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Tom
Slingsby - Up close and personal
(Photo
Courtesy: C & C Imaging)
Javier Fernandez (ESP) finished 11th in Race 10 to hold
on to third place overall in the Gold fleet and is 11 points
adrift of Slingsby with two race drops in place. Vaslilij
Zbogar (SLO) has quietly made his way to the top of the
board for fourth overall following credible fourth and
eighth places today.
In a see-sawing game for the Kiwis, Michael Bullot is the
lead one tonight, in fifth place on 51 points. As countryman
David Weaver pointed out: "Yes, we keep changing places
between Mike, Andrew (Murdoch) and me; it's that sort of
regatta. Very tricky every day, anything can happen - and
does!"
Second places in Race 9 and 10 went to German sailors.
Toby Schadewaldt claimed the goods in Race 9, Malte Kamrath
doing the honours in Race 10.
"I started left of the middle and powered off the
start to windward of Tom Slingsby; that felt good,"
Kamrath said. "I tacked once to the left to go up the
beat - it was a long beat, but left was favoured. I was
third at the next windward mark, then made my way back to
second on the downwind. I was very fast downwind today.
"From there, I just defended my position. It was
great conditions; constant wind, sun, no current and waves
in one direction only - really good," he said.
Others enjoyed the day too. Marc de Haas (NED): "It
was pretty good - fantastic conditions. It was beautiful
sailing; this is the second time this week only that I am
smiling!" De Haas, in 15th place, is the best placed
Dutchman.
Fourteenth placed Greek sailor Adonis Bougiouris
commented: "I capsized in the first race, then in the
second race I lost a lot of places - I thought I had weed on
my centerboard, but when I looked, it was broken in half. It
was a good day anyway, beautiful sailing on big seas - I
enjoyed it."
In the Silver fleet, Maksym Semerkhanov is 20th overall
following Races 9 and 10. The Russian sailor lives and
trains primarily in Moscow, on the Moscow water reservoir.
"Of course the sailing conditions here are totally
different from the ones I encounter at my training, and it
takes a while to get used to bigger waves and stronger
winds," he said.
However, he is enjoying racing and his first trip to
Australia. "The weather has been unexpectedly rainy
during my stay, especially because Australia has the
reputation of being 'the dry continent," says
Semerkhanov who is attempting to qualify Russia for the
Beijing Games.
In the Bronze fleet, Thomas Barrows, although
disappointed he will not qualify the US Virgin Islands for
the Beijing Games, is enjoying the Championship. "It
was a good day. Nice conditions; wavy and sunny and a lot of
fun," he said.
"We had some close racing today. The second beat
pretty much determined who would win both races. Yeah, I'm
enjoying the regatta, but it's very tiring because of the
conditions and cos everyone's so good," continued
Barrows who is currently 13th overall in his group.
Racing continues tomorrow with the final two races of the
Finals Races in all groups. Stay tuned....
Results are provisional pending protests and ratification
by Race Officials.
For all information on the Gosford Sailing Club hosted
Laser World's, including mark roundings, photos and more on
the Laser World Championship go to:
http://aus08.laserinternational.org/
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