2015 Laser World Championship - Opening today

by Marianne Davis on 1 Jul 2015 2015 Laser World Championship - The Opening Ceremony will be held today, July 1, at 6:30pm in Downtown Kingston at Confederation Park. There will be a parade of the 159 World Class Athletes representing 64 different Nations lead by Kingston’s own world champion Town Crier, Chris Whyman.

The Ceremony will feature Kingston and The Islands MPP, Sophie Kiwala, and Kingston’s Honorable Mayor Bryan Patterson. The Master of Ceremonies will be Sail Canada’s High Performance Director and Head Coach Ken Dool with French translation provided by Annie Claude Ethier.

The Laser Standard World Championship Competitor and Coach list is filled with years of experience and achievements. One of the most experienced sailors at this event has won two gold medals, two silver medals, a bronze medal, and represents Brazil, Robert Scheidt. Scheidt was first ranked the best Laser sailor worldwide in 1995, and has since been ranked first repeatedly.

Most recently he was ranked first in June of 2014. Scheidt has won eight world titles in the Laser Category, including the 2013 Laser Standard World Championship. Recently Scheidt placed second at the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup in Hyeres France, and sixth in the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami.

Another top contender at this event is Pavlos Kontides representing Cyprus. Kontides has previous experience sailing in Kingston, as he was the winner of the 2007 ISAF Youth Worlds. He recently placed fourth at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland Great Britain and placed second in October of 2014 in the ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao China. He earned a silver medal in the 2012 London Olympics and placed second in the 2013 Laser World Championships in Mussanah, Oman.

There is also amazing experience outside of the competitor list. Coaching Charlie Buckingham representing the United States is member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame and Olympic champion, Mark Reynolds. Mark Reynolds won 10 Continental Star Championships, seven Bacardi Cups, two Star North American and two Star World Championships, three Kiel Weeks, and three Olympic medals, two gold and one silver. His latest win was in the Master category of the Zagarino Star Masters in 2012.

With all the amazing history and experience here at the 2015 Laser World Championship, you don’t want to miss out on all of the action. Practice race and Opening Ceremonies are today, July 1, and the competition runs from July 2-8!