Laser/Radial Midwinters East

The last day of the Laser/Radial Mid Winters East dawned overcast, cool and windy, wind started from 075 and worked its way to 095 on the compass, the velocity ranged between 13 and 16 kts, with a cross sea left over from yesterday. Today was the first day this week that the right favoured so that shook up the results a little at least.

The CST men in the Laser class were really on fire yesterday. David Wright won the event handily. He had a 1-4 on the day, and Lee Parkhill was second overall with a solid 2 and 1st.

Top result of the day on the CAN Radial team was Youth Team member Hugh MacRae from Kingston, he had a 7th in the first race and a very solid performance, in the second race he rounded the top mark in 9th but a few boathandling issues pushed him back to 25th in race 2.

Hugh finished 30th overall . The other Canadian Youth World team member Violet Stafford also had some issues, she had a 31-40 on the day and finishes the regatta 39th overall.

The CST Radial girls, led by Brenda Bowskill, finished 12th overall with a 15 and 13 on the day. Ingrid Merry finished 18th overall with a 19-23 on the day. Erin Rafuse finished 22nd overall with a pair of 21`s on the day. Danielle Dube was not able to race on the final day. Full results and details can be found HERE.

Saturday, February 25, 2012
Another excellent day of wind here is Clearwater, today the wind was from the North and it brought a bigger and more confused sea. The Velocity was in the 13-16 range with 10-15 deg shifts but interestingly the left was still the money side if you were heading upwind.

The CST Radial girls had mixed results today, Brenda Bowskill topped the group with a 6 and 16 to move into 11th place overall with 56 points. Ingrid Merry had a 9 and 26 she is in 18th overall with 80 pts, Erin Rafuse had a pair of 24’s and sits in 22nd overall with 90 pts, Danielle Dube did not race today because of back issues, she drops to 18th also with 80 points.

Our newly minted Youth Team members Hugh MacRae and Violet Stafford had a decent day with 25 – 27 for Hugh and 39 – 29 for Violet, they both gained a good deal of experience in these tough conditions.

In the Laser Class, Dave Wright is solidly in the lead with only 2 races left, he is also Canada’s Olympic representative, his training is obviously going very well. Fellow teammates Lee Parkhill and Chris Dold are in 3rd and 4th place respectively.

Racing continues tomorrow with 2 races scheduled and the wind from the same direction with similar velocity for the first part of the day.

Friday, February, 25, 2012
The 2012 Laser/Radial Midwinters East are underway and Canadians are representing in full force in Clearwater, FL. Olympic qualifier, David Wright (RCYC) is way out in the lead with a total of 14pts, while teammates Lee Parkhill (RCYC), Chris Dold (RCYC) & Tom Ramshaw (SLYC) all round out the top 5 overall

The Radial fleet is 90 boats strong and contains a mix of Olympic qualifiers, Danielle Dube (RNSYS), World Champions, Marit Bouwmeester (NED), and talented youth athletes who are vying for a spot on the Canadian Youth World Team. 

Yesterday, Hugh MacRae from Kingston Yacht Club had his best race of the series with a 10th. He finished the day in 33rd overall with 82 points going into the final series. Fellow Youth Team member Violet Stafford, also from Kingston, made Gold fleet. She finished the 2nd day in 41st place with 101 points. Their Gold fleet positions secure their performance requirement and ultimately qualify both of them for the Canadian Youth World Team in Dublin, Ireland.

Daily recaps and updates are posted on Canadian Sailing Team Facebook page.