International Sail Brisbane regatta - Klade Hauschildt in training

by Ian Grant on 28 Sep 2011 An ankle injury proved to be a serious setback for the talented Noosa Yacht and Rowing club Laser dinghy sailor Klade Hauschildt as he focuses his career on being fully fit to contest the Australian championship on Brisbane’s Waterloo Bay.

Racing the single handed Laser at the required boat speed to be competitive encompasses a combination of finely tuned human element skills and while Klade has proved with his career results to be on the pace tactically the injury meant he was far from being on the pace physically.

Naturally this set back with the Brisbane nationals just three months away and being forced to leave his Laser in the cradle was not what Klade Hauschildt planed but rather than miss sailing altogether he focused his attention towards helping the new generation Laser sailors perfect their individual skills.

He was a popular guest coach at the recent Yachting Queensland Youth Development camp at Yeppoon where he provided an informative set of guide lines on preparing both mind and body to spend the important time of hiking hard and sailing fast in the competitive discipline of Laser dinghy racing.

Just a few years ago Klade Hauschildt like his training mate Ryan Palk was in the same position as the present day Youth development squad looking for the refined skills that would lift their career from being a clever club sailor to becoming respected in State, National and International regattas.

As Klade explained racing in a strict one-design class like the Olympic Laser dinghy is purely determined by the human element related skills of thinking smart being boat fit and applying a faultless tactical strategy.

Each category is never perfected without doing the ‘Hard Yards’ on the water.

'You must make a commitment to a tough grind of practice, practice and more practice'. He said.

Thankfully his recent injury while placing his National Title prospects on hold has failed to dampen his enthusiasm.

Last weekend he was back in the hiking straps of his Laser testing his boat speed on the Noosa River.

As expected he was too involved to notice who was watching and while he trained alone there were all the signs that he was on the pace.

His tacking against the light breeze and current was slick while the body movement showed he was close to having the required speed to protect his National ranking.

There was no sign of personal discomfort from the ankle injury after completing his first of many training sessions on the Noosa River to be race ready for the International Sail Brisbane regatta followed by the more important Laser Nationals from December 29 to January Sail Brisbane website