World Laser Radial Youth Championship 2009

The youth girls was also decided on the last race where Mathilde de Kerangat of France used the conditions well to finish in third place and win the championship by 3 points from Ashley Stoddart of Australia. These two girls have been close contenders all the way through the regatta. Michelle Broekhuizen of Netherlands came third with consistent results of 4th and 6th today. The races today were won by Marie Bolou of France and Souffa Ben-horin of Israel, both with their first wins of the regatta. The Australian girls took out first and second in the under 17 group with Ashley Stoddart adding to her women’s silver fleet win last week. Alexandra South, despite a disastrous day today was convincingly in second place. Momoko Tada of Japan took third place.

Congratulations to all the people of Japan and particularly all the volunteers who made this such a fantastic regatta.

Report courtesy of Linda Parrish

Bualong Keerati of Thailand finished 2nd and 7th and now sits 2nd overall. (picture courtesy of K. Matsumoto)

Anna Agrafioti of Greece had a fantastic day today with a 1st and 2nd place. (picture courtesy of K. Matsumoto)

Sunday 9th August

Sunshine, 14 to 18 knots and choppy seas again greeted the sailors in Karatsu, Japan for the Laser Radial World Men and Youth Championship.

There will be some tired sailors again tonight after 5 continuous days of great but challenging sailing conditions. Two races were sailed for each of the four fleets with the first race in 14 to 16 knot NNE winds and the second in 18 to 20 knots. Everyone is hoping that the last day tomorrow will be free from rain and typhoons. The jury has been very busy on the water Rule 42 infringements.

This was the first day for the Gold and Silver fleets in the Youth Boys and, with some concern that there may be too much wind for sailing tomorrow, there was a sense of urgency to get good results today. In the gold fleet 4 boats were OCS in the first race and the second race was a clear start. In the first race of the blue fleet there was a general recall, followed by a black flag start and general recall with 10 boats being BFD. With 10 boats less the race got away all clear on the next attempt. The youth girls were all clear in their first race but had four OCS in the second.

Aleksander Arian from Poland maintains his 17 point advantage at the head of the gold youth boys fleet. There have been significant changes in the other placings with the second drop included. Keerati Bualong from Thailand has moved up one place to second with Toma Visic from Croatia the big mover coming from 22nd to third. Filip Kobielski of Poland with two wins today climbs from 14th to fourth only one point behind Toma.

There has been little change in the top placings in the youth girls fleet with Mathilde de Kerangat of France holding a four point advantage from Ashley Stoddart of Australia. Alexandra South of Australia maintains third position ahead of Anna Agrafioti of Greece, who had an impressive first and second today.

Robin Elsey of Great Britain leads the silver fleet from Adrian Delgado Padilla from Spain.

Tomorrow is the final day with two races scheduled for each fleet.

Tonight is party time for the sailors and volunteers. Japanese hospitality has been fantastic and sailors, coaches and supporters have all commented on how well they have been looked after. This has certainly been a special regatta. Tomorrow night is the Prize Giving.

Report courtesy of Linda Parrish

Kenji Nanri of Japan rounding the 1st mark leading the strong fleet. He is the only Japanese who managed to get into the Gold fleet. (picture courtesy of K. Soehata)

Double bullet for South Alexandra (AUS) brings her up to 3rd in the ranking after 8 races. (picture courtesy of K. Matsumoto)

Saturday 8th August

Another fantastic day of sailing in Karatsu, Japan for the Laser Radial World Youth Championship

After a shakey start with low cloud, poor visibility and little wind, racing started half an hour late when Karatsu yet again turned on great sailing conditions. Two races were sailed for each fleet with the first race sailed in light winds of 7 to 10 knots and the second in 12 to 15 knots. The sun was shining and the seas were slight. With the threat of a typhoon south of Kyushu that is moving slowly north, everyone was very pleased to have such a good day. This typhoon is being closely monitored.

