 class event which has attracted entries from 13 countries including the Chilean Beijing Olympic Laser skipper Martias Del Solar Goldsmith and World title winning Australian Tom Slingsby.
By Ian Grant, 23.11.09.
Whitsunday Sailing Club’s Klaus Lorenz will gain further important tactical racing experience when he contests the Yachting Queensland International Sail Brisbane regatta over the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron courses this weekend.
Klaus already rated as one of the rising young stars in the sport will compete in the Optimist dinghy class where he is nominated as the favourite to win another major medal.
The Queensland Sabre Sailing Association held their 2009/10 State Championship at Humpybong Yacht Club on the weekend of 21 - 22 November, 2009 with 15 entries in total. Sailors represented seven clubs with one entrant from Victoria, one from Richmond River Sailing Club (NSW) and the others from Southport Yacht Club, Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Cleveland Yacht Club, Maroochy Sailing Club and Humpybong Yacht Club.
As the weekend unfolded it proved to be a challenging one with N/NE winds 18-22 knots, making for hard beats to windward but well worth the effort given the very exhilarating rides on the reaches.
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Etchells skipper Mark Thornburrow changed the history of Queensland fleet racing when he won the Wharf Tavern State championship off Pt Cartwright last weekend. Mark Thornburrow and crew mates Greg Farrell, Andy Service and Martin Mok became the first International crew to win the series and proved they are no strangers to Etchells racing over the Mooloolaba Yacht Club courses having previously flown their club’s burgee in the Musto Australian Winter championships on several occasions.
This valuable local knowledge more than compensated the costs of travelling to refine their sailing skills when the Hong Kong crew survived a title tactical challenge over all six races to claim a two point win over veteran Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron skipper Noel Paterson and former State champion and World title Silver medallist Mark Bradford.
Consistency was the key factor with Thornburrow displaying the tactical class in close one design racing to complete the best five of six races to count with a 1-3-1-3-3 while Noel Paterson completed his best result in several seasons with his 3-2-2-2-4.
With just over a week to go until the start of the 2009 Sail Brisbane regatta preparations are in full swing for competitors and organisers alike with a strong field set to compete in the first round of the 2009 Sail Down Under series.
Dual Laser World Champion and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games representative Tom Slingsby will be taking on the Laser fleet, his first hit out since dominating the competition at the Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth, England, in September.
Yachting Australia, with the assistance of the Australian Sports Commission, is offering financial support to skippers and crews who competed successfully in recent World Championships of International and Recognised Classes.
The Australian Sailing Team’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen have been named the Australian Institute of Sport Team of the Year at the 2009 AIS Awards in Canberra.
The Australian Sailing Team’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen have been named the Australian Institute of Sport Team of the Year at the 2009 AIS Awards in Canberra.
The award capped off a stellar 2009 for Outteridge and Jensen which saw them win all three international regattas they competed in, including the 49er World Championship and two ISAF Sailing World Cup victories.