The Laser World Championship fleet at Sandringham YC on Melbourne’s eastern shore had a warm-up race Monday in strong winds of around 25 knots.
As expected, most of the big guns chose to train rather than race and nothing could be read into the results.
Tuesday, 11 Feb, the field will be split into three fleets for the first of six qualifying races before another six races, weather permitting, of Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets.
According to the Seabreeze website, sailors can expect light winds for tomorrow’s first race, in the region of 6 to 8 knots. The breeze should build during the afternoon, but may not get over 10 knots for the second race.
There are five Olympic medallists and 13 sailors who have been ranked in World Sailing’s top three over the past decade in the fleet of 124 boats from 43 countries.
Tom Burton of Australia is the defending title holder and current Olympic champion and he has plenty to prove after being overlooked in favour of Matt Wearn for the country’s Tokyo 2020 spot.
Four Brits will not only fight their international rivals but also each other as the battle for the one Team GB spot in the Laser fleet continue.
Hoping to clinch a second Olympics, Rio Olympian and 2015 and 2016 World Champion Nick Thompson, faces stiff competition from his British team mates, including current European champion Lorenzo Chiavarini, Olympic test event representative Elliot Hanson and 2018 European silver medallist Michael Beckett.
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