Janisara Romanyk, a 14 year-old aspiring sailor from Pattaya’s Royal Varuna Yacht Club, won first place in the Female Under-17 Laser Radial class at the recently completed Oceania & Australia Laser National Championships held in Brisbane, Queensland from December 27 – January 4.
A total of 175 Lasers competed across 4.7, Radial and Standard rigs in breezes ranging from 6 knots up to 20 knot gusts. Although sailing was cancelled on one day due to a lack of breeze, eleven of the scheduled twelve races were completed.
There were some leading Laser sailors from Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia at the event including Tom Burton, a gold medal hopeful for the 2020 Olympics and Manami Doi, the 2017 Laser Radial women’s world champion.
Thailand sent 7 sailors to compete in the championships, including Janisara and her 16 year-old brother Arthit (Miki) who finished 9th in the Male Under-17 category and 21st in the overall Laser Radial rankings.
“It was tough and challenging water conditions but I enjoyed it very much,” said Janisara at the conclusion of the event. “This was the first time competing in Australia for me as I am only 14. We had all kinds of wind conditions from 7 to 22 knots and shifting every hour, but we were fortunate to have Thailand’s SEA Games coach Dimitrios Theodorakis here to support us.
“There are seven of us here from Thailand participating in the championships and I want to congratulate my teammates including my brother Miki and my friend, Farida who came third in the Under-17 class as well,” she concluded.
