Ontario Sailors Do Well At Laser North American Championship

Brant Beach, NJ was home to the 2011 Laser and Laser Radial North American Championships, July 12th -15th, and also home for several Canadian athletes during this event. Ontario was well represented, having 15 athletes competing in the Laser class and 11 athletes competing in the Laser Radial class.

The venue consisted of extremely shallow waters with several weedy patches for the athletes to avoid across the race course. Day 1 consisted of three races for both the fleets and included moderate breeze from the West, South West with fairly large shifts and immobile patches of pressure spread across the course. Day 2 gifted the athletes with another three races and included very similar conditions from the day before, however they saw more mobile pressure funnelling down the course with smaller more foreseeable shifts. Day 3 brought with it some strong breeze from the North, generating tough sailing conditions with larger waves bound tightly together. As the day progressed, the breeze shifted East, generating another set of waves, mixing up the race course and making it a nightmare for some. By the time the third race of the day was sailed, the breeze was coming offshore from the island and the waves had settled down. On the fourth and final day, the breeze was initially out of the West, then a fighting sea breeze pulled the wind hard left making the only race of the day near the time limit of 90 minutes.

In total, 10 races were sailed allowing for two races to be dropped. Notable finishes from Canadian Sailing Team (CST), Ontario Sailing Team (OST) and Ontario Sailing Development Team (OSDT) athletes were as follows.

Laser Class
2nd Chris Dold (CST)
5th Robert Davis (CST)
6th Lee Parkhill (CST)
8th Greg Clunies (OST)
10th Evert MLaughlin (OST)
11th Tom Ramshaw (OST)
15th Matt Ryder (OST)
17th Evan Lewis (CST)

Laser Radial Class
7th Ingrid Merry (CST)
8th Claire Merry (CST)
35th Sam Rea (OST)
46th Julia Kidd (OST)
49th Emma Hughes (OST)
56th Hugh Macrae (OSDT)
62nd Megan Rutitis (OST)
65th Violet Stafford (OST)

PHOTO CAPTION: L-R: Robert Davis, Lee Parkhill, Greg Clunies, Evert McLaughlin

PHOTO CAPTION: L-R: Robert Davis, Lee Parkhill, Greg Clunies, Evert McLaughlinBrant Beach, NJ was home to the 2011 Laser and Laser Radial North American Championships, July 12th -15th, and also home for several Canadian athletes during this event. Ontario was well represented, having 15 athletes competing in the Laser class and 11 athletes competing in the Laser Radial class.

The venue consisted of extremely shallow waters with several weedy patches for the athletes to avoid across the race course. Day 1 consisted of three races for both the fleets and included moderate breeze from the West, South West with fairly large shifts and immobile patches of pressure spread across the course. Day 2 gifted the athletes with another three races and included very similar conditions from the day before, however they saw more mobile pressure funnelling down the course with smaller more foreseeable shifts. Day 3 brought with it some strong breeze from the North, generating tough sailing conditions with larger waves bound tightly together. As the day progressed, the breeze shifted East, generating another set of waves, mixing up the race course and making it a nightmare for some. By the time the third race of the day was sailed, the breeze was coming offshore from the island and the waves had settled down. On the fourth and final day, the breeze was initially out of the West, then a fighting sea breeze pulled the wind hard left making the only race of the day near the time limit of 90 minutes.

In total, 10 races were sailed allowing for two races to be dropped. Notable finishes from Canadian Sailing Team (CST), Ontario Sailing Team (OST) and Ontario Sailing Development Team (OSDT) athletes were as follows.

Laser Class
2nd Chris Dold (CST)
5th Robert Davis (CST)
6th Lee Parkhill (CST)
8th Greg Clunies (OST)
10th Evert MLaughlin (OST)
11th Tom Ramshaw (OST)
15th Matt Ryder (OST)
17th Evan Lewis (CST)