Day 1
Report.
The 2007 South
Pacific Laser Masters are being hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in
the beautiful clear waters of Moreton Bay QLD. The Fleet of 66 lasers is
made up of sailors from all the Australia States & 9 from NZ. The
fleet has a large number of Current & Former World Champions as most sailors
are using this Regatta as a final preparation for the World Championships to be
held at the end of September in Roses, Spain.
Most of the Kiwis arrived the day before the regatta and spent the day
preparing charters boats of various ages and conditions. Some of us went
out for a sail in the crystal clear waters (caused by the ongoing drought) and
were lucky enough to see Dolphins, Turtles and Dugongs. The “nibblers” as
the locals call the sharks to avoid scarring the tourists we thankfully
absent.
Day 1 dawned clear and warm
and the Westerly gradient breeze fought the
building sea breeze and finally lost which left conditions very light and shifty
with a reasonable tide. Race 1 was started under an I flag which was to
have an effect on the results as a number boats were slightly over in the last
minute and weren’t aware of this. Kiwi Mike Knowsley from Manly Sailing
Club lead the Radial fleet for most of the race by a large margin with 2 other
Manly Sailing Club members Make Page & Mike Pasco comfortably ahead
exchanging 2nd & 3rd places but in those conditions
nothing is safe and on the last third of the run a hole parked the leaders and
allow the current Masters World Champion and local sailor Greg Adams and a bunch
of Ozzies to catch with a large bunch reaching for the shorted course finish
line. Mark Page crossed first of the bunch with many following close
behind. After the OCS were taken out the final results for the Kiwi’s were
Mike Pasco 1st , Mike Knowsley 2nd , Jim Quinn (Tamaki)
16, Mark Page ocs.
The Standard Rig fleet
struggled also to find breeze in the tricky conditions with places changing
regularly. Colin Caldwell from (Pupuke) did well to finish 4th
with Michael Keeton (Wakatere) 6th, Ray Beale (Pupuke)
8th, Barry Cutfield (Whakatane) 12th & Marcus Frith
(Manly) 22nd
The 2nd races of
the day were held in the tricky conditions with places changing regularly.
Former World Champ form Perth Colin Dibb won the Standard Rig and 52kg local Jan
Kemp won the Radial. Standing at the end of Day 1 for the Kiwi
Sailors:
Standard
Rig
R1 R2
3rd Barry
Cutfield 11
2
7th Ray
Beale
8
13
9th Mike
Keeton
6
15
15th Colin
Caldwell
4
32
25th Marcus
Frith
20
25
Radial
Rig
3rd Mike
Pasco
1
13
6th Mike
Knowsley
2
18
21st Mark
Page
ocs 3
24th Jim
Quinn
16
22
