Laser Radial Women’s World Championship - Ashley Stoddart’s challenge

by Lisa Ratcliff on 14 Apr 2016 2016 Laser Radial Women’s World Championship - Racing at the 2016 Laser Radial Woman’s World Championship in Mexico begins on April 14 and among the entries is Australia’s Ashley Stoddart, the talented Queenslander who last November qualified her country for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

World championship organisers, the Mexican Sailing Federation, Vallarta Yacht Club and the International Laser Class Association, are set to host 73 women from 39 countries. Of those 73 women, 10 finished in the top 20 at the 2012 London Olympics.

The entries will be split into fleets and sail a qualifying series (April 14 – 17) followed by a final series (April 18 – 20).

Two races per day are scheduled and it’s hoped the perfect conditions competitors have enjoyed for the practice days, winds 15-20 knots on beautiful Banderas Bay and just enough wave action to make the downwind legs even livelier, continue as the program unfolds.

In November last year at the 2015 Laser Radial World Championship in Al Mussanah, Oman, Australian Sailing Squad’s Ashley Stoddart secured Australia a spot for the Rio Olympic Games with her 11th placing in the women’s one-person Laser Radial class.

Now Stoddart has another opportunity to prove herself to the selectors by demonstrating she’s very capable of delivering top performances among a world class field.

Marlena Berzins is Australia’s second representative at the Laser Radial worlds.