The Laser National Championship, sponsored by Bacardi Rum, is being held this weekend at the Cayman Islands Sailing Club.
To showcase the event and start the weekend off in style, an Art Show and Bacardi Rum Happy Hour will be held at the Sailing Club on Friday, starting at 5pm.
Sailing club members and non-members are welcome to go out and enjoy the sun setting over Red Bay. Island-inspired art work by Cayman residents Dora Williams and Avril Ward will be on display and for sale, with proceeds benefiting the Cayman Islands Youth Sailing Team.
Competitors will be expected to attend a short race briefing at 6.30pm and can observe the ‘weigh-in’ for those in competition for the newly established Compass Marine Clydesdale trophy for Laser sailing heavyweights.
There will be a bonfire after that for everyone to enjoy – and to keep warm in these chilly times.
The Laser fleet at the club has seen a remarkable recovery this year after a bit of post-Ivan stagnation, and the Barcardi-sponsored 28th Laser National Championship should see a large fleet of keen racers out on the water on Saturday and Sunday.
The Laser is the world’s most popular one-design race dinghy, although it can be fitted with rigs of different sail areas to suit the weight class of the sailor.
The Standard rig is currently the largest fleet at the club, and a number of talented regulars will be hotly contesting the title of Champion of 2008.
Rob Jackson, Charlie Grover, and youth sailor, Stuart Jennings, are avid sailors and frequently battle it out for first spot at the monthly races held by the Sailing Club.
But, there are a number of gifted, but less frequently observed racers that are expected to turn out for the event, so the winner is by no means certain.
A shipment of six Lasers, that arrived in Cayman recently, will bolster the existing fleet and ensure that this will be the best attended event for years.
This year, for the first time on-island, there will be several youth sailors competing with the relatively small 4.7 rig.
There are a limited number of youth and adult sailors racing with the intermediate, Radial rig, which is suitable for lighter sailors and is the most common rig for female competitors.
Members of the public interested in viewing intense dinghy racing action are invited to go out and watch either from the clubhouse or on the water.
Space for spectators will be available on the committee boat, which serves as a good vantage point to observe the hull-to-hull action at the start as well as much of the mid-race manoeuvring. The action starts at 2pm on Saturday, with three back-to-back races, and a 1pm start for Sunday’s four races.
The Cayman Islands Sailing Club is appreciative of having Bacardi and Compass Marine as sponsors and hopes that club members and non-members come out to enjoy all the weekend’s activities.
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