Final races

The Laser Masters World Championship has finished in Brazil

Although several of the age groups had already been won and the race leaders took a welcome rest after a tough week of racing there was still plenty of competition for the runner up places at the Laser World Masters Championship in Fortaleza, Brasil.

The glory of a race win or just beating the sailor who had been in front of you for most of the races was enough to keep everyone going for the final two races sailed in 20 to 22 knots easing to 15 knots for the final race. Yet again the largest fleet, the standard rig masters, provided the best racing.

Senior worlds competitor Brendan Casey said, "It was a great race to watch. Kurt Miller USA and Gonzalo Compero ARG started the last race on equal points. Miller was ahead at the first mark with Campero oscillating between second and fourth. On the second upwind they had a great tacking duel with Miller extending his lead. He went low on the last leg and three boats passed including Campero who rounded the downwind mark in third with Miller right behind. Maybe the pressure got to Campero because in his efforts to get clear of Miller he picked up his second yellow flag penalty of the week."
Millar explained his slow speed downwind "I'm great at catching up but not so good when I'm in front. It was a very exciting race for third overall but I nearly blew it."
Kerry Waraker AUS wrapped the Great Grand Masters division (over 65 years) with another second behind series runner up Peter Seidenberg USA.

In the the remaining category still to be decided Mark Orams NZL reversed the positions of the 2002 championship when he led Steve Cockerill GBR from start to finish. Orams said "Yesterday was a tough day but it was worth it to get a small margin on Steve. Today was completely different - it is a lot easier making the right decisions when there is no pressure!"

In spite of the tropical air and sea temperatures this has been one of the toughest Masters Championship ever held with no races under 15 knots and always big waves demanding total concentration. The three massage tables have been in constant use and even the well prepared are now looking forward to a rest. However everyone is already talking about the next championship to be held in Jeju, Korea.

Results:

Masters

Pos	Sail Number	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	Tot
1	NZL 177771	Murray Thom	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	-6	1	(dns)	11,0
2	AUS 181911	Peter Conde	2	2	2	7	1	1	4	4	5	(dnf)	(dnf)	28,0
3	USA 182048	Kurt Miller	-14	3	10	-13	4	6	2	3	2	4	4	38,0
4	ARG 155777	Gonzalo Campero	5	10	3	4	8	-13	3	8	1	2	(dnf)	44,0
5	USA 139001	Vann Wilson	8	5	-16	6	3	10	9	2	3	5	-14	51,0
6	CAN 175948	Allan Clark	-16	9	7	3	9	3	5	7	(dsq)	8	9	60,0
7	USA 171007	Tracy Usher	11	11	4	2	10	11	7	6	-12	-13	1	63,0
8	GBR 172796	Nick Harrison	4	6	5	-20	6	12	11	11	4	-14	7	66,0
9	BRA 52116	Nelson de Alencastro Guimarães	13	8	(dnf)	8	5	4	-15	9	8	10	2	67,0
10	USA 181828	Charles Tripp	-22	-22	19	9	7	7	12	14	11	3	3	85,0
11	USA 169575	Mark Bear	7	-29	6	5	14	9	10	-18	9	15	12	87,0
12	AUS 184236	Jack Schlachter	-21	14	8	16	13	14	-21	5	7	7	5	89,0
13	AUS 184225	Greg Adams	17	7	12	-23	-18	5	13	13	14	6	10	97,0
14	IRL 170892	John Simms	6	21	11	-27	12	-22	6	15	10	11	8	100,0
15	IRL 180241	Bill O´Hara	3	4	-23	15	11	23	8	10	17	12	(dnf)	103,0
16	USA 174300	Peter Drasnin	9	15	-26	14	16	8	19	-22	13	9	6	109,0
17	BER 184417	Brett Wright	19	12	-25	18	15	-21	16	20	20	dnf	11	147,0
18	FIN 176600	Derek Breitenstein	15	13	13	10	19	19	20	23	-25	18	-28	150,0
19	ARG 171392	Hector Raul Longarela	12	16	17	21	-26	25	14	12	21	16	-27	154,0
20	DOM 171729	André Vincent Martinie	10	20	9	(dsq)	21	26	18	16	-30	17	20	157,0

