Nice sea breezes and a particularly strong youth Radial fleet were the features of the 2018 Auckland Laser Champs held at Torbay on 17th and 18th February.

Saturday saw the sea breeze fill in early, with 10-15 knots for the 3 races and a decent chop. Sunday was overcast and the breeze never really got above about 8 knots but still provided good racing.

In the 30 boat Radial fleet, Luke Cashmore had an excellent weekend, winning 4 of the 6 races to take out the championship. Behind him Torbay local Harrison Baker had was also exceptionally consistent, particularly on the Sunday with 3-second places. Third overall was Master Phil Wild, keeping the youth fleet honest, as did Susannah Pyatt who had two good wins on Saturday but was not able to sail Sunday. The Torbay youth squad stood out overall with Jayden Abbott, Ryan Harden and Logan Beckman in 4th, 5th and 6th all having a good weekend on the water.

In the Standards there was a repeat of the contest from the recent Nationals in Christchurch with National Masters Champ Andrew Dellabarca making the trip up from Wellington worthwhile, taking out the contest from local Ian Baker with Cris Brodie third. GGM John Pitman from New Plymouth had an exceptional Sunday, winning two of the races to come in 4th overall, clearly preferring Sundays lighter condition.