Skunked at Laser U21 World Champs

Split, Croatia (October 28, 2019) – The forecast held true at the 2019 ILCA Laser Under-21 World Championships today, sunny and warm and very little wind. No gradient, but hope for a thermal fill from the West in the afternoon. To be able to best advantage if the wind did build, the fleets were released from shore at 1130 to an on-the-water postponement.

Signs of the fill began to appear by 1400 and RC set anchor, but the wait continued. Slowly, the breeze built and was getting up to 5 or 6 knots, but it was left of the expected westerly. Some optimism on the signal boat, but it wasn’t strong. They set a starting line for a course at 240-deg and monitored the wind at the weather mark. And then the fill began to fade, and shift right. Finally, at 1510 they pulled the plug with an AP over Alpha and all headed to the harbor.

Racing sailboats can be a frustrating sport, for both sailors and race management. Too little or too much, too short-lived or too shifty. Some days, conditions are just perfect – steady breeze, with enough oscillations to reward those paying attention but not so large that you need to guess a side and hope that you guessed right.

Today was not one of those days. Race committee will try again tomorrow with a first start planned for 1200.

Two hundred and seventeen sailors representing 45 countries are registered for this six-day event – 146 men from 42 countries sailing Standard rigs and 71 women from 31 countries sailing Radials. To be eligible, sailors must be, or will turn, 17 years old this calendar year, but not 21 years old or older this year.

North American entries include Canadian sailors Clara Gravely, Liam Bruce, Noah Collinson, James Juhasz and Norman Struthers. Peter McGriff and Lucija Ruzevic are from the US.

Racing is scheduled for October 28 – November 2, 2019.

Event Details – Entry List – Facebook

Source: International Laser Class Association