Sailors who attended the first Lasersail follow up session were greeted by the full range of conditions at Hillarys Yacht Club. In the morning a howling 25 knot Easterly meant that the squad had no choice but to work on their reaching skills. So the 15 sailors who turned up took off down the coast heading South and held on for the ride. We went for a sensational reach along the coast stopping at about North Beach. Being a hot day West Coast Highway and the North Coast Beaches were packed so it was fantastic publicity for the swarm of lasers heading down the coast.

Whilst winds were lighter in the afternoon it still allowed an enjoyable session consisting of short races and some follow the leader. Sailors were also introduced to the Hillarys Yacht Club special, race to the top mark, 5 death rolls down wind, finish. Ben Angwin a Hillarys local was the star of this format.

Astrid Hansen, Suzi Oliver and Jenn Suffield were the pace setters throughout the day. Some fantastic new names are making an impact i.e. Dougal Hansen, Antonino Riolo and Arrik Fisk whilst the likes of John Hugo, Mike Burbidge, Mark Brandon, Ryan Keeffe, Josh Monkhouse, Joel Armstrong, Hannah Bailey and Blake Davenport continue to show promising signs for the future of Laser sailing.

One of the key messages coaches Martin Wright and Brad Utting promoted throughout the weekend was the importance of attending regattas. This is where the improvement will come and all sailors want to improve because if they don’t they will not have fun and chuck the sport in when less important things like the TEE come up.

On that note don’t forget the next training session on the 20^th of February at Hillarys Yacht Club.

11.11.09 17:28 Age: 301 days

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