The Laser Radial World Championship in Fortaleza, Brazil, drew to a close on Friday, with British sailors securing three positions within the top 25 after a challenging week on the water.

This event was the first Laser Radial World Championship to be held since the Radial replaced the Europe as the women’s single-handed Olympic class boat in November 2004.

USA’s Paige Railey, the world number one and current ISAF Youth World Champion, clinched the world title in Fortaleza with a race in hand, in spite of not winning a single race and only managing three top three finishes in the 12-race Championship, which saw winds ranging from 7 knots at the start of the event to a gusty 23 knots on the final day of competition. France’s Sophie de Turckheim – winner of the 2005 Olympic class regattas in Holland and Hyeres – claimed the silver medal, with Anna Tunnicliffe delivering a bronze medal for USA in third place.

Lizzie Vickers, silver medallist at the 2005 Holland regatta and currently third in the ISAF World Rankings, was the highest placed of the RYA Team GBR sailors, finishing the regatta in 10th place overall after a slow start. Vickers posted her worst result (34th) in the first race of the championship before picking up the pace to record six top 10 finishes – including two in second – in the last seven races of the regatta.

Vickers broke through into the top ten on the final day of racing, nudging teammate and Athens Olympian Laura Baldwin into 11th place overall. Baldwin had a better start to her worlds campaign, coming second in race four and even leading the fifth race before losing her mainsheet, but was unable sustain the momentum throughout the championship.

London 2012 hopefuls Charlotte Dobson and Alison Young also showed great promise against seasoned international campaigners to finish 25th and 27th respectively, with Dobson even posting a race victory – the only one for Team GBR’s sailors – on day two of the championship.
Two clear leaders emerged from the Farr 40 and Sydney 38 fleets on day one of the Rolex Trophy – One Design Series, a key lead-up event to the Rolex Sydney Hobart 2005.

Results

Gold fleet

1. Paige Railey USA (4,4,(18),3,6,2,8,8,5,3,15,(dnf)) 58pts

2. Sophie de Turckheim FRA (7,11,(29),(14),4,1,7,14,7,4,4,1) 60pts

3. Anna Tunnicliffe USA (3,10,10,(18),3,8,3,9,6,(14),14,7) 73pts

GBR

10. Lizzie Vickers ((34),16,19,20,16,6,(31),6,2,10,5,2) 102pts

11. Laura Baldwin (11,15,(26),2,14,11,5,13,(30),8,20,6) 105pts

25. Charlotte Dobson (8,(23),4,1,17,17,32,24,4,22,29,(34)) 158pts

27. Alison Young ((28),10,3,17,7,9,19,(31),20,29,24,22) 160pts

31. Andrea Brewster (18,11,9,3,(30),21,27,(28),27,(32),24,27,21) 192pts

33. Penny Mountford (6,8,3,8,12,(14),33,(35),34,33,34,32) 203pts

GBR Silver fleet

15. Colette Blair ((32),22,(31),16,9,29,15,13,21,15,18) 158pts

21. Nicky Muller (22,(31),(36),31,26,26,14,22,11,18,23) 193pts