| Australia. Laser champion Casey’s class act |
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| Friday, 06 January 2006 | |
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Ian Grant: Ace Queensland Olympic Laser helmsman Brendan Casey showcased his consistent technique and tactical maturity with a clear cut 7 point win in the 2005-6 Australian championship on Brisbane’s Waterloo Bay. The Gold Coast based skipper has raced a lot of hard competition miles over the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron course but none harder than the time he spent to shake off the persistent challenge delivered by the equally impressive and younger Gosford skipper Tom Slingsby. Casey perhaps having a slight advantage with his tactical knowledge and depth of experience in racing against the tricky conditions took a grip of the Gold Medal with a 1-1-1-1 score in the first four races but Slingsby with his 1-1-1-3 always remained a constant threat. Both Casey with 7 wins and second and Slingsby with his 1-1-1-3-2-1-5-2 entered the four race Gold Medal series separated by a narrow 3 point margin. Although Slingsby was forced to play catch up he never gave Casey a hint that the title fight was over. His tenacious fighting attitude pressed the series to a final race decider after he matched Casey tack for tack forcing the eventual champion to experience bad air and limited ‘play room’ to finish safely tucked under the stern of Slingby’s dinghy in 21st place. Unfortunately for Slingsby who sailed skilfully to win the final his best 10 race to count score remained in catch up mode when Casey claimed a title winning third place to win the prestigious Gold Medal with a 7 point margin. New Zealand’s Andrew Murdock (32pts) claimed the Bronze from team mates Michael Bullot (35pts) and David Weaver (45pts) while Marc de Haas (NED 49pts), Michael Leigh (CAN 50pts), David Wright (CAN 52pts), Brett Beyer (AUS 54pts) and Kevin Lim (MAS 63pts) completed the top 10. Predictably the talented Mathieu Frei sailed a conservative final series winning his Radial class Gold Medal with a race to spare and a 16 point margin with Europe class Olympian Sarah Blanck scoring a 3-2 on the final day to pip arch rival Krystal Weir by 1 point for the Silver. Sarah Blanck sailed a very consistent match race against Krystal Weir after both skippers held identical 1-1-1-2 scores after four races to seal her three point win on the final day. Laura Baldwin (GBR) was a star performer when she won the final two races to finish third 3 points clear of Melanie Dennison (AUS) while Corrinne Meyer (SUI) 33pts and first heat winner claimed fifth overall on count back from Jo Aleh (NZL). Klade Hauschildt the teenage skipper from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast claimed his career best result with a 23 point Gold Medal win in the Laser 4.7 class. Hauschildt and Jacqueline van Soest both members of the Royal Queensland Youth development squad expressed the benefit of racing and training on Waterloo Bay to dominate the regatta. Jacqueline van Soest winner of the open women and youth class Gold medals held a point score edge on Klade Hauschildt when he dramatically started his series with an OCS. But the exceptionally talented Hauschildt reflection a tactical maturity well beyond his 16 years produced unmatched skill and boat handling technique to win with only 19 penalty points lost in the 12 race regatta while van Soest claimed second 7 points clear Keiran Searle. Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 06 January 2006 ) |
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