Buckingham finishes 11th at 2019 Laser World Championships
by Brittney Manning 9 Jul 22:02 PDT
4-9 July 2019
2019 Laser World Championships © Junichi Hirai / Bulkhead Magazine Japan
The 2019 Laser Standard World Championships have wrapped, concluding the first event of the 2020 U.S. Sailing Olympic Trials. After six days of racing, three athletes finished in the top third of the fleet, one just outside the top-ten.
Highest finishing American, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.), had an impressive week. Heading into the final day of racing, Buckingham stood one point outside a podium finish and in position to move forward with the Early Selection phase of the 2020 U.S. Sailing Olympic Trials.
Fellow U.S. athlete, Henry Marshall (Newton, Mass.) began the regatta with what is arguably a career highlight for the young athlete. The twenty-year-old placed first in the opening race of the Championship and continued to demonstrate his improvement, consistently placing in the top twenty throughout the regatta.
Though, in the final two races, Buckingham slid back to finish the regatta, in 11th place overall, this finish establishes a solid lead, moving forward with the Late Selection phase of trials. At next year's World Championships, Buckingham will have the advantage of 18 places on Trofeo Sofia winner, Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.), who finished 29th at this event.
Early Selection will proceed in the remaining Olympic sailing classes. The next qualification event is the 2019 Laser Radial World Championships which will also be hosted on the waters of Sakaiminato City, Japan. U.S. Women's Laser Radial athletes will begin contending for selection to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team on July 19, 2019.
Laser World Championships - U.S. Results:
- Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) - 11th
- Christopher Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.) - 29th
- Henry Marshall (Newton, Mass.) - 39th
- Ford McCann (Kemah, Texas) - 79th
- Marshall McCann (Kemah, Texas) - 87th
- Paul Didham (San Diego, Calif.) - 119th
- Malcolm Lamphere (Lake Forest, Ill.) - 130th
- Peter Hurley (Mantoloking, N.J.) - 145th
- Marek Zaleski (Norwalk, Conn.) - 153rd
Full results available here.