Australian Laser Championships and OAMPS Australian Youth Championships
Tim Castles
The 2007 Australian Laser Championships were held at the Royal Yacht Club of
Tasmania in Hobart over the New Year period. A total of 16 WA sailors made the trip
to compete in all three rig divisions. The racing was held in a variety of conditions on
the Derwent River in front of the city of Hobart.
The majority of the group sent their boats in a container from Perth using the amazing
new container rack built by Geoff Brown. This innovative designed rack can squeeze
10 Lasers and all their gear into a 20” container and keep all of it safe along the
journey across the country. Others chose to bite the bullet and drive across the
Nullabor and take the ferry across Bass Strait with their boats, and a select few who
were a bit more constrained by time chartered a boat when they arrived in Tasmania.
In the standard rig fleet WA was represented by 7 sailors in a fleet of 90. Due to the
size of the fleet the series was divided into a qualifying series of 8 races, after which
the fleet was separated into gold and silver fleets. After the qualifying races both Tim
Castles and Ryan Hannan were tied in 20th place and made the gold fleet for the
finals. Disappointingly, just below the cut off line for gold fleet were Richard Leslie
and Cameron Ewers. After the finals series of 3 races were completed Tim ended up
in 17th place, Ryan in 22nd and Richard sailed well to be victorious in silver fleet.
WA was well represented in the radial fleet with many younger sailors making the
jump from 4.7’s last season in a fleet of 60 boats. Unlike the standard fleet, the radials
sailed a 12 race competition. The level of the competition was high as many
Australian Olympic hopefuls and a star studded international contingent which
included the 2006 4.7 men’s and women’s world champions. Our sailors sailed well
in trying wind and strong tide conditions however their inexperience was exposed in
the tough fleet. Performances of note came from Tristan Brown who finished 17th
overall and Martin Wright 21st.
3 WA sailors took part in the 4.7 competition in a fleet of 20 young sailors. All of our
representatives were first year Laser sailors and were not able to pace it with their
older more experienced counterparts. Nick McPharlin finished as our top sailor in
###th place.
After a day of rest the OAMPS Youth Nationals began at the Sandy Bay Sailing Club.
Along with 10 WA Laser sailors competing there was a strong fleet of 29ers and 420s
all vying for places on the Australian Youth Team to compete in Canada in July. 9
races were scheduled over the 4 day regatta. Again our young team showed great
potential but their older, more experienced competitors had an edge when it counted.
Our 4.7 sailors showed some great potential. Nick McPharlin showed he will be a
force to be reckoned with in the future with a 1st place in race 4. Caitlin Elks also
showed some potential with a 4th place in another race. Tristan Brown was the top
WA sailor finishing in 10th place overall with some consistent results.
Overall it has been a successful summer for the WALA sailors in Tasmania. Our
younger sailors have showed great potential and the future of our class in WA is
looking great. Special thanks to team manager Richard Wright for his dedication and
hard work in preparing the sea container and coordinating the logistics of the trip.