It is now less than eight weeks before the 2018 RC Laser National Titles take place at Mawson Lakes. After a successful State Titles in June, during which we were able to test the new motor and batteries on our electrically powered recovery boat and use our new specially-designed racing buoys, there is now a sense that Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club is really set up to running such an important event.
First Prize
The prize for first place will be an RC Laser with B rig and boat bag, sailed only at the Championship of Nations in 2017.
Entrants
We now have 27 entrants for the National Titles – 11 from SA, 6 from Qld, 5 from Vic, 3 from NSW and 2 from NZ. We are hoping that with later entrants during the next six weeks or so that we finish up with 35-40 entrants.
Important Dates
For those yet to enter, please note that standard entries close on Friday 14th September, and following that a $20 late fee will be payable for any entries up to 6pm on Friday 28th September.
The Program for the 2018 RC Laser National Titles
Friday 28th September
Registration and Measuring 9.30am – 12.30pm
Lunch 12.30pm
Practice Sailing 10.30am – 3.30pm
Saturday 29th September
Registration and Measuring 9.00am – 10.00am
Briefing 10.00am
Warning signal for first race 10.30am
Lunch 12.30pm; TV will be available for updates on the AFL grand final
No heat will commence after 4.30pm
Sunday 30th September
Briefing 10.00am
Warning signal for first race 10.30am
Lunch 12.30pm
No heat will commence after 4.30pm
National Titles Dinner – The Bartley Tavern, Bartley Tce, West Lakes 6.00pm
National Titles Raffle to be drawn at the dinner
Monday 1st October
Briefing 10.00am
Warning signal for first race 10.30am
Lunch 12.30pm
No heat will commence after 3.00pm
Presentations 3.45pm
Presentations will be made by the Mayor of Salisbury, The Hon. Gillian Aldridge
New Class Rules
Please note that the new Australian addendum to the RC Laser class rules will come into force at these Titles. Amongst other things our measurer, Bob Whitehead will be checking overall length of A masts (minimum 1780mm) and all B/C/D masts (minimum 1425mm), and the distance from the bottom of all masts to the bottom of the gooseneck fitting (110mm), so please ensure that all your masts fit these specifications.
The National Titles Raffle
The National Titles Raffle has been a great success both within Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club and with the RC Laser community nationally. For those of you who still have raffle ticket books, we would appreciate them being returned to Chris Levi at Mawson Lakes MYC by Friday 14th September. The first prize in the raffle is a CON17 RC Laser with B rig and boat bag, and the raffle will be drawn at the National Titles dinner on the evening of Sunday 30th September.
The Organising Committee
The National Titles organising committee is John Berry, Chris Levi, Mark Easton, Reg Cunningham, Bob Whitehead, Alex Hayter and Adrian Heard.
It’s time to Enter
The registration form for the National Titles continues to be available on The Mawson Lakes club website, and we encourage all of you who are interested in the event to register sooner rather than later. The club website can be found on www.mawsonlakesmyc.com
The notice of race for the National Titles is also available on the ARYA website www.arya.asn.au
And who will win….
I wrote this section for the Championship of Nations last year, and I always enjoy writing it – there are so many capable sailors around Australia and New Zealand. Scott Fleming and Scott Mitchell, the ‘two hot Scotts’ as they have been labelled, not only came first and second at CON17 but also both have considerable sailing experience at Mawson Lakes – that has to put them as favourites. However, there are some serious challengers around and Graham Watson from New Zealand is definitely one of them. His recent performances against Graham Brown in Sydney (another serious challenger) show that he is a major contender. Peter Burford from Queensland will adapt quickly to the Mawson Lake conditions and will sail well as always. On the local front Jurgen Luther, Lindsay Sawyer and I are probably rated as the most consistent sailors, with Jurgen having the best knowledge of the Lake of any of us, but none of us have any delusions of winning more than a race or two. Brad Hein from Portland, Victoria is a prodigious talent, who will win titles in the future – you will all hear a lot more about him. Daniel Bergan from Queensland, has great potential but probably hasn’t done enough sailing in the past 12 months to be a major threat to the Scotts. Linton Little from New Zealand I don’t know much about, so he may surprise us all, and who knows we may yet get an entry from Kirwan Robb – wouldn’t that set the cat amongst the pigeons!!
Words and photo
Adrian Heard
What are the results so far