Laser Masters World Championship Day Three

7:51 AM Wed 2 Sep 2009 GMT

'Laser Master Worlds' Matias Capizzano &copy

Laser Masters World Championship. The wind returned to St. Margaret's Bay, but it wasn't the sea breeze that has made the Bay famous as one of the best sailing venues in the world.

Instead, it was an offshore shifty wind with speeds of six to 15 knots (14 to 30 kilometres per hour). It still made for a good day of racing on Day Three of the 2009 Nautel Laser Masters World Championships and all fleets completed two races.

The Laser Masters is for athletes 35 years of age and older, sailing a single-handed single sail Laser. The oldest at this championship being held on St. Margaret's Bay near Halifax, Nova Scotia is 77 years old.

The field of close to 300 sailors from 27 countries is divided according to age and the type of rig they sail. The Standard rig is a slightly larger mast and sail than the Radial rig.

In the Standard fleet, for the Apprentice (35 to 44 years old) Adonis Bougiouris of Greece remains in first, with Australians Brett Beyer and Stewart Casey in second and third.

For the Masters Standard (45 to 54 years old); it continues to be a tight race with the top ten sailors within seven points of each other. Arnoud Hummel of the Netherlands has moved to first, American Scott Ferguson in second and Canadian Andy Roy in third.

For the Grand Masters (55 and up); Wolfgang Gerz from Germany remains in first, with Australians Mark Bethwaite and Robert Lowndes in second and third.

In the Radial fleets; the Apprentice class continues to be dominated by sailors from down under. Aussies Richard Bott and Grant Willmott are in first and second, with New Zealander Scott Leith in third.

For Masters; Carlos Eduardo Wanderley remains in first, Greg Adams of Australia in second and with country mate (and top female) Venessa Dudley in third.

In the Grand Masters Radial Canadian Rob Koci is in first, Australian Peter Heywood remains in second and Alden Shattuck of the United States has moved into third.

The Great Grand Master class for athletes 65 and older; the field of 43 is lead by American Peter Seidenberg, with Australian Kerry Waraker in second and Michael Kinnear of Germany in third.

Wednesday is a rest day for competitors, with racing resuming at noon on Thursday. The Nautel Laser Masters concludes on Saturday.