Women's European Laser Radial Championship: Day One

Tough, shifty, fun - especially for Sarah & Sari

by Johanne Rosenquist

The first day’s racing at the European Laser Radial Championship in Charlottenlund, Denmark, called for a cool head and a steady nerve. With the Force 3-4 wind blowing off the shore and shifting up to 30 degrees, it was a challenging job for the race committee and the competitors. In the 96-boat women’s division, France’s Sarah Steyaert defied the odds to score 2,1 in her fleet, displaying incredible consistency in the face of such unpredictable conditions.

Given that she’s the reigning World Champion, Steyaert’s performance doesn’t seem that remarkable, but after a disappointing Olympics in China a year ago, she has barely sailed since last August. “I have been focusing on my studies, and so I am coming back to the sailing now, just wanting to enjoy it.”

Steyaert did a warm-up regatta in Warnemunde, Germany, last week and finished 2nd, so she seems to be picking up where she left off last year. “The conditions in Warnemunde were nearly the same as today, so I think maybe it was good preparation for sailing here,” she said. “I had good speed and good starts, and I think I was winning the second race 30 metres after we started. I was able to tack on the first wind shift, and then I moved ahead. When you are in the lead, everything becomes easier.”

While Steyaert won her race the conventional way, by leading from the start, others found their way to victory through the back door, or rather round the edges of the course. For example Evi Van Acker from Belgium had a terrible start in one race but threw all her chips on the left-hand corner and came out leading the race, and winning it. Sari Multala from Finland wasn’t quite as extreme as that, but was clear about her philosophy: “Just try to be in the right place and even when I didn't manage to be there, never stop trying. There was a lot happening today and it was possible to catch up even from a bad spot.” Multala’s never-say-die attitude puts her in second overall with scores of 1,4.

On the other side of Copenhagen, in Vallensbaek, Zach Railey’s regatta was ending just as his sister Paige’s was beginning. Brother Railey was battling it out for honours in the Finn Gold Cup, but lost out by a point to local hero Jonas Hoegh-Christensen. When sister Railey came ashore she already knew the result. “I heard Zach got second,” she smiled. “It’s great that he lost to Jonas because they’ve been training partners for years, but I feel for him because I know how badly Zach wanted it. I hope to get over to see him at the prizegiving. I’ve been watching how he’s been going online with the tracking software. Yesterday I was on the line to my parents on Skype, and we were all watching his race.” Maybe now Zach will watch Paige, one of the favourites, who today scored 6,4 and lies in 7th overall.

Tomorrow the Danish Sailing Association transfers its TracTrac GPS tracking units from the Finns on to the Radial fleet. It will be interesting to watch the boat traces online, to see whose tactics prove better, whether the conservative approach favoured by some sailors works, or if the riskier options pay off for those who dare to venture away from the pack to the edges of the course.

In the Men’s 70-strong fleet, Greek sailor Michail Aristeidis holds a narrow lead over two Poles, Zemke Wojciech and Micha Gryglweski.

2009 Laser Radial European Championships