Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron make final preparations for busy Easter

The Sabre State Championships are being held during Sail Brisbane 2013 © RQYS

All set for Sail Brisbane 2013 © RQYS

With Good Friday fast approaching, Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron is in its final preparations for a busy Easter with over 100 Sail Brisbane entries as well as the Queensland Hobie 16 and Sabre State Championships being held at the club over the four day weekend.

The Sail Brisbane event was promoted as a coaching event for the junior classes, and with a modest number of entries in the Optimist and Sabot classes, competitors will enjoy a fantastic off and on water coaching experience from RQYS Club Coach, Adrian Finglas. In addition to this support for the junior classes, Adrian will be hosting post-race media conferences with interviews of the day's best performers as well as the Coaches Corner presentation on Saturday evening.

All fleets are looking highly competitive. In the Optimist fleet, interstate sailor Chelsea Connor looks like the one to beat after her sixteenth place in the Optimist Nationals. There will be a battle for honours in the Sabot fleet, as local sailors David McKay, Natalie Bridge and Thomas Little are in hot form. The Bic Techno and RS:X have a small local showing with a handful of late interstate entries still expected to strengthen competition.

A highlight for this year's event will be introduction of Kiteboarding fleet after its success at the Sail Melbourne and Sail Auckland events. Early favourites are Turkish board, Ejder Ginyol and Queensland's Jordan Girdis, after both qualifying for the Medal Repercharge at Sail Melbourne. However in the developing fleet that hasn't seen much racing in RQYS waters, a victory could come from any of the 21 competitors.

There is a strong showing in the youth class of 29ers and it is hard to look past Youth Nationals Champions Harry Price and Angus Williams as favourites for the crown, but a new combination of Charlie Wyatt and Tom Siganto (second and third respectively at Youth Nationals) are looking for revenge after close racing in Tasmania earlier this year.

As usual, the Lasers will arrive in numbers with a close battle expected in the Laser 4.7 division between Kye Evans (ninth in Youth Nationals, Queensland Laser 4.7 Champion) and recent Optimist graduate Cameron Gise (tenth in Optimist Nationals). Local Grandmaster George Meikle shouldn't be overlooked after this third placing in recent Queensland Laser Championships. The largest fleet of Sail Brisbane will be the Laser Radial, and, as always, is full of strong local talent, including Madison Kennedy and William Bates as well as three entrants from Papua New Guinea. In the Laser Standard, racing will be close between Queensland Laser Standard Champion Mitchell Kennedy and Queensland Laser Radial Champion Greg Adams, who has made the move to larger rig for the commonly light winds of Easter.

The early weather forecast shows the winds slowly dropping from 20 knots to 5 knots over the period of the weekend, meaning some very exciting racing in different conditions. So if you're looking for something to do over the long weekend, head down to RQYS and jump on the spectator boat or alternatively entries are still open for those still interested in competing.

For online entry and further information head to the event website, www.sailbrisbane.com