Laser Master European Championships in Belgium - Day 4

Today we started at 3 o'clock, hoping for the sea breeze to kick in, 10 knots of wind from NW is what we started with, ten we flirted with a 14 knots wind but unfortunately it died to a 6 knot so the race committee made the wise decision to cancel the second race as we were having 2 knots currents.

Standard fleet:

Alan Davis from Great Britain who came in 3rd today knocked the Dane Christian Pedersen from the throne today who got himself a 4th place. Michiel Peeters from the Netherlands is still in the top 3.

Radial fleet:

Well what can we say...? The Brit and Olympic coach Jon Emmett did a perfect run once more. Then we have the Dutchman Wilmar Groenendijk who came in second. A new kid on the block in the top 3 is Ian Jones from Great Britain who got himself a 10th place today.

Tomorrow we have a weak wind and an almost tropical day again. Let's hope that we can have some good conditions between 12 and 3 o'clock so we can finish this great event with some action.

Today we had the privilege to sit down with the two leaders of the championship. Jon and Alan. It was a humbling moment as these people are so inspirational due to the passion and discipline, not to mention the TONS of experience these men have.

For the people that do not know Jon... He was the couch of the Chinese Olympic golden medal winner Ligia XU never the less. At the moment he is training the Israeli duo Oren and Danielle. More then likely people to look out for within the sailing world.

Jon Emmett, takes his sailing very serious... Not only does he race himself but he coaches top sailors and he coaches, coaches on how to coach. When we asked him what his secret was, he told us that it is all in identifying the weaknesses and playing on that. Be a close friend to a person without entourage and be strict to a person that doesn't have discipline. Be liquid like the water we sail on and fill the gaps.

Alan Davis comes from a different background. He works in a bank during the day and dreams of sailing during the night. Alan spends his holidays on sailing regatta's and has been doing this for over 30 years. When we asked them what makes a good sailor they both agreed that focus and being a bit of a predator on the water are the right ingredients apart from the physical condition.

When we posed the question what keeps attracting them to the races, they also both agreed that it is the atmosphere of sailing with the masters. The community feel, the friendships that have been growing over the years was their main answer. Jo also added that staying at the top is crucial to training sailors so he can give his apprentices a run for their money. Often he is even the competitor of his trainees during races. He keeps an eye out for them during the start and then switches over to that predator mode he spoke about earlier.

Good to hear were the compliments to the race committee and organisation for a smooth operation and communication. Royal Belgian Sailing club wishes them lots of medals and we hope to see them again in the near future.

Full results at www.lasermasterseuropeans2014.com