Aleksander Arian of Poland had another consistent day to lead the youth boys by 17 points from Chris Barnard of USA. Keerati Bualong from Thailand had a second win today to move into third place. Nikolaos Chrisos from Greece moved into fourth place with a second and third today. Josh Porebski from New Zealand moved into seventh place with an impressive win in the second race of the yellow fleet. Toma Visic of Croatia won the blue fleet in the first race today and may move back up into contention if a second drop occurs. He has some impressive results (2, 2, 1, 1, 3) but with a dnf and an OCS he is at present in 22nd position. The fleet will now be split into gold and silver tonight so racing will be very competitive tomorrow. Snow Nevin of USA has taken over the lead in the under 17 group.

In the youth girls Alexandra South scored two bullets today to move into third place. However first and second place are still held by Mathilde de Karangat from France and Ashley Stoddart of Australia, who both sailed consistently with a second and third each. With only three points separating these two there should be some good racing tomorrow. Ashley continues to lead the under 17 group.

A very special ceremony was held at the end of racing today to honour a local laser sailor, Masakazu Hayashi, who was to have been a key member of the race management team for these world championships. Unfortunately he passed away suddenly last summer. A special memorial scattering of the ashes took place in 'Castle Bay' with a guard of honour of the race management boats and some Japanese laser sailors in their boats.

Two races are scheduled for tomorrow and we are all hoping the typhoon will not head our way.

Report courtesy of Linda Parrish

Australian girls in the lead in under 17 group - Ashley Stoddart and Alexandra South (picture courtesy of Linda Parrish)

Aleksander Arian from Poland leading the Youth Men fleet, heading to right hand side of the course just after the start. (picture courtesy of Linda Parrish)

Friday 7th August 2009

Summer arrived in Karatsu today with shifty conditions for Day 3 of the Laser Radial World Youth Championship. It was a beautiful day on the water with sunshine and light breezes although there was some rain ashore in the hills.

The first race for each of the three fleets was sailed in five to eight knots and the second in ten to twelve knots, with all 6 scheduled races sailed.

Today was an opportunity for those liking lighter conditions to show their skills and there was significant movement in position throughout the fleets in the overall results.

There are 28 boys and 10 girls looking to win the under 17 year award. Australian girls, Ashley Stoddart in first place and Alexandra South in second are convincing leaders at this stage. In the boys Philip Doran from Ireland is leading from Nevin Snow of USA and Oliver Loughead from Ireland in third.

The lead has changed in the Youth girls with Mathilde de Kerangat from France having her third win today to take first place overall with 8 points. Ashley Stoddart, from Australia is three points back in second place from Michelle Broekhuizen from Netherlands in third on 18 points.

Poland is also dominant in the Youth boys with Aleksander Arian in first overall with a 17 point lead. There is a close battle for the next three positions with Matej Valic from Slovania second on 23 points, Alexios Katsios from Greece on 24 points , ahead on count back from Chris Barnard from USA also on 24 points. The light winds certainly brought some changes in positons today with Christopher Jones from Australia moving up to sixth place from twelfth and Keerati Bualong from Thailand into seventh from 23rd.

There is one more day of racing before the youth boys fleet is split into Gold and Silver for the last two days.

Report courtesy of Linda Parrish

Toma Visic CRO (picture courtesy of K. Soehata)

Anna Agrafioti (GRE) and Maria Tsaousidou (GRE) (picture courtesy of K. Soehata)

Thursday 6th August 2009

It was long day on the water in Karatsu, Japan for the Laser Radial Youth World Championships.

Windshifts caused a headache for race management and delays for sailors. However, patience paid off and six good races were sailed. The first two starts got away on time in NNE winds of 15 to 16 knots. Just before the start for the youth girls the wind shifted to the right and the start was postponed. The subsequent start resulted in a general recall. They finally got away on the next start. Race 4 for the two youth boys fleets and youth girls were raced in good conditions.

