Laser Legend John Roberson’s Report on Laser Masters Worlds - Mexico
JUST AS GOOD AS I REMEMBER.
By John Roberson
It’s always worrying going back to a venue where you had such a great time. Will it be as good as you think it was last time, or has your memory been enhancing the good bits and eliminating the bad bits? The last time the Masters’ Worlds were in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, was in 2016 and the event has always stood out in my memory as one of the “great” regattas at a great venue.
In my mind the “tags” were, “blue skies”, “great stretch of water”, “good breeze”, “excellent organisation”, “friendly people”, “good and adjacent accommodation”, yes, it ticked all the boxes.
The second visit didn’t disappoint.
It is also comforting to know that at my age, my memory still works well!
I had entered the “standard” division (ILCA7) with some trepidation, not knowing whether I would be allowed to sail. At previous Masters’ Worlds 75 year olds were only permitted to sail a “radial” rig (ILCA6). I was very pleased when my entry was accepted, and waited with anticipation to see if any other Legends would enter, sadly no one else did, but it didn’t matter, I was happy to sail with the young blokes in the Great Grand Masters division.
Arriving in Nuevo Vallarta a couple of days before the event it was good to catch up with fellow West Aussies Ethan McAullay and Luke (Swifto) Elliott who had just finished the seniors Worlds. They had a few good tips about the conditions and Swifto would end up staying on to be our support boat, water boy and coach. He did a great job and his observations on the race course each day were really useful.
When we had been there in 2016 the conditions had been just like Fremantle on a good summer day, the seabreeze would come in at the same time every day, and peak at about 18 to 20 knots. This time the breeze was a little less robust, for which I was thankful being six years older, and a little more challenging in its shiftiness. Could it be “crafty old blokes weather”?
Well this crafty old bloke struggled a bit against some fit young 65 year olds for sheer boat speed, but there were some gains to be made by picking a shift or two. As Swifto said, “last time we were here you just went right,” but it was a bit different this time.
We had eighteen on the starting line, which is the biggest Great Grand Masters fleet ever, the competition was hot, including Olympians, past Finn Gold Cup winners and guys with a lot more experience in Lasers than me. Not surprisingly, half of the fleet were Americans.
Britain’s Tim Law sailed a great series to win with a race to spare, while Wolfgang Gerz started the event strongly, winning the first two races, but was outsailed by Tim as the regatta progressed. The racing was incredibly close with very crowded mark roundings, but as befits our age, always gentlemanly.
Having started badly things were not looking good at the halfway stage. After the layday in the middle of the series my results started to improve and I set myself a few targets. I wanted a single figures race result before the end of the regatta and I wanted to beat my two American friends Doug Peckover and Don Hahl. Well in the penultimate race of the event I managed a tenth, so was getting close to one target, then in the last race I crossed the line in eighth, but was UFD, very annoying. Doug and Don sailed well and although I managed to beat them across the line a few times, it was not enough to climb above them on the scoreboard.
Time to start training for the next worlds in Pattaya, Thailand, only eight month away in February 2023
