Author: Beth

The QLD RC Laser State Championship was sailed and decided on Sunday 22nd July. Paradise Radio Yacht Club hosted the event on Emerald Lakes where we had a light southerly which switched to southeast. There was a mixture of A and B sails, but most races were won by those using the larger rigs even though there were a few nosedives on the downwind legs. 

Ian Ashe, the RO got the racing under way shortly after 10.00 and, although there were some course adjustments needed during the day, the result was that the best skippers came out on top. 

Thanks to the ever-reliable David Black we had progress results at lunchtime and then the final figures after 18 races courtesy of Bill Clancy and Ralph Nahrung. 

It was very close for first and second with home skipper Peter Burford and Kawana visitor Geoffrey Morris each having 5 race wins. Local skipper Geoff Smith through consistent sailing took out third placing. In addition to Peter and Geoffrey, other race winners were Brenton Rowney [3 wins], Laurie Hinchcliff, Daniel Bergan, Nick Pye, Trent Jarratt and Gary Russell so the honours were spread widely. 

We had 16 starters – Roman Wenger from Maitland (NSW), Geoffrey Morris, Gary Russell and John Halloran all from Kawana and 12 from PRYC including Linton Ward who made his way down from Cairns. 

Some great video was shot on the day which you can watch here. 

The skippers all expressed their appreciation and thanks to the officials and observers without whom it would be impossible to have a successful regatta. 

Peter O’Grady 

The 2018 RC Laser South Australian State Titles were our second ever titles and our first to be sailed at our home territory of Mawson Lakes. We again had a healthy clan of eight Victorian sailors, which when combined with some of our local fleet gave a total of 18 boats.

The briefing was held in very calm conditions, but the forecast was for a 10 knot northeaster and within about half an hour of the briefing the wind arrived. The six races sailed before lunch were all sailed with A rigs, although nose-diving became an increasing problem as the morning progressed. It also quickly emerged that Scott Fleming was a clear leader this year, as with the exception of one brilliant race by Jurgen Luther, Scott won five of the other races. Scott’s boat speed and his ability to pick wind shifts in the fluky conditions separated him from Scott Mitchell and the rest of the fleet.

The wind steadily increased from the north east during the lunch break and the 10 afternoon races were all sailed with B rigs. The starboard and inshore end of the start line tended to be favoured for most of the afternoon making traffic near the mark very heavy.

The two Scotts together with Brad Hein, Jurgen Luther, Terry Rowe, Luke Donovan and myself in tow were frequently seen tacking along the southern shore of the lake picking up neat wind shifts on their way to the windward mark. The racing in the afternoon was more even with Scott Mitchell and myself picking up a couple of wins. The rounding of the windward mark became known as the most notorious part of the course, with big wind shifts making it hard to know how far to sail on port tack before attempting a starboard tack rounding. I remember seeing Peter Yates and John Nieuwenhuizen amongst others being stuck at the mark.

Overall however, Scott Fleming emerged an easy winner, as Scott Mitchell wasn’t at his usual blistering pace. The Portland delegation performed very well with Brad Hein claiming 4th place, Luke Donovan 7th, Mick Doherty 9th and Gary Hein 17th. Of the major placings it was Scott Fleming first, Scott Mitchell second and a pleasing third place for me.

Thanks to Johno Johnson for doing a great job of officiating on the day. Mario Gulic did the scoring and was assisted by Lorraine Berry. Dean Bonnett and Peter Simmons ran the recovery boat and Barry Jones and Roger Wilkey were observers. Stewart Ross assisted Johno in setting courses, John Nieuwenhuizen was in charge
of logistics, Meredith Reardon and Janet Luther covered catering and Gary Polomka organised drinks. Many thanks to all you wonderful volunteers – you helped make it such a great day. The support of Salisbury Council and Renewal SA is acknowledged. See the full results sheet below or by clicking on the link. 
By Adrian Heard

2018 RC Laser South Australian State Titles Results

The 2018 NSW RC Laser State Championship, hosted by Dobroyd Aquatic Club, will be held on Sunday 19th August. Typically at that time of year, we experience good winds and fine weather. 

You can access the NOR here.

Click here for the online Entry form

Here is the skippers list

It’s great to see there are already some early entries.  The organisers encourage all sailors to enter the one day event and have set a challenge to beat the number of starters for the South Australian State Championship being held on 10 June (Queens Birthday long weekend). 

The preparation for the 2018 RC Laser National Championships proceeds apace with a number of new developments in recent weeks. The most important of these for the Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club has been our success in applying for a Council Grant which will enable us to upgrade our marquee, to improve the operating time of our electrically-powered recovery boat and to build new specially-designed racing buoys.

All these changes will significantly improve the model yachting experience for all our competitors in late September. Scroll down the page to the Notice of Race and Entry Form. 

The club raffle to help finance the RC Laser National Championships commenced in early March and has already helped finance a number of initiatives including the first prize for the Championships of a new RC Laser. We have been very pleased with the support of MLMYC members for the raffle and the event generally.  Also interstate RC Laser clubs have been terrific in their support of this raffle, and we expect tickets to continue to sell well.

The 2018 RC Laser National Championships organising committee of John Berry, Chris Levi, Mark Easton, Reg Cunningham, Bob Whitehead and Adrian Heard have all been busy arranging various aspects of the event.

The registration form for the 2018 RC Laser National Championships is available here and we encourage all who are interested in the event to register sooner rather than later. Click here to access the Notice of Race for the National Championships.  

The South Australian RC Laser  State Titles take place on Sunday 10^th June, and this event will give our club a great opportunity to have a test run for the National Championships. Our race crew are looking forward to setting courses and practising boat recoveries. All skippers are invited to compete in the State Titles.  Click here to access the Notice of Race for the State Titles. The entry form can be accessed here. 

We will also have an open afternoon at the club on Saturday 9^th June where interstate visitors will be welcome to attend a club barbeque and participate in some practice racing. We already have eight entrants, and we expect this number to swell as the event nears. 

Adrian Heard

2018 RC Laser National Championships Notice of Race 

2018 RC Laser National Championships Entry Form 

2018 RC Laser South Australian State Titles Notice of Race 

2018 RC Laser South Australian State Titles Entry Form