Laser Radial Youth Worlds: Cashmore loses medal chance in crash
by Michael Brown/Yachting NZ 31 Jul 2019 20:01 PDT
1 August 2019
Luke Cashmore (NZL) - 2019 Laser Radial World Championships, CORK © ILCA
Luke Cashmore had his hopes of winning a medal at the Laser Radial youth world championships in Canada dashed by a freak accident that left him with cracked ribs.
The 17-year-old eventually finished 11th after today's final two races but he was as high as third before another competitor crashed into him at high speed during a pre-start. He was unable to sail on the penultimate day and received redress by the jury that left him in third heading into the final two races but a protest by another competitor saw the jury impose a tougher redress.
"It was a tough call by the jury," Yachting New Zealand coach Rosie Chapman said. "If they had kept the original redress, he would have been fifth. If he hadn't cracked his ribs, who knows where he would have been?
"The fractured ribs caused him a lot of pain and he was unable to perform like he usually does. It was really brave that he went out today. Before the injury happened, he showed he could perform at the top with the best in the world. It's always disappointing to end like that."
Cashmore was 39th and 23rd in today's two races but, before the accident, had banked four top-three results to put him among the contenders.
The rest of the New Zealand squad performed well, with all four boys qualifying for gold fleet from a total of 160 boats. Thomas Mulcahy was 23rd, and fourth in the under-17 division, Harrison Baker 27th and Caleb Armit 32nd (and sixth U17).
Bella Boyd was the only New Zealand girl competing and finished 34th with her best result a 12th.
It has left Chapman excited about the future, especially with Mulcahy only 16 and Armit 14.
"They have a long way to go so it's really exciting to see the promise from those guys," she said. "Overall there were some really good performances by the young Kiwis. Tom was fourth in the under-17s and Caleb and Harrison had top 10s in their last races.
"It was Bella's first international racing in the Radial. She did a good job and was improving on her performances. It will be exciting to see what happens with her next."
Results and standings from the Laser Radial Youth World Championships in Kingston, Canada:
Boys (160 boats)
1st: Yigit Yalcin Citak (TUR) (55 DSQ) 2 2 2 1 4 5 5 6 13 8 6 - 54 points
2nd: Emilios Monos (GRE) (30) 1 1 1 3 6 1 2 3 16 3 21 - 58 pts
3rd: Michael Compton (AUS) (31) 21 12 7 1 18 8 7 1 1 1 17 - 94 pts
11th: Luke Cashmore (NZL) 3 7 13 2 2 3 6 22 RDG 22 RDG (55 DNC) 39 23 - 142 pts
23rd: Thomas Mulcahy (NZL) 15 24 10 15 19 10 7 25 18 (32) 25 19 - 187 pts
27th: Harrison Baker (NZL) 5 7 3 4 11 19 (51) 21 35 40 50 7 - 202 pts
32nd: Caleb Armit (NZL) 20 6 24 25 9 10 20 17 43 (45) 30 10 - 215 pts
Girls (48 boats)
1st: Matilda Nicholls (GBR) 7 3 10 5 1 3 1 1 (33) 6 11 2 - 50 pts
2nd: Paige Caldecoat (AUS) 13 21 3 3 2 (24) 2 2 7 8 1 1 - 63 pts
3rd: Eve McMahon (IRL) 3 4 13 1 14 7 4 3 (32) 5 6 18 - 78 pts
34th: Bella Boyd (NZL) (44) 31 18 34 26 33 33 12 20 31 41 - 312 pts
Full results cork.org/past-results/results2019/lryw/radial_youth_worlds_results.htm