In the youth boys fleet, Aleksander Arian from Poland has stamped his mark, with two more bullets today, to be leading by five points from Oliver Roughead from Ireland who followed yesterday's two thirds with a second and fourth today. Tobias Kirschbaum from Netherlands maintained third place and Chris Penney from Ireland moved up from tenth yesterday to fourth today just one point behind Tobias. Filip Koblielski from Poland had a huge lead in race 3 of the yellow fleet but received a yellow flag and had to retire.

Mathilde de Kerangat from France had another bullet today in the youth women to move into first place on the count back from Ashley Stoddart from Australia. These two have a significant lead over the rest of the fleet at this stage of the regatta with Anna Agrafioti, from Greece 7 points behind in third place.

The twilight series starts tonight and some of the coaches may well be showing their skills.

Report courtesy of Linda Parrish

Perfect day for Radial sailing on Castle bay Karatsu (picture courtesy of K. Matsumoto)

Momoko Tada (JPN) and Antonia Psoma (GRE) (picture courtesy of K. Matsumoto)

Wednesday 5th August 2009

Strong winds and rough seas test laser radial sailors on the first day of the World Laser Radial Youth Campionship in Karatsu, Japan.

Karatsu is a great place to have a World Championship and again turned on superb sailing conditions with a warm sunny day, 20 knot NNE winds, a choppy sea and building swell. It was daunting conditions for some of the less experienced sailors and some scored DNF for being outside the time limit. However the experienced sailors had a wonderful day with real gains to be made on the reaches and runs. Each fleet had 2 races with 37 youth girls and two fleets of 47 and 48 youth boys. All six races were within 3 minutes of the target time of one hour end this Japanese Race committee again have set a very standard to aspire to for the rest of the week.

In the youth girls fleet Ashley Stoddart, fresh from winning the silver fleet in the Women Championship, had a win in race 1 and a second in race 2 to be the overall leader. Following very closely is Mathilde de Kerangat from France who was third in race 1 and a very convincing winner in race 2. Alexandra South is in third place after a second in race 1. She was comfortably in second place in race 2 until she capsized rounding the last mark before a short beat to the finish. She managed to right her boat and finish fourth.

The racing in the Blue Fleet for the youth boys had first, second and third in both races as the same sailors - Arian Aleksander from Poland, Toma Visic from Croatia and Oliver Loughead from Ireland. The yellow fleet was much more mixed with Tobias Kirschbaum from Nederlands having a 2nd and third, Filip Koblielski from Poland with a win and a twelfth and Chris Barnard of USA with a second and a seventh. Overall results have Arian first on 2 points, Toma second on 4 points, Tobias third on 5 points and Oliver next on 6 points.

There will some tired sailors today after some dramatic capsizes.

Last night sailors experienced an impressive opening ceremony in the Town Centre with local high school students carrying the 30 country flags representing the competitors. A local high school band accompanied the proceedings. The local dignitaries welcomed the group of nearly 200 sailors and their coaches and support teams to the city of Karatsu and the wonderful sailing waters of this region. A reception was held nearby with a wonderful array of Japanese food. A group of male dancers performed a traditional dance and then the famous Japanese drums and their talented performers came on stage to delight the assembled company.

Report courtesy of Linda Parrish

Karatsu Harbour (picture courtesy of Linda Parrish)

Measurement Day in Karatsu(picture courtesy of Linda Parrish)

Monday 3rd August and Tuesday 4th August 2009

Anticipation is high for the 95 youth boys and 38 youth girls who have completed registration and measurement procedures.

The race committee has put on practice starts and course changes for the last two days so there is no excuse for the sailors not knowing how the races will be conducted. The sailors are also enjoying the large hard stand area, shaded tent area and the superb launching ramp.

The wind is predicted to remain in the same sector as last week but there is likely to be a period of rain and lighter wind later in the week. The typhoon at present centred around Hong Kong is the unknown wild card that, at this stage, is not expected to cause problems.

The opening ceremony is tonight in the city centre followed by a reception at the Arpino Hall a short walk away.

Report courtesy of Linda Parrish