Please select your home edition
Edition
Switch One Design

Laser Radial World Championship - Lithuanian sailor claims gold

by Deike Mary Flemming on 21 May 2012
Laser Radial Worlds 2012 Prizegiving Nils Bergmann - Segelaction.de
At the Laser Radial World Championships, in a six to eight knot strong sea breeze, the first race pushed the sailors to their limits. A total of ten yellow flags were awarded, the majority for rocking the boat. For favourites Sari Multala (FIN) and Alison Young (GBR) it was the second yellow flag, which meant they had to retire from the race.

The two penalty turns for her first yellow flag in the same race pushed Marit Bouwmeester (NED) to 18th place. The last race of the series was sailed in fresher winds between twelve and 16 knots.

'I had a good feel for this regatta from the beginning, because I think it’s more my conditions' says Gintare Scheidt from Lithuania, who grew up sailing on lakes. Many sailors and race officials have likened the conditions on the race area to those of a lake, a sentiment that Scheidt says she shares. She proved that consistent results were the key to success in this regatta series and won her first ever World Championship without ever taking the top spot in any of the races. Ten points behind Scheidt in second place overall is Lijia Xu (CHN) who started off with top results but appears to have been on the wrong side of the wind shifts for the last couple of days.

The battle for third place was only decided during the very last race after Alison Young and Sari Multala were both disqualified for rocking their boats in the light breeze of the first race. Multala beat Young to the medal with a third place in the last race, while Young finished the series with an 18th place and became third overall.


18-year-old Erika Reineke (USA) not only won in the U21 ranking ahead of Brenda Bowskill (CAN) and Philipine Van Aanholt (AHO) but also managed to achieve a somewhat unexpected top 10 result overall, one place ahead of fellow American Paige Railey in ninth place.

Paulina Czubachowska from Poland won the Rookie Prize for the best results of those participating in a World Championship the first time with the 47th place overall in gold fleet.

The nations qualified for the last remaining Olympic tickets are the following, subject to ISAF ratification: Poland, The Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Guatemala, Russia, Uruguay, Greece, Estonia, US Virgin Islands and Laser Worlds website

Sea Sure 2025P&BSelden 2020 - FOOTER

Related Articles

IOM Ranking round 3 and 4 at Datchet
A useful test event for the Worlds next year Datchet Radio Sailing are hosting the IOM World Championships in 2026 so this ranking event would be the first test event to check the club logistics are in order. The organisers had put in a huge amount of effort getting ready.
Posted today at 7:16 pm
British Classic Week Day 2
An early start for Classes 1-3 as they prepared to race around the Isle of Wight It was an early start for the British Classic Week fleet on day two, as Classes 1-3 prepared to race around the Isle of Wight.
Posted today at 7:08 pm
iQFOiL Worlds a Aarhus day 3
The leaderboard tightens at the halfway mark after today's racing in a building breeze After a frustrating day of waiting ashore on Monday, Day 3 brought back the action in Aarhus Bay with spectacular foiling conditions and a full day of intense racing.
Posted today at 7:03 pm
Solo Vintage Championship preview
Leigh-on-Sea has the biggest fleet in the world Leigh on Sea Sailing Club is home to the largest fleet of Vintage Solos in the World and on Sat 12th July will host the seventh running of the Vintage Championship.
Posted today at 6:33 pm
Fleet advances to the last half of the AEGEAN 600
In contrast to yesterday's slow pace, the rate of progress has been much improved Most of the fleet of 59 Monohulls and Multihulls who are sailing in this year's AEGEAN 600 have either already entered the second half of the race at the island of Rhodes or are well on their way to reaching this important milestone.
Posted today at 6:17 pm
Blaze Westerns at Porthpean
The second day's breakfast included painkillers Plan a weekend trip to Cornwall and you're either going back to work on Monday looking as though you've been basking on a sunbed on a Caribbean Island or feeling broken as you hit the traffic gridlock because it poured with rain!
Posted today at 5:55 pm
Mediterranean Regatta season in full swing
A+T instruments seen all over Europe delivering high-level performance for racing fleets As regatta season gathers speed, A+T instruments were seen all over Europe delivering high-level performance for the racing fleets.
Posted today at 5:13 pm
International Moth Worlds at Lake Garda Day 1
Storm cells circling Lake Garda lead to atypical and tricky conditions The 137 sailors representing 25 nations faced the first day of racing in conditions that were anything but typical for Malcesine, with unstable weather creating a complex, yet exciting, opening.
Posted today at 4:41 pm
Junior GP14 team wins Southport 12 Hour Race
An amazing day with great competition from teams of all abilities The conditions were looking strong for this year's Southport 12-hour race at Southport SC with 12-15 kts constant and gusts up to 30 kts which provided a real challenge for the junior and youth teams taking part.
Posted today at 3:38 pm
Collaborating to Inspire Young People
Alongside the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix Portsmouth event The ASF and 1851 Trust are leading a new community programme to be delivered in Portsmouth. The programme aims to provide an inspiring and exciting learning experience alongside the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix Portsmouth event.
Posted today at 3:11 pm