New Zealand Laser Association

An invitation to your club members to participate in our 35th RSA Regatta at the Panmure Lagoon Sailing Club Sunday 26th Feb and to discover our lagoon and club.

NZ Laser glitteratti and past World Champions Mark Orams, Murray Thom and Mark Page preparing to head south for the highly enjoyable NZ Laser Champs hosted by the hospitable Worser Bay on Wellington.
In a rare moment Mr Page manages to upstage Murray with a finger fresh from A&E. Apparently the result of a workplace accident, not a domestic dispute as originally reported. Despite the discomfort Mark sailed all races although the finger was deemed a shipping hazard by the Wellington Harbour Master.

See how they went, along with all the rest of us.

The 2013 NZ Laser National Champs will be hosted by the Napier Sailing Club.
The provisional schedule is

• Wednesday 16th January - Measuring & Registration
• Thursday 17th ro Sunday 20th - Racing

It is likely we will also have coaching days prior to the Wednesday.

Napier is a fantasic sailing venue. Particulalry in East and North East winds which bring big long amplitude swells straight across the sailing area off the port.

The venerable OKI 24 hour regatta on Lake Pupuke has been moved forward to the 18th and 19th of February for 2012.
Refer to this OKI Flyer and Entry Form for all the details.

If you think you have what it takes to compete in this exciting 24 hour event and would like to enter, contact:
Garry Hassall
g.hassall@hallspars.com
021 720094
Entry forms & details: www.murraysbay.org

Congratulations to the NZL Radial team who made a great showing at the Aussie Nationals.

In this video from minutes 5 to 15 there is great coverage of the last race before the medal race in the Laser Radial. Sara Winther is sailing for a place in the medal race and qualification for the Olympcs (no pressure).

More Laser Radial action from a few days earlier. From minutes 5:30 to 15.

More Radial racing from minutes 18 to 24

No great suprises but still nice to know. Following top 10 performances in Perth, Andrew Murdoch and Sara Winther have been officially selected as our NZL Laser sailors for the London Olympics. Congratulations to them, a huge amount of work already, a magnificent achievment, and much more to come.

The entire Olympic sailing team are;

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (49er), Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (women’s 470), Andrew Murdoch (laser), Jon Paul Tobin (RS:X), Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders (men’s 470), Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt (women’s match racing) and Sara Winther (laser radial).

Quite an impressive lineup and a credit to the sailors and NZ Yachting coaching and development staff.

Hey Guys,
Have had a pretty amazing last few days!!! Almost feels like Christmas....
I managed to get on the podium again at this years World Championships in Perth receiving the bronze medal. It was a tough regatta and I managed to be in solid medal contention going into the medal race which was great.
Then just yesterday, I became one of the first athletes announced into the NZ Olympic Team to compete at the London 2012 Olympics! Although this will be my second time to the Games, it still felt just as good as the first time to be included in the team. It's one more step taken in climbing my Everest, taking Gold at next years Olympics and "Knocking the Bastard Off!"...as Hillary would say.
There is plenty of hard work still to continue though and I now have just over 7 months till showtime! I have been pushed hard for this spot by the other kiwi guys (Andy Maloney, Mike Bullot, Sam Meech, Josh Junior) which has been awesome and this will be a huge benefit as we continue to work together through to the Games. I feel my campaign is in a lot better shape this time around as I have gone about working on many of the lessons learnt from the last Olympics.
Big thanks have to go to my awesome fiancé Natalie for her support. Also regatta coaches Mark Howard & Hamish Wilcox plus the whole Yachting NZ crew & Hyundai NZ for there continued support.
Exciting times ahead!!!
Thanks so much everyone for your support and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a great New Year!
Cheers,
Andrew

You can follow my campaign at

www.facebook.com/andrewmurdochsailing
www.andrewmurdoch.co.nz

Hey Everyone!
I have just finished competing in my first ISAF World Champs. It was an amazing regatta to be a part of, it was a huge event!
Click to read my update from the regatta .
Thanks to everyone for their support, I am looking forward to a holiday over the Christmas period, but am already excited for next year! The 2012 Worlds are only 5 months away which is pretty cool and I have the NZ Nationals and Sail Auckland both coming up at the end of Jan.
Cheers,
Andy

Ed: Andy also points out some great Laser sailing video especially between minutes 4 and 16.

Miranda give us an interesting insight into the world of elite Laser sailing ...