McNeill wins SA Laser Nationals
Everyone, from the highly competitive Olympic hopefuls to the more social sailors, had a fantastic time on the water.
LOCAL sailor, Rudy McNeill, was crowned the SA Laser Nationals champion on Sunday, 3 May.
McNeill won seven out of the eight races that counted offshore of Durban, following up from dominating the KZN Open Provincials in Richards Bay the weekend before. McNeill is hard at work hoping to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
After the regatta, a chuffed McNeill said he had good fun on the water and the conditions suited him perfectly.
“From the moment I launched my boat off the beach on the first day, everything felt good. I got into my groove quickly and fortunately didn’t make too many mistakes over the four days and I am happy that everything fell perfectly into place. My fitness helped quiet a lot, but also with the local knowledge, with a typical south-wester blowing most of the time, I could read the weather easier than a lot of the guys who were on the Durban water for the first time,” said McNeill.
“I went into the first race on the final day needing to keep other Rudy – Rudolph Holm from Pretoria – behind me. The winds started off really light from the north-east, but both Rudy and I prefer the big winds so it was quite difficult. At one stage I was lying in eleventh. I can’t remember the last time I worked so hard, but I did it. I finished fifth but, most importantly, ahead of Rudy. Once I had that nailed I knew I had won the title. I really was stoked,” he added.
Durban’s autumn served up a bit of everything for the Laser sailors, with a few races with winds exceeding 15knots, a bit of chop when the north-easter filled in, some light winds for the leaner sailors and perfect sunshine over the four days. Race officer, Tony Cockrell, got in ten triangle sausage triangle races, with two races being discarded. On the third day the smaller 4.7 Lasers were sent home early as the breeze started to build nearing 20 knots, a bit too dangerous for the younger sailors.
In the Radial class, up-and-coming Dylan Long charged to the front. The impressive young sailor worked hard on the water; with each race the effort was evident as he pushed himself and his boat to the maximum. In the eight races sailed, he managed four firsts, two seconds, a third and a fourth.
Young Hannah Tiedt mentioned after the regatta: “The Laser Nationals was a really good regatta for me as I learnt a lot and gained more experience each day. I had lots of fun with old and new friends and had a really great time in my home waters. Looking forward to the next one.”
Tiedt finished seventh in the 4.7 class, racing against top South African sailors including Megan Robertson, who competed in the Youth Olympics, and Frances van Breda, who has represented South Africa on a number of times, most recently in France in the 2014 Audi Laser Master World Championships.
Fourteen-year-old, Kai Leslie, also dominated his class, the smaller 4.7 Lasers. The eager Cape Towner tallied up an impressive log of six firsts and two seconds.
