24 August 2009

After racing was cancelled yesterday on the fourth day of competition at the 2009 Laser World Championships in Nova Scotia due to the effects of Hurricane Bill, Be Number 1’s Paul Goodison will resume in third place overall today, when sailing gets underway again.

With the hurricane brushing the coast, bringing with it a three-metre surge and winds in excess of 50 knots (100 kilometres per hour), organizers had no option but to cancel racing for the day.

Yesterday’s cancellation was in stark contrast to perfect conditions on Saturday, when Nick Thompson, Goodison’s British compatriot, claimed the lead from Tonci Stipanovic of Croatia under sunny skies and in winds up to 22 knots.

With five races having been completed and one result dropped, there were some new faces in the top five, namely Julio Alsogaray of Argentina in fourth, and Germany’s Philipp Buhl in fifth.

Of significance to the shift in standings among the top sailors was the decision to re-race the third race, sailed on Friday, for one fleet. That single race on Friday proved tricky for the blue fleet, which had numerous general recalls with more than 20 sailors - one third of the fleet - black flagged and recorded as not starting. Following protests and hearings, the decision was made to allow the race to be re-sailed on Saturday.

The results moved Thompson ahead of Stipanovic, a lead he kept to the end of the day. The re-race also briefly put Beijing Olympic gold medallist Goodison into third, although he then fell back to sixth place after the fourth race before catapulting back into third after the fifth.

Dozens of volunteers spent Saturday securing equipment and readying the site for the storm. After returning to shore, sailors de-rigged and then helped volunteers store the Laser hulls inside the St. Margaret Sailing Clubhouse and race management centre.

"I guess you could call it battening down the hatches," said event co-chairman Rod Millar. "At only four metres long, these Lasers would be flying around in winds of 50 knots. Our best solution was to clear the interior of both buildings and store the hulls inside."