Class Politics Laser Worlds 2006

Laser World Championship 2006


Battle On For World Title

ISAF. Image, European Champion and World number one Paul GOODISON starts as favourite for the world title:© Richard LANFDON/Skandia Team GBR, Jeju, Korea, Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Well over 100 sailors have gathered in Jeju, Korea to battle for the ISAF Grade W Laser World Championship. Racing gets underway today, with a whole host of contenders for the title.

Eight-time and reigning World Champion Robert SCHEIDT (BRA) will not be defending his title after switching his attentions to the Star class, meaning 2003 World Champion Gustavo LIMA (POR) is the only sailor in the fleet of 131 entries who has previously won the Laser World title.

The Favourites

In the absence of SCHEIDT, his successor at the top of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings Paul GOODISON (GBR) will start as favourite in Korea. The Brit has enjoy a terrific year so far, with wins at the ISAF Grade 1 Rolex Miami OCR, ISAF Grade 1 Kiel Week, ISAF Grade C1 Laser European Championship and most recently at the Olympic Test Event in Qingdao. However at last year’s Worlds in Brazil, GOODISON never really got going and finished the regatta a disappointing 14th.
Tom SLINGSBY (AUS) was unlucky to miss the Worlds last year through injury, but has been the only sailor in the Laser fleet along with GOODISON who has been able to consistently win the top events. Like GOODISON, SLINGSBY has four event victories to his name in 2006, including a win in Austria at the ISAF World Sailing Games and victories at the ISAF Grade 1 Semaine Olympique Française, ISAF Grade 1 Holland Regatta and ISAF Grade 1 Sail Melbourne.
The man who beat GOODISON to the bronze medal in Athens, Vasilij ZBOGAR (SLO), had a much better regatta in Brazil, finishing fourth overall and since then he has risen up to number two in the World Rankings. So far this year ZBOGAR has been solid if unspectacular, but his consistency in the relatively unknown waters of Jeju could prove to be a crucial advantage.

Other Challengers

Whilst SCHEIDT was cleaning up in Brazil last year, Diego ROMERO (ARG) won the battle amongst the rest of the fleet to take second place. The Argentine picked up another medal at the World Sailing Games, but at 22nd at Kiel has been his only outing since then.

Andrew MURDOCH (NZL) picked up the bronze medal at the Worlds last year, and repeated that performance in Qingdao recently. He has struggled for consistency this year though, mixing top five results with some poor finishes, most notably a disappointing 34th at the Europeans.

LIMA has the advantage of knowing he has what it takes to win the Worlds, and has showed good form this year, especially with a third at the Europeans in Poland. Olympic silver medallist Andreas GERITZER (AUT) and Maciej GRABOWSKI (POL) have also both posted impressive results this year.

Young Pretenders

Amongst the younger stars to look out for, 2004 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Champion Nick THOMPSON (GBR) showed good form in Qingdao, whilst fellow Brit and 2005 Youth Worlds winner Giles SCOTT also lines up. 2006 Youth World Champion Luke RAMSAY (CAN) will feature as well, although Canada’s strongest challenge looks set to come from 21 year old Michael LEIGH (CAN), whose strong performances this year have him knocking on the door of the world top ten. 18 year old Singaporean Maximilian SOH is also a name to look out for. He showed his form in the light winds at Qingdao, surprising everyone with an eleventh place finish.

Racing begins in Jeju today, with two races per day scheduled for the opening series from 13-17 September. Following a reserve day the gold fleet will go on to battle for the world title, with another two races per day from 19-20 September. One discard will count after five races and two after ten.

Click to expand...

Laser World Championship 2006


Extreme Conditions Call A Halt To Racing

International Laser Class Association (As Amended By ISAF). Image, Tom SLINGSBY ties for the lead after one race:© Laser World Championship, Jeju, Korea, Thursday, September 14, 2006


Sailors were again held ashore at the scheduled start of racing on day two of the Jeju Laser World Championship in Korea. Today it was due to the extreme conditions that existed on the racing area with winds in excess of 25 knots and steep mountainous seas.

After a course inspection the race committee postponed racing until late in the afternoon in the hope that the strong winds might moderate. At the 1530 final deadline for a decision the wind was still the same with the seas even steeper as the strong spring tide turned against the wind. All racing was postponed to the next day.
With strong winds expected to continue over the next few days and typhoon ShanShan changing track more towards Jeju the Race Committee have introduced a new course format of double windward-leewards and are proposing to race one fleet at a time to maximise safety cover in the strong winds. In addition they have rescheduled racing to start at 0900 in the hope of using the slightly lighter winds in the morning close to the shore.

With no racing Tom SLINGSBY (AUS) and Michael BLACKBURN (AUS) remain at the top of the leaderboard, after both Australian sailors opened their series with a bullet yesterday.

Click to expand...