The last day of the qualifier series at the Laser World Championship yesterday belonged to Brazilian Robert Scheidt.
The five times world champion won both his heats easily in 18 to 23 knot winds that eased by five knots for the second race. He said
"I had a perfect day. In the first race I started in the middle and went five minutes to the left until I could cross the guys on the starboard side. I rounded the top mark in second place behind Mark Howard who I passed on the downwind. After that I just protected my lead." Howard from Great Britain said with a smile on his face
"I was pleased to round first but when I saw Robert behind it was a case of 'after you sir' because he was so fast." Scheidt continued
"In the second race I started again in the middle but the breeze moved a little bit more to the right. When I tacked I crossed behind two boats but because they overstood I was able to round first and then again I just protected my lead." Second place in the second heat went to another British sailor, Paul Goodison. Goodison said
"It was vary fair racing but Robert's speed was awesome."
Scheidt now moves 9 points ahead of his nearest rival Brendan Casey (AUS). Summing up the day he said
"It was hard physically but I feel good -just like back to the old days!"
Frederick Westman (FIN) had nearly as good a day as Scheidt finishing a close second to Karl Suneson (SWE) in the first race of his fleet and having an easier first place ahead of Luis Martinez (ESP) in the second race. In the same fleet overnight leader, Ed Wright (GBR), lost his edge. Capsizing on the downwind leg when lying fifth he could only manage a ninth and a tenth which on any other day is good result but in this very competitive fleet it was sufficient to drop him 6 places on the overall leader board.
The fleet now carry their results forward to the final series of six races in gold and silver fleets for the next 3 days when a further six races are scheduled.
Top 10 Results (After 7 races/1 Discard)
Position |
Helm |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
R5 |
R6 |
R7 |
Total |
1 |
Robert Scheidt (BRA) |
15 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
2 |
Brendan Casey (AUS) |
3 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
23 |
20 |
3 |
Karl Suneson (SWE) |
8 |
2 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
22 |
4 |
Gareth Blanckenberg(RSA) |
1 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
8 |
7 |
24 |
5 |
Paul Goodison (GBR) |
8 |
3 |
19 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
24 |
6 |
Edward Wright (GBR) |
2 |
1 |
1 |
18 |
3 |
9 |
10 |
26 |
7 |
Fredrik Westman (FIN) |
12 |
2 |
2 |
41 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
26 |
8 |
Roope Suomalainen (FIN) |
39 |
6 |
9 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
28 |
9 |
Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) |
5 |
8 |
10 |
4 |
5 |
10 |
5 |
37 |
10 |
Mark Howard (GBR) |
12 |
3 |
8 |
34 |
4 |
2 |
14 |
43 |