Sail-World.com : Laser World Championships - Slingsby extends heading into final phase

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Sail-World.com : Laser World Championships - Slingsby extends heading into final phase

Laser World Championships - Slingsby extends heading into final phase

'Tom Slingsby, AUS- Laser World Championships' Paul Wyeth / RYA

Laser World Championships - Overall leader Tom Slingsby carries forward his consistent momentum into the critical six race Finals phase buoyed by his fourth race win and a fifth from the last day of Qualifying heats in Hayling Bay off Hayling Island.

The 159 competitors racing on the last day of the group stages could find little to fault with the sparkling English summer weather conditions as another day of sunshine, moderate 8-11 knots mainly E’ly and SE’ly breezes was complemented by a worthwhile swell to offer the downwind specialists the chance to shine.

But even if the winds looked ideal, appearances were deceptive as at least two of the top four sailors sailed their discards on this last qualifying day.

While Australia’s Slingsby retained his run of form, as did Kiwi Andrew Maloney who with today’s 3,4, promoted himself from seventh this morning to qualify in fourth, on equal points with third placed compatriot Michael Bullot, world champion Paul Goodison confessed later to a couple of ‘schoolboy errors’ in the first race, contributing to his 14th and hit the windward mark in the second race when he finished fifth.

The Skandia Team GBR sailor, who is Olympic and defending World Champion, goes forward to the three days of Finals in second 14 points, behind Slingsby.

And Bullot, runner-up to champion Goodison last year in Halifax, returned ashore scratching his head after having had to recover more than 30 places in his first race to earn his third. But his powers of recovery deserted him in the second heat of the day and he, too, sailed his discard race on the eve of the Finals.

Slingsby admitted that he owes much of his revitalised attack this season to his lacklustre World Championships last year, when he finished 17th. After winning Skandia Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth he said today that he is especially happy to have found an extra gear to his downwind speed, completing a package which he feels can win him the title he won in 2007 and 2008 again.

He may have had a slightly nervous start to his day, discovering when he was rigging up that he had a crack in the top of his supplied daggerboard which was replaced with one which had been repaired, but he finished brimful of confidence and well set for the final stages.

Cyprus’ Southampton based Pavlos Kontides, a ship studies student, gave his confidence a leap when he posted to back to back wins to lie fifth into the Finals.

The strong New Zealand squad are certainly among the key contenders with two in the top four, three in the top six and four in the top eight.

After their rest day today the Junior World Championships resume their Qualifying with two scheduled races Friday before their four race Finals commence Saturday.

Laser Standard Senior Men’s World Championships
Hayling Island
Provisional Standings after 8 of 8 Qualifying Races, one discard

1 Tom Slingsby (AUS) 1,8,(29),3,1,1,5,1 20pts
2 Paul Goodison (GBR) 3,1,9,4,3,7,(14),7,34pts
3 Michael Bullot (NZL) 1,2,5,13,9,3,3 (23) 36pts
4 Andrew Maloney (NZL) 2,(22),4,10,2,11,3,4,36pts
5 Pavlos Kontides (CYP) 4,3,21,4,5,(27),1,1, 39pts
6 Andrew Murdoch (NZL) 6,4,11,2,8,(22),9,1,41pts
7 Nick Thompson (GBR) 2,3,(25),6,9,7,9,8 44pts
8 Joshua Junior (NZL) 3,22,1,2,7,5,8,(29),48pts
9 Ashley Brunning (AUS) 12,9,10,12,3,3,1,(19) 50pts
10 Andreas Geritzer (AUT) (33),6,2,1,2,22,9,9,51pts

Event website click here

by Lindsey Bell

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6:44 PM Thu 2 Sep 2010 GMT

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