2012 WA RC Laser Championships
The 202 championships were held on a lake on the South Perth foreshore in beautiful sunny Perth weather. Seven boats lined up for the start mid-morning in brisk 10-12 knot south westerly. The infamous demo boat 08 was being sailed by experienced RC sailor Alwyn Jarman and it was great to see Minh back on the water after a long absence.
The first four races were sailed in B-sails and Rod cleared away to win three of these races in fine style. As the breeze increased to over 18 knots in the gusts the fleet changed to C-sails and immediately Dave Pruden and Alwyn raced to score wins in the remaining heats and Rod struggled to get his C-sail working. The sailing was very competitive and there were some terrific performances from Garry and (little) Dave as well in the sometimes testing conditions.
As usual, WAnderers RC Sailing Club were strongly supported by RSA WA with Rod ”OT” Moss as PRO with Richard and John volunteering their services as spotters for the day. Rod and his crew set up a challenging course which held for the days sailing and provided very fair calling of infringements…. and lots of advice !!
The afternoon’s racing settled into a battle between Dave and Alwyn for the points lead. When the points were finally tallied Dave won with only two points separating him from Alwyn in second place – Rod finished in third place just ahead of the rest of the fleet.
It was a very pleasing result for the Club as Dave Pruden had been ‘bridesmaid’ for the last three WA State championships and really deserved a State Champion title. Alwyn, as a part-time RC Laser sailor, sailed very well in the stiff and variable wind conditions and the Club really appreciated the dinghy and bouys he brought down to the lake for the day. Thanks also to our Secretary Dave for organising the event and making sure everything ran smoothly.
There is a lot of interest in competing in the next RC Laser Nationals in Adelaide next year so WAnderers could be well represented.