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Perfect sailing conditions on Day 4 of 2008 NZ
Laser Championships
Elliot Cree gets one back for the men in the 2nd race of the
Radial Gold fleet and moves into 4th place overall
The
forecast 15-20 knots winds from the SW came in on
time providing perfect sailing conditions today with waves that could be surfed by
the more skillful sailors. The programmed 3 races for the open
classes were completed on time with no problems for the race committee. The
wind moved right today but in a subtle way, unlike
the big shifts that have been experienced on the previous 3 days.
NZL Jo Aleh gets one over CHN Lijia Xu in
the 2nd race today after Xu beat Aleh in the first race of the day.
Andrew Dellabarca sailed well
today in the Masters fleet with a 2nd in the first race and possible win in the
2nd race except for a senior moment when he and Peter Van Ryn were battling
hard up the final beat for the race win and they sailed right past the
finish line (not crossing it) and up to Start boat and start line. They
eventually realised their mistakes, which the rest of the fleet enjoyed,
and sailed back to the finish line and recorded 16th & 15th
respectively. Andrew was able to drop the 16th but it has kept Jim Maloney
in the hunt now trailing by 2 points as we go into the final day.
In the Open fleet the joint
leaders from yesterday Rod Dawson and Josh Junior were both
disqualifed after protests today from 2 different races.
Rod is disqualifed from Race 8 which he won on the water and Josh
from Race 10 in which he came 3rd on the water. With 2 races left
tomorrow the Championship is very tight with Matt Blakey sitting in 3rd still
in with a chance.
Nicolas
Croft in the 4.7 fleet had another good day with two wins and a 2nd and is
looking very likely to win the free trip to Croatia to represent New Zealand in
Laser 4.7 Worlds. Daniel Jones went better today in the stronger
conditions and moved back into 2nd place, 2 points ahead of 3rd placed Layton Hern from Christchurch. In the
Radial Masters, Mike Keeton must have found the fountain of youth again after a 2 day nap,
and won both races in the Silver fleet. Glen Sowry leads though due to
fact that he doesn't need a 2 day nap after one day of sailing.
Spencer Loxton leads the Silver Fleet with 3 wins today,
closely followed by Jessica Barrell from Torbay.
NZL's
3rd placed Sara Winther finishing the 2nd race today
In the Radial Gold Fleet the
leader from China Lijia Xu and New Zealand's #1 Jo Aleh raced against each other
for the first time. In the first race today Lijia won with Aleh
second. In the second race Aleh finished 2nd with Lijia 3rd. In the
last race Aleh was on the wrong side of a right shift going into the top mark
and finished 5th which she is able to drop. Lijia did slightly better and
finished 2nd. With 2 races left tomorrow Jo Aleh now trails by 3 points
and will be praying tonight for her favoured light winds for the final
day.
Tonight Taupo Yacht Club have
done a great job hosting the Laser Nationals Dinner with 144 sailors and guests
and as a special bonus RS:X World Champion Tom Ashley and Jo Aleh have given
presentations on their Olympic campaigns for China later this year.
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