Queensland Academy of Sport team sailor Ben Franklin (17) completed a meteoric rise in Australian Laser Radial class racing with a stunning win in the 2010 National Championship on the Adelaide sailing Club course in January.
His performance described by Queensland Academy of Sport High Performance coach Adrian Finglas as one of the best results he has witnessed as a reward for the teenage sailor’s personal dedication.
“Ben is totally committed spending 80 hours a month with training and perfecting his boat handling technique and tactical skills”. Finglas said.
Last year the young mono sailor from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron was just another number in the fleet of talented youth skippers finishing 26thoverall at the Australian series in Perth.
However he was prepared to continue his struggle in racing with his race weary dinghy making sure that his personal technique and fitness was up to the challenge when he had the opportunity to afford and replace his wind fatigued sail and spars.
His personal tenacity became the key factor behind his success in Adelaide when the teenager overcame a Black Flag disqualification in the fifth heat of the qualifying series to claim a deserved Gold Medal ahead of the equally skilled Tasmanian Chris Jones.
Ben Franklin had little time to celebrate as he continued with his intense training in preparation to represent Yachting Queensland at the 2010 Australian OAMPS Insurance Brokers Youth Championships over the Largs Bay Sailing Club courses.
The exceptionally talented Ben Franklin has done the ‘hard yards’ and is progressively maturing into a clever monotype skipper as proved with his Silver medal and best Australian result behind Malaysian Khairulnizam Alfedy Mohd .
His performances in racing over unfamiliar courses suggest he is now ready to race on the overseas circuit and that only seems to be a formality when the Australian team is announced to contest the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World championship in Turkey from July 8-17.
Should Ben Franklin be selected it will complete a deserved reward for the teenage Radial Laser sailor who has successfully cast off his ‘struggler’ image of 2009 to become the Australian champion in 2010.
By Ian Grant.