Well if you ever get an opportunity to sail a Laser regatta in Mooloolaba in the future TAKE IT.

 

Blue skies, beautiful 10 to 15 knot onshore winds everyday, real ocean swells, 30+ degree air temperatures, 160 odd boats (even if they were mostly Aussies!), excellent race management and easy rigging and launching in the estuary combined to deliver a near perfect regatta. The Standards all sailed as a single fleet, 70 boats on the start line posing some interesting starting challenges, while the Radials were split with the GGM's and Legends sailing in a separate fleet from the rest

 

The Kiwi contingent of 9 all enjoyed the regatta, why wouldn't you, and left with a few Aussie cubes in hand after 10 races over the 4-day long weekend. A standout was Matt Blakey, sailing under NZL even though he is currently resident on the wrong side of the ditch. He just missed winning the Standards on count back to the legendary Brett Bayer but took home the Apprentice champions cube. I managed to put together a consistent regatta for 12th overall and collected a cube for 4th placed GM. Cris Brodie also had a strong regatta for 13th overall, including what was almost an all the way win in race 9, just getting pipped at the post by Aussie Apprentice Nick Skulander. The other kiwis in the Standard fleet battled for consistency and ended up mid-fleet although all had races in the top bunch.

 

In the Radials, Hamish Atkinson was the standout kiwi and ended up 7th overall and winning a cube for 4th GM, with a win in race 8 being the highlight of his weekend. Roger Winton started the regatta on fire, being in the top 5 after 2 days, but found the slightly windier conditions on days 3 and 4 more challenging and ended up 9th overall.

 

Nick Page