Weymouth Qualifier
Written by Paul Goodison | 18 October 2010
After the annual Skandia Team GBR awards dinner it was back in action in my Laser this weekend. After six weeks out of the boat it was time to get on it. The awards dinner had left me really motivated, what better than a Qualifier in Weymouth to focus the mind and practise on the Olympic waters.
Fourty four boats made it on to the water for the Weymouth Laser Worlds Qualifier and we were greeted by some cold but great sailing conditions. With gusts up to 20 knots it did feel like I was a little out of shape but just meant it hurt a bit more.
After winning the first two races comfortably I was made to work hard in the final race of the day just holding off Eifion Mon followed by Nick Thompson to complete a perfect day. With less wind forecast for Sunday it was a pleasant surprise to arrive out in the bay with 18 knots blowing.
After a good start I lead the first race from start to finish as the breeze eased. For the final race we started in 12 knots before the wind became light and fickle on the last beat. After rounding second I passed Andrew Brown on the run to complete a perfect scoreline winning every race.
It felt great to be back in the Laser and sailing well, it was however physically challenging and it's time now to get back in to training before heading off to Perth at the end of the month…..
Bring on the warmth…….
For overall results see http://www.kbsuk.com/data/LaserEvents/data/results/wpnsastd.5-10nh.html
and National Laser ladder http://laser.org.uk/docs/uploaded/stlad5.10nh.html