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Testing conditions for the
first day of 2008 New Zealand Laser Championships
2006 World Laser Radial Champion and Chinese
Olympic hope Lijia Xu leads the Radial Fleet after Day 1
The wind ranged between
10 & 25 knots with big shifts from right and left at the first day
of the 2008 NZ Laser Championships. The big shifts made it hard to set a
course and racing got underway an hour later than planned. Most competitors
also felt somewhat underdressed as the gusts to 25 knots meant that there was a
lot of cold lake water being sprayed around. The two planned
races were completed in the exciting sailing conditions and all of
the 144 sailors knew that they had been sailing when the returned to the
beach at the picturesque Lake Taupo Yacht Club.
3 day Laser Training Camp Sponsored by
NZ Laser Association, YNZ, Peter Snell and Lake Taupo Yacht Club held just prior to the
2008 Nationals
Chinese Sailor Lijia Xu who
was Laser Radial World Champion in 2006 leads the 78 strong Laser Radial
Fleet with two wins today. 78 Sailors is a record for Laser Radial in
NZ with the Mens, Women's and Youth World Championships being held at Takapuna
in March ensuring that competition is fierce. The fleet has been split in
two for Qualifying with a split to Gold and Silver Fleets at the end of the
Regatta. New Zealand's Jo Aleh & Mike Keeton are 2nd behind Xu with a
win and a 2nd each as they sailed in the other fleet from Xu.
Rod Dawson & Blair Mclay
shared a 1st and 6th each today to lead the Open Standard Laser fleet of 27
sailors. Nick Croft leads the Laser 4.7 fleet with Nick Page leading the
Masters fleet. Sailing will be delayed tomorrow for the Offshore powerboat
"Thunder on the Lake" with racing to resume at 15.30. Follow link below to
full results.
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