2007 Laser / Radial Midwinters East Regatta Report
Clearwater Yacht Club, Florida
February 22-25, 2007
Report by Tommy Wharton
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A record number of entries came to challenge for the 2007 running of the Laser/Radial Midwinters East regatta. Held in Clearwater, Florida, the four day event produced all of the ten races planned, and sailors saw everything from near-drifters early in the series to a full on 20 knots on the last day of racing. It was a very stacked fleet in both the Laser and Radial divisions. In the Laser class, current world #1 ranked sailor Paul Goodison from Great Britain was in attendance. The Laser fleet also had two other sailors that were ranked in the top ten in the world. In the Radial fleet, four sailors from the top 20 in the world were present, including ISAF Female Sailor of the Year Paige Railey. |
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Prior to the event Canadian Sailing Team Coaches Tommy Wharton and Brian Todd ran training for the CST sailors in attendance. Open racing with development sailors across Canada also took place and it was a great opportunity for these sailors to not only mix with CST sailors but also the international talent that was present.
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The final day of the event produced the most drama with two races in big breeze and a very tight scorecard. In the 90 boat Laser division, Paul Goodison proved why he is the 2007 European champion and the top ranked Laser sailor in the world. He won both races and took the overall title. The battle for second was intense, and in the end Canadian Bernard Luttmer was the runner-up. Currently ranked 9th in the world, Bernie sailed a very consistent series in a wide range of conditions. Rounding out the top three was Nick Thompson from Great Britain. Two other Canadian were in the top ten, David Wright (8th) and Mike Kalin (9th).
In the 98 Radial class, a tiebreaker needed to be used to decide the overall champion. In the end, Anna Tunnicliff, currently ranked 3rd in the world, took the title. 2nd was former World Champion Paige Railey, and 3rd went to the European Champion Gintare Volungevicinte. |
Canadian Lisa Ross challenged for the top 3 all week and ended up a strong 4th overall. Keamia Rasa was the next Canadian in 5th overall.
During the Midwinters East awards ceremony, a special perpetual trophy is given out the competitor who finishes 2nd overall in the Laser division. The trophy is named after the late Nathan Cowan, who passed away in 2002. A former National Team sailor, Nathan had a large impact on the Canadian sailing community that exists still to this day. So it was quite fitting that the winner of the award was Bernard Luttmer, one of Nathan’s closest friends. Mike Kalin, also a good friend of Nathan’s, gave an excellence speech to introduce Bernard and what the trophy exemplifies.
For full results, please see the following link: http://www.clwyc.org/LaserMidwintersEast07/
Notable Canadian finishes:
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LASERS (90 boats)
2nd Bernard Luttmer (qualifies for 2008 worlds)
8th David Wright
9the Mike Kalin
14th Conner Higgins
15th Evan Lewis
17th Chris Dold |
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RADIALS (98 boats)
4th Lisa Ross (qualifies for 2008 worlds)
5th Keamia Rasa
16th – Isabella Bertold