Castles Triumphs Again
The WA Laser State Championships were held down at Geographe Bay Sailing Club, Busselton on the ANZAC Day long weekend.
The wind conditions were fair over the three days with a day of light flukey winds, light to moderate steady breezes and a morning of moderate to heavy breezes. The regatta was well attended by young and old sailors across the state with 31 entrants in the standard class. In the early part of the regatta the locals Colin Lovelady, former Masters world champion, and Stefan Kurys-Romer lead the fleet to timely shifts that came across the land. Past state champion Paul Slaughter called on his experiences of winning the event at the same venue 15 years prior to start the regatta with two impressive results. Featherweight sailor Tristan Brown exploited his speed advantage in the lighter conditions often sailing past his competitors with an amazing speed differential that was difficult to match.
WAIS sailor and current state champion for the past three years, Tim Castles, was never too far behind and won a couple of races himself to have a five point buffer going into the final day. WAIS sailor, Ryan Hannan, spoilt any chances of contesting Castle’s lead after being disqualified via a protest for an incident on the starting line, but consistent results kept him in the mix for a podium position when he finished the last day strongly. Richard Leslie tried to make the most of the races in stronger breezes, notching up three wins, but unfortunately one of those saw him disqualified due to breaking the start.
Overall results were WAIS sailors Tim Castles in first and Ryan Hannan second for the third year running. Youth category was won by Jake Flintoff, the winner of Apprentice Masters (35-45), Paul Slaughter, placed 3rdoverall. In the Masters (45-55) Mark Lovelady finished strongly and Grand Master (55-65) was won by Stefan Kurys-Romer.