European Laser Standard Youth Championship 2009
Sat 1st August 2009 - Sat 8th August 2009
SWEDEN, Landskrona
Reports courtesy of Rune Hallin
Pictures courtesy of Mats Svensson from Borstahusbild. For more pictures please visit www.borstahusbild.se
Saturday 8th August 2009
The Laser Standard Championships in Borstahusen, Landskrona, Sweden, began and ended with thunder. But the sun was shining on the sailors for the fifth day in a row. The wind on Saturday came from south, 4 to 5 knots in average and with a 40 degrees windshift and decreasing wind at the end. The second race was cancelled when the wind died completely and the thunder was rumbling in the background.
Philipp Buhl, Germany, scored his second bullet of the regata on the last day after having been in the lead for several days. He was crowned European Laser Standard Youth Champions with a 30 point lead over the rest of the fleet.
Dutch sailor Gijs Pelt finished the championship in second place on 62 points. Wojciech Zemke from Poland scored a solid second race in the penultimate race and so climbed up the leaderbord into third place with 63 points, just one point behind Pelt.
Karl-Martin Rammo from Estonia scored the most bullets throughout the championship and finished in 4th place with 67 points.
In the Under 19 category, Robert Holmes from Great Britain was the best sailor with 98 points, followed bys Alex Mills-Barton, Great Britain, in second place with 110 points and by Ricardo Montemayor, Mexico, in third place with 132 points.
All participants seemed to be pleased with the arrangements on- and offshore and the small, once-upon-a-time, fishing village will return to be a peaceful and quite suburb to the city of Landskrona. The Borstahusen Yacht Club would like to see all the Laser sailors back again. They were all very much appreciated visitors!
Friday 7th August 2009
The first day of the finals and brilliant sunshine for the forth day in a row. The Laser Standard Championships could't have much better conditions. The wind was 7 - 8 knots from S.E., challeging with lots of windshifts.
The youth course was just outside Borstahusen and had the windward mark just in front of all the holiday-makers on the beach. There was not much current here, but many eager participants were over the line resulting in BDF's.
Philipp Buhl, Germany is still in the lead. He was 5th in the first race, but finished 50th in the second. He has a total of 31 points, 13 points ahead of Wojciech Zemke, Poland.
Third is still Gijs Pelt, Netherlands on 45 points, only one ahead of Karl-Martin Rammo, Estonia. In fifth place, second the day before, is Michal Gryglewski, Poland.
Thursday 6th August 2009
Another day with brilliant sunshine at the Laser Standard competitions in Borstahusen on the last day before the finals. The wind was light and fickle, 3 - 7 knots at the start but soon decreasing.
The youth, sailing just outside Borstahusen, got winds from S.E. in the first and from S.V. in the second race and managed to carry through two good races for both fleets.
A new leader has emerged at the end of today's racing. Philipp Buhl from Germany has been climbing up the leader board steadily and is now in the lead with 26 points after scoring an 8th and a 33rd place.
Yesterday's leader Michal Gryglewski, Poland, is second with 29 points while Gijs Pelt, Netherlands, remains in third place. Filip Matika, Croatia, was successful the two first days but has now slipped down to 7th place with 51 points.
The wheather for the two final days is predicted to be sunny with winds up to 7 knots from east to south-east.
Wednesday 5th August 2009
The sun was shining over the Laser-sailors and the conditions were ideal when the third day of the Laser Standard competitions started in Borstahusen. The wind was quite stable from northwest, 3 knots in the beginning increasing to 6 knots. The sailors were more disciplined and only one general recall was necessay on the youth course. All in all there were very clean races and now 6 of planned 6 races are sailed.
There are changes in the top among the youth. Michal Gryglewski, Poland, third yesterday, is now in the lead with 12 points after two seconds in todays races. Philipp Buhl, Germany, number 42 in the world ranking, on fourth place yesterday, is now second with 15 pionts after a first place in the last race. After having been in the top position for the two first days, Filip Matika, Croatia, is now on fifth place with 29 points.
Tuesday 4th August 2009
After a first day with sprinkling rain the sun came to view and was shining all day. The wind was light, from 1,5 m/sec and for moments up to 5 m/sec, varying from northerly directions forcing the organizers to change both courses several times before the first race. The competitors had also problems with the light wind resulting in a lot of BFD.
Filip Matika, Croatia, leader after the first day, came 15 in the first race on the yellow course but pulled himself together with a third place on the seceond race. He is still in a tied lead with dutch sailor Gijs Pelt, who was 38 in the first and 3 in the second race on the red course.
Michal Gryglewski, Poland, had a good day on the yellow course with a 3rd and 1st place and is in second place tied with Philipp Buhl, Germany, with a second in both races. They have 8 points net each and sailed the yellow course. Philipp Buhl has so far been the most consistent with a total of 14 points.
Monday 3rd August 2009
It was a rainy start to the championship with a thunderstorm in the morning, followed by lots of clouds and drizzle throughout the day. After an initial delay, the two youth fleets started racing. The wind blew at 3 m/sec from Northwest during the first race and increased to 7-8 m/sec from North during the second race.
Croatian sailor Filip Matika, who finished 8th in the European Laser Radial Youth Championship in France last year, moved into the Standard rig this year and had a fantastic debut to the championship, currently topping the leader board with 3 points after a second and first place. Also on 3 points is Dutch sailor Pelt Gijs after scoring a seond and first place. Third place is currently occupied by fellow Dutch sailor Jochem-Bart Haakman who is on 5 points after a first and fourth place in his fleet.
Saturday 1st August and Sunday 2nd August
The first two days of the championship were used for measurement and registration, followed by a practive race and an opening ceremony on the Sunday.