|
Offshore Powerboat "Thunder on the
Lake" almost steals Thunder from Day 2 of Laser Nationals
144 Lasers waiting for wind after the earlier
Offshore Powerboat event was held in 10-15 knots
Competitors
at the 2008 NZ Laser Championships were treated to the impressive spectacle of
the Offshore Powerboat "Thunder on the Lake" this afternoon.
144 Laser sailors & race officials were disappointed later though when it was
"their turn" on the Lake as the 10-15 knot winds
that had given the Offshore Powerboats choppy conditions slowly died and swung
through 360 degrees before a race could be completed. PRO Ian Clouston
kept his cool though and in the end racing was able to get
underway with shortened courses and compressed starts just after 17.00 today. The scheduled 2 races for each fleet
were completed in 5 to 10 knots oscillating
winds.
2006 Laser Radial World Champion Lijia Xu
from China continues to dominate the Radial fleet with another 2 wins
today
Lijia Xu switched to the yellow
Radial fleet today and recorded 2 wins although in one of her
races she had to work her way up from mid-fleet to get the victory. 2nd
& 3rd overall Jo Aleh and Sara Winther again sailed in the opposite fleet to
Xu and had to work hard for Aleh's 2nd & 4th and Winther's 1st and
6th. In the Standard Open fleet Josh Junior had a great day with 2 wins
moving him up to 2nd overall, with Rod Dawson now leading after having another
good day with two seconds. Andrew Dellabarca dominated the Masters fleet
with a win and 2nd giving him a 10 point lead over 2nd placed Richard
Blakey. In the Laser 4.7 fleet, Nicholas Croft consolidated his lead
today with 2 outstanding wins, putting him 6 points clear of 2nd placed
Daniel Jones.
What happened to the age
defying Master from yesterday, Mike Keeton, who was in 2nd place behind Xu
I hear you say? Well the 25 and some years that he is giving to the rest
of the Radial fleet hotshots caught up with him today. In the first
race he had a senior moment and started his 5 minute countdown when the 4
minute flag went up leaving him a minute behind everyone at the start. In
the second race it didn't get any better and the repeated capsizes on
the runs convinced Mike that he should really head home for a much
needed nap! So Mike has gone from 2nd overall to 56th overall, but don't
despair as after his nap today we are sure he will start tomorrow 25 years
younger again!
 |