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A great day for racing on Day 2 sponsored by Mion at the
Laser Masters Worlds off Terrigal today.
Reigning world Standard Apprentice Brett Beyer (AUS) got
off to a good start to reclaiming his 2007 crown winning
both Races 1 and 2. "It was close racing until three
quarters of the way through when the wind picked up and I
made gains downwind.
"We had the normal 5 degree shifts, but nothing
massive. It was all about setting your boat up correctly,
getting through the slops and steering well," Beyer
said.
Overall, Jyrki Taiminen (FIN) is second with five points
on equal points with third placed Rohan Lord (NZL). Two
British sailors are next best placed on equal 10 points;
Orlando Gledhill and Simon Barrington.
The Aussies scored again in the Standard Masters as Jan
'Clogs' Scholten (AUS), a helmsman and tactician of renown
won both races in the Yellow fleet. "I put in a bit of
practice at the Asia Pacific Championship at Sail Melbourne
last month, but this is another level up and I've held my
own today. It was textbook sailing," he said.
Results in the Masters were mixed in the opening two
races today. Scholten has a seven point lead from Mark
'Freddy' Phillips (AUS) in second place in the Yellow fleet
and a further point to third placed Larry Kleist (AUS).
Next best is Rob Douglass on 12 points and Tracy Usher
(USA) on 16.
In the Red fleet, Andy Roy was the standout with 1st and
second placings, which puts him second overall in the
Masters behind Scholten. The Red group fills out third and
fourth overall with Peter Conde (AUS) and Murray Thom (NZL)
on equal eight points.
Six were Black Flagged from the 140 entries in the Race
1 Master Red fleet following a couple of General Recalls,
but Race 2 was more straightforward. Black Flags were a
high price to pay for Colin Dibb and Chris Dawson in
particular. Dibb won Race 2 and Dawson was sixth.
Aussies scored dividends in the Standard Grand Masters
too, when World's chairman Rob Lowndes took out Race 1 and
defending world champion Mark Bethwaite won Race 2. Lowndes
currently heads that scoreboard with six points.
Two other sailors, defending world champion Mark
Bethwaite (AUS) and Wolfgang Gerz (GER) are on six points
also, in second and third places overall, with Jack
Schlachter (AUS) fourth, a further point in arrears and
Michael Nissen (GER) fifth, a further three points
away.
"I'm lucky to be sharing an apartment with two
winners," said competitor and member of the organising
committee Colin Cain referring to Lowndes and Bethwaite.
"It was absolutely sensational racing; it's the best
place in the world to sail, which is why we came halfway
around the world to compete," he said.
Standard Apprentice sailors had various takes on today's
racing. Christopher Gowers (GBR) "It was pretty good
out there; shifty, wavy and a true course. There wasn't
enough wind for fat blokes like me! At its peak, it blew
around 13-14 knots from the east."
"I had an OK day - I finished in the early teens
somewhere," said Kiwi sailor Andrew Dellabarca.
"It was hard to get a transit on the start line, but
the racing was clean," added Dellabarca who finished
fifth Apprentice at the recent New Zealand nationals.
"The first race was alright, but I had a terrible
start in the second; I spent the entire race trying to
catch up," lamented Jeffrey Myers (AUS).
"It was a good full breeze. I can't complain, I
didn't do too badly," said Kiwi match racer and boat
builder Dean Salthouse, whose brother Don is racing here in
the Standard Masters division.
Lionel Welch would rather forget his day. "The
racing was good - great, actually, but my performance was
bad! I made silly errors; if you're error prone like me,
you suffer.
"I made stupid errors today, like hitting marks,
that sort of thing. Then I got a pumping penalty. I think
the jury was a bit zealous on that one; I don't actually
know how to pump! I guess it's quite flattering
really," laughed the Brit who lives in and is
representing Hong Kong.
Alan Downes (AUS): "I was shocking. Not enough
pressure for me, but you have to take what
comes."
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