Victorian State Warm Up For 2016 RC Laser Nationals

Held this past weekend, the Victorian RC Laser 2016 State Titles, proved to be a great day of radio control yachting with worthy competition between all entrants.
Conditions on the day were such that we started on B rig and then moved onto A rig sails with the fluky Patterson Lakes Bridge syndrome threatening in the afternoon.
A few maintenance problