Point Yacht Club
SA Laser Nationals
Offshore Durban: 30 May – 3 April
Local lad, Rudy McNeill was in a class of his own when he
was crowned the SA Laser Nationals champion on Sunday.
McNeill won seven out of the eight races that counted
offshore of Durban, following up from dominating the KZN Open Provincials in
Richards Bay the weekend before. McNeill is hard at work hoping to qualify for
the Rio 2016 Olympics
After the regatta, a chuffed McNeill said, “I had good
fun on the water. The conditions suited me perfectly. “
Continuing, he said, “From the moment I launched my boat
off the beach on the first day, everything felt good. I got into my groove
quickly and fortunately didn’t make too many mistakes over the four days and I
am happy that everything fell perfectly into place. My fitness helped quiet a
lot, but also with the local knowledge, with a typical south wester blowing
most of the time, I could read the weather easier than a lot of the guys who
were on the Durban water for the first time.”
“I went into the first race on the final day needing to
keep other Rudy, Rudolph Holm from Pretoria behind me. The winds started off
really light from the North East, but both Rudy and I prefer the big winds, so
it was quite difficult. At one stage I was lying in eleventh. I can’t remember
the last time I worked so hard, but I did it. I finished fifth but most
importantly, ahead of Rudy. Once I had that nailed I knew I had won the title.
I really was stoked!”
Vause Road sailor, Anthony Arbuthnot managed a 23rd place in the four day regatta, competing against some of the best sailors in the world, including Colin Dibb who has a string of World Championship titles to his name. Arbuthnot top scored a fifteenth place in the ten races, he was racing in a highly competitive fleet including Australian Colin Dibb who has a fleet of World Champion titles to his name, Rudy McNeil who is hoping to compete in the Olympics and Thomas Baumgarti from Brazil.
Durban’s autumn served up a bit of everything for the
Laser sailors, with a few races with winds exceeding 15knots, a bit of chop
when the North Easter filled in, some light winds for the leaner sailors and
perfect sunshine over the four days. Race officer, Tony Cockrell got in ten
triangle sausage triangle races, with two races being discarded. On the third
day the smaller 4.7 Lasers were sent home early as the breeze started to build
nearing the 20knots, a bit too dangerous for the younger sailors.
Seasoned sailor and event organiser, Campbell Alexander
who finished ninth in the main class said, “I think we can be very happy with
the event. We had a variety of winds, the sailing was superb, and the setting
was five stars. Everyone, from the highly competitive Olympic hopefuls to the
more social sailors had a fantastic time on the water. Durban sailing is alive
and well, and with all of the compliments we have been receiving from the Laser
guys, our city is one of the best sailing venues in the world.”
In the Radial class, up-and-coming Dylan Long charged to
the front. The impressive young sailor worked hard on the water, with each race
the effort was evident as he pushed himself and his boat to the maximum. In the
eight races sailed, he managed four firsts, two seconds, a third and a fourth.
14 year old Kai Leslie also dominated his class, the
smaller 4.7 Lasers. The eager Cape Town tallied up an impressive log of six
firsts and two seconds.
Results
Standard
1 Rudy McNeill (PYC), 2 Rudolph Holm (AYC), 3 Alistair
Keytel (ZVYC), 4 Colin Dibb (FSC – Australia), 5 Thomas Baumgarti (YCI
–Brazil), 6 Marcello Marcia (VLC), 7 Alan Keen (ZVYC), 8 Trent Bingham (PYC), 9
Campbell Alexander (PYC), 10 Michael McNeill (PYC), 11 Rowen Clark (PYC), 12
Lance Burger (ZVYC), 13 Anthony McMillan (PYC), 14 De-Wet Nel (DYC), 15 Byron
Watt (PYC), 16 Ralph Thomas (ZVYC), 17 Andre Bestha (DYC), 18 Thomas Sutherland
(ZIC), 19 Deon van der Walt (LDYC), 20 Clive Whitburn (VLC), 21 Myles White
(PYC), 22 Nicholas Matter (HMYC), 23 Anthony Arbuthnot (PYC), 24 Andrew Russell
(ZYC), 25 Rob Goulden (PYC), 26 David Curtiss (PYC) 27= Henri Frencken (PYC),
27= Brett Clark (VLC)
Radial
1 Dylan Long (TSC), 2 Calvin Gibbs (IYC), 3 Georgou
Divaris (KYC), 4 Sam Lombaard (PYC), 5 Ruben Heard (ZYC), 6 James Hellstrom
(GLYC), 7 Iliana Boura (VLC), 8 Dominic van der Walt (LDYC), 9 Jethro Brophy
Tintinger (PYC), 10 Damian Muller (DAC), 11 Tyron-Lee De Jager (ZYC), 12 Andrew
Walford (PYC), 13 Ken Holliday (ZVYC), 14 Megan Eccleston (WYC), 15 Peter
Clayton (BSC), 16 Nicholas Forshaw (HMYC), 17 Emma Clark (VLC), 18 Mugammad
Peters (DYC), 19 Ross Gaughran (PYC), 20 Tommy Madoda (DYC), 21 Alison
Bradfield (ZLC), 22 Megan van der Walt (LDYC), 23 Nicola Burger (ZVYC), 24
Matthew Russell (ZYC), 25 Brendan Geraghty (BSC)
4.7
1 Kai Leslie (ZVYC), 2 Sarah-Jane Deary (ZVYC), 3 Elsje
Dijkstra (ZVYC), 4 Megan Robertson (GLYC), 5 Frances Van Breda (PYC), 6 Hannah
Fokkens (ISC), 7 Hannah Tiedt (PYC), 8 Kirsten Clark (VLC), 9 Gen Matter (HMYC)
ENDS
No comments:
Post a Comment