Germany

Laser 5000 National Sailing Championships

Last month when the Laser 5000 National Championships took place in Lymington on the South Coast, the Army Team only just lost out on first and grabbed the 2nd spot. So they thought they’d go ahead and enter the European Championships and see how far they could go.

They were held at the Mohnesee Sail Training Centre in Germany this year.

The Laser 5000 is a well-known racing dinghy that’s crewed by a team of two. It was one of the most exciting new boats to enter the racing scene in the 1990’s, but it’s popularity dived when it missed out on being selected for the Olympics, that’s up until the last few years when it’s profile is increasing again, thanks to the number of competitions taking place around the UK and now in Europe.

This is the first time that the Laser 5000 European Championships have taken place in Germany. There are eleven teams taking part, 2 from Poland, 3 from Germany and the remainder from the UK, including that one Army Team.

As well as the competitive edge, the Championships also give participants an opportunity to learn from each other.

Scottish duo Alister and Paddy from Loch Lomond have both been sailing since the age of four and first met at University. They’ve been sailing the Laser 5000 together for a few years now and their hard-worked has paid off winning seven out of eleven races and picking up the title of European Champions.

And the Army didn’t do too bad either- coming 5th on the leaderboard.