Dane, Belgium win Laser Radial Worlds

Sakaiminato, Japan (July 24, 2019) – The 2019 Laser Radial Women’s and Men’s World Championship closed with two final races for the 111 women and 32 men who had been competing from July 19 to 24. On a day when the eight to ten knot westerly breeze varied throughout the race and across the course, there were big gains to made, or lost.

The women struggled with consistency today, allowing Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark to decisively win the title by 36 points after closing with a 6-15. She was the regatta leader going into the final day, with a two point lead over Ecem Guzel (TUR) and a ten point lead over Tuula Tenkanen (FIN), but the Dane avoided the big shocker as others faltered.

In the first race, most of the top-ten in the regatta were in the bottom half of the fleet at the first weather mark. Most of them worked their way up through the fleet in the remaining legs, but Rindom did so best, finishing sixth. The others finished in the high teens, or worse. Completion of this 10th race of the event made a second discard available.

Discarding a 28 from the Qualifying Series, Rindom established a 30+ point lead over Tuula Teknanen (FIN) and Charlotte Rose (USA), who moved up into second and third places. A conservative 15th place finish in the final race cemented Rindom’s win, but places shuffled below her. Marit Bouwmeester (NED) moved up to second with a 10th place finish, despite a letter score in the first race, and Alison Young (GBR) claimed third with an 11th in the final race.

In the Men’s Championship, Simon de Gendt (BEL) held his lead to win the event followed by Zac West (AUS), despite West’s retirement from the final race. Guilherme Perez (BRA) and Erwan Lamoueux (SUI) traded places for the day, with Pereze claiming third and Lamoueux finishing fourth overall. Mark Louis (AUS) held onto fifth place.

For the important 2020 Olympic Games berths, positions within the top 10 countries were shuffled, but none of the four hopeful countries (Guatemala, Thailand, Spain, and Saint Lucia) did well enough to move up and claim a spot for the 2020 Games.

Top North American was Charlotte Rose (USA) in ninth place which gives the 2017 and 2018 Youth Sailing World Champ the edge as the USA begins their qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The 2019 World Championships was first events of the 2020 Olympic Trials for U.S. athletes. As the highest placing American Radial sailor, Rose leads selection by three finishing positions. Selection in the Laser Radial class will be determined February 21-28 at the 2020 Laser Radial World Championships in Sandringham, Australia.

Other American finishes include two-time Olympian, Paige Railey in 12th and Trofeo Sofia Bronze Medalist Erika Reineke in 21st.

Event details – Entry list – Results – Facebook

The first three days of the event were qualification rounds for the 111 women, with the top 56 advancing to gold fleet. The 32 men are racing as one fleet. Twelve races were planned on July 19-24.

FINAL RESULTS:

Women (Top 10 of 111; 11 races, 2 discardS)

Men (Top 10 of 32; 12 races, 2 discards)

Ten nation places for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were available at the end of this event following the 20 places already allocated out of a total of 44 berths in the women’s event at the next Olympics.

2020 Olympic Qualification (14 countries for 10 places):
1. Croatia CRO 164 pts
2. Lithuania LTU 178 pts
3. Argentina ARG 185 pts
4. Belarus BLR 211 pts
5. Australia AUS 213 pts
6. Uruguay URU 225 pts
7. Russia RUS 232 pts
8. Ireland IRL 233 pts
9. New Zealand NZL 234 pts
10. Cypress CYP 252 pts
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11. Guatemala GUA 253 pts
12. Thailand THA 257 pts
13. Spain ESP 264 pts
14. Saint Lucia LCA 279 pts

Source: ILCA