British sailors jostle for top spot

Andrew Commander reports on the recent Australian Laser Nationals

Olympic hopefuls are all trying to get the one slot left for Athens in the Laser class and that most of the Laser hotshots (Paul Goodison, Ed Wright, Mark Howard, Hugh Styles, Andrew Commander and Jamie Smith) are travelling the world - they are currently down under doing as many pre-Olympic Regattas as they can, including Sail Melbourne before heading off to Miami for the Rolex Cup. This is the last chance for all these hopefuls to pit themselves against the other top international sailors in some warm weather sailing before coming back for the trials at Weymouth in April. Here's a taster of the action to come, having just finished the Australian National Championships - a warm up event for Sail Melbourne.

The Australian Laser National Championships for 2004 were held in the gorgeous Royal Geelong Yacht Club on Corio Bay just an hour from Melbourne. With the bay being almost entirely enclosed the conditions were always going to test all the competitors to their limits, and competitors from as many as 10 countries this was truly an excellent warm up regatta at the beginning of the season. Due to 105 competitors taking part, four equal-sized fleets were formed each day with two fleets racing each other every day before the final two days, when the fleet would be split up into Gold and Silver fleets.

The first day was delayed for a few hours due to strong winds and squalls coming through. When the all-clear was given to start racing, the fleet was sent out in 10-15 knots with the windward mark only 100m from the shore causing some big windshifts to come down the race course.

Mark Howard (sponsored by Ronstan) got off to the perfect start leading from the first windward mark to take the bullet only to find out that he had been caught OCS at the start and was hence disqualified. He was not in bad company with current world number 1 Michael Blackburn (AUS), Brendan Casey (AUS), and Andrew Commander (sponsored by c2marine.co.uk) also OCS. But it was Hugh Styles (sponsored by Gill and Fat Face) that hit the headlines with incredible consistency in such unpredictable conditions taking line honours in both races to lead overnight comfortably.

The second day started off with an oscillating 15 knots coming down the course which then built to 20 knots later in the day. Blackburn and Casey traded results both with a first and second both showing excellent pace on all points of sailing. Styles came away from the day with 7th and 2nd to continue to lead the fleet, Howard showed awesome pace to pull through in both races with a 3rd and 1st along with Ed Wright (sponsored by Magic Marine) who came away with a 2nd and 3rd, and Commander lacked consistency but was able to take a 3rd in the first race.

The third day started in much less wind - 5 knots onshore. Both fleets got away but after 40 mins of racing the wind swung 180 degrees and the race was abandoned. The race was quickly resailed in 10-14knots and once again the windward mark was only 100m off the shore. Howard and Jamie Smith (sponsored by Mercedes-Benz) both led from the start to take bullets in the resailed race; Wright came second, Styles 5th and Commander 6th. Styles continued to lead the fleet, but the challengers were catching up with the first discard coming into play. Racing was then postponed for the day as the wind began to shift up to 180 degrees again.

With a lay day and then the final day of fleet racing being abandoned due to 35 knot winds the fleet was split into gold and silver fleets for the remaining four races. However, due to the lack of racing in the group qualifying stages all races in the gold fleet had to be counted with no discard. This was going to prove the ultimate test between pushing at the start to get clear air and not being OCS. The first race got away in a very shifty 6-14 knot breeze. The left paid on all beats with Commander leading briefly coming into the finish only to miss a shift on the final beat to come third. Casey took the bullet, with Styles coming in 5th.

The second gold fleet race started in a slightly fresher 10-15 knots. Howard and Wright both had excellent first beats and runs to break away from the fleet and pursue into a match race. It was Wright that got the better of Howard to take the bullet, followed home by Blackburn and Casey fighting hard for third.

The final day of the regatta started with anyone in the top 5 all within 5 points of each other - it was going to go right down to the wire. The conditions were just as testing with the windward mark once again 100m from the shore. Blackburn and Casey once again traded results with a bullet and a second each showing that they were both too good for the rest of the fleet but Blackburn had done enough to win the regatta by 2 points from Casey. Styles came home with a 4th and 7th to hold onto third overall and first international sailor. Howard and Commander lacked the consistency to finish 6th and 11th overall respectively, while Wright paid the ultimate price with an OCS in the final race to ruin a consistent series to drop back to 12th overall.

All the sailors now move around to the other side of Port Philip to compete in the only ISAF Grade 1 event in the southern hemisphere, Sail Melbourne.