DURBAN North’s top Laser sailor, Rudy McNeill, and his younger brother, Mike, recently returned from Canada after competing in the Kingston Laser Worlds. The reigning South African champion, representing the Point Yacht Club, travelled to the competition with the hopes of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics but disappointingly didn’t manage to.
Both brothers sailed in the bronze fleet, Rudy finished 22nd, and Mike finished 49th out of 52 sailors in the fleet. Fellow South African, Stefano Marcia, raced in the gold fleet, finishing 45th out of 53 competitors.
The former Northwood School pupils said the conditions for the entire event were very light, making it challenging for the racers to plan their races. Rudy’s competition kicked off with a dreaded black flag, false starting and jumping the gun together with 12 other boats, and being disqualified.
In the five races, Rudy finished with a top score of seventh in the final race, 14th, 13th and a well-crafted 17th in almost nonexistent winds.
“The fourth race was character building. Getting out of the starting blocks, just getting into my stride two boats collided right on my bow forcing me to avoid them and sail well below my track and loosing many positions. I managed to put in a gutsy performance, together with a fair amount of luck, finishing a respectable 17th.” he explained.
The final race started much better, with the SA champion finding himself mixing it up with the top bunch. By this time the light winds had almost died off completely and coming from many directions.
“At one point you could be in the top ten and by the next buoy find yourself right at the back of the fleet. Thankfully I managed to stay calm and focused, not letting the unfavourable conditions get the better of me, and finished seventh. I certainly learnt a huge amount over the two days, being on the starting line with the best sailors in the world. Being able to overcome the disastrous start and focus on each race made the whole experience fantastic,” he said.
All hope is not lost for his Rio qualification as Rudy will now go through a trial period where the SA Sailing Federation select two international events that he will have to attend to battle it out for a spot in Brazil.
“After sailing this event I am confident that I will improve and fine-tune my skills in the time that I have left. The hard work has only just begun. And at the end of it all I will achieve my dream of racing at the Olympics.” he said.
