Sail-World.com : 2009 Laser & Radial North American Championships
2009 Laser & Radial North American Championships
'Laser North Americans 2009'
The North American Championships were hosted by Buffalo Canoe Club in Crystal Beach, Ontario over this past weekend. The turnout for the event was exceptional with 97 Lasers, 122 Laser Radials and 10 Laser 4.7’s competing over the course of the four day event from June 25-28th.
On the Laser course the competition was fierce with two sailors tied on points after 10 races for the overall title and a further two sailors tied for third only 2 points in arrears of the leaders.
Ultimately it was Chris Dold of RCYC who emerged on top with a string of four bullets over the last four races vaulting him up the leader-board. Tied on points with Chris was Lee Parkhill also of RCYC who fashioned a consistent event including 3 bullets and only his drop race outside the top 10.
Nipping at their respective heels was David Wright of RCYC who also strung together an impressive set of results and narrowly missing a three way tie for the lead.
Other top performers included Luke Ramsay of RVYC in 5th place and veteran Bernard Luttmer of RCYC in 6th overall.
This event served as a solid tune-up for the upcoming World Championships in St Margaret’s Bay Nova Scotia later this summer. With 15 Canadians qualified for the championships expectations are high for top level performances at the Worlds.
The Laser Radial fleet (open) was 122 competitors strong and was dominated by Canadian Sailing Team members Lisa Ross and Jennifer Spalding. Ross of RNSYS ultimately secured the title with a 4 point edge over Spalding of RVYC.
Canadian World Youth team member Alexander Heinzemann of RVYC showed he is well prepared for the upcoming ISAF Youth Worlds posting a third overall score.
The impressive turn-out of competitors is a positive indication that Laser/Radial sailing is indeed alive and well in North America.
The Canadian performances also bode well for the future of the Canadian Sailing Team.
The next stops for competitors include the Laser Radial Worlds in Japan, starting July 25th, the Laser Canadians July 3-5 in Vancouver and ultimately the Laser Worlds, August 17-26th in Nova Scotia.
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