Mexico Laser Master Worlds - Practice Day

by Pam

I only arrived about an hour before the practice race so I opted to skip jumping on a boat to watch. I sat and watched the boats come in and did a quick survey. 44 boats using the new sail and 17 boats using the old sail.  Lots of boats never went out so it's hard to tell what the real split will be. If I'm not too busy on the finish line boat, I might try to get another count. Either way, it will be interesting to see what people think at the end of the regatta.

I noticed in Kingston that the Aussies don't seem to give any merit to the 'never win the practice race' theory.  Brett Beyer won it in Kingston and he also won the championship. Mark Bethwaite also won his race and championship. 

Well yesterday, the GGMs and GMs were in the same start  It was a GGM, Mark Bethwaite, that finished the race first. I believe Mark's comment was along the lines of 'well someone had to win it, why not me?' It was just the practice race and not everyone sailed, or sailed their hardest or even finished. It would have been interesting to see how the GGMs stacked up against the GMs. I believe Mark already proved they are still a force to be reckoned with.  Doug, now on his third injury in the last couple of months, got stuck behind a wall of GMs and couldn't even see the leaders. 

However, there was a petition that circulated after the racing and they are splitting the GGMs to their own start for the regatta. As Mark put it, the old gentlemen have earned the right to have their own start. And the Laser class apparently agreed. And we're off to the first day of racing today ...