Apprentice

Pos	Sail Number	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	Tot
1	AUS 181706	Brett Beyer	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	-2	1	1	-2	9,0
2	FRA 172669	Xavier Leclair	2	2	-3	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	(dnf)	17,0
3	USA 172095	Scott Ferguson	3	3	2	-6	5	-7	4	3	3	3	4	30,0
4	NZL 181722	Mark Page	4	6	5	3	3	6	-7	5	6	-8	3	41,0
5	AUS 181692	Larry Kleist	5	4	-6	5	6	3	3	6	-7	4	5	41,0
6	BRA 159695	Ricardo Zanetti London	-11	-5	4	dne	4	4	5	4	4	5	1	52,0
7	DOM 177395	Ari Barshi	6	(dnf)	-9	4	8	5	6	8	5	7	6	55,0
8	BRA 166783	Gustavo Malta Guimarães	7	7	7	7	(dnf)	9	8	7	8	6	(dnf)	66,0
9	USA 171001	Andrew Tuthill	8	9	8	9	9	8	-11	9	9	-11	7	76,0
10	FIN 181972	Martin Forss	10	10	10	8	7	10	9	-18	11	9	(dnf)	84,0
11	USA 171059	Todd Willsie	9	8	13	13	15	11	10	-17	14	-16	13	106,0
12	IRL 182607	Kevin Currier	-14	13	14	11	10	-15	13	14	13	13	9	110,0
13	NZL 181996	Colin John Caldwell	13	12	11	12	13	16	14	10	10	(dnf)	(dnf)	111,0
14	USA 166905	Jorge Suarez	-16	16	15	10	12	14	-18	12	12	10	11	112,0
15	GBR 155924	Harry Ogden	12	15	12	14	11	-18	-17	15	17	14	8	118,0
16	BER 174257	Jay Riihiluoma	15	11	-17	16	14	12	12	16	16	-17	14	126,0
17	CHI 164104	Carlos Schutz	(dnf)	(dnf)	18	17	16	17	15	11	15	12	10	131,0
18	POR 168071	Serafim Gonçalves	(dnf)	14	16	15	17	13	16	13	-18	15	12	131,0
19	KEN 165577	Sarah Searle	(dnf)	(dns)	dnf	dnf	18	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	186,0
20	BRA 10004	Sérgio Renner Vieira da Silva	(dnf)	(dnf)	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	189,0

Grand Master

Pos	Sail Number	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	Tot
1	AUS 183011	Mark Bethwaite	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	(dnf)	(dnf)	11,0
2	GBR 171914	Nicolas Livingstone	4	-7	2	3	2	1	2	3	-6	2	3	22,0
3	GBR 178770	Keith Wilkins	-9	3	5	4	-12	4	3	5	3	1	8	36,0
4	USA 33134	Ted Moore	2	5	4	7	5	-12	4	4	8	-9	7	46,0
5	CAN 166047	John Dawson Edwards	(raf)	2	6	6	6	13	7	2	1	4	(dnf)	47,0
6	NZL 175277	Bob Blakey	3	4	3	2	10	11	-13	8	-12	6	2	49,0
7	AUS 177094	Des Rockliff	5	-15	7	8	4	5	-15	7	4	5	10	55,0
8	ARG 145840	Alberto Larrea	11	10	13	(dsq)	7	6	8	-14	5	3	5	68,0
9	USA 184465	William Symes	-20	6	-16	5	3	7	12	13	11	14	1	72,0
10	AUS 178622	Rob Lowndes	(dnf)	8	12	15	13	-16	5	6	10	11	6	86,0
11	AUS 182977	David Edmiston	(raf)	9	11	-18	8	8	16	11	7	8	9	87,0
12	USA 177311	John Bentley	(raf)	11	9	11	9	-20	10	10	17	7	4	88,0
13	AUS 184666	Colin Cain	6	-19	10	10	17	3	9	-19	9	12	19	95,0
14	USA 181127	Amnon Gitelson	10	14	8	-17	14	14	-20	17	13	16	14	120,0
15	SWE 171323	Curt Blidner	(raf)	12	23	12	16	17	6	9	(dnf)	13	13	121,0
16	AUS 181906	Frank Walsh	7	16	14	13	-22	-23	18	12	16	10	15	121,0
17	GER 178159	Willi Gerlinger	13	-24	18	9	15	10	14	18	(dnf)	17	12	126,0
18	AUS 184246	Michael O´ Brien	8	21	15	14	11	-22	11	20	(dnf)	20	11	131,0
19	GER 178156	Uwe Claasen	14	18	19	16	18	-25	-21	21	15	21	16	158,0
20	USA 173706	Timothy Millhiser	16	17	-26	22	19	15	22	(dnf)	19	15	18	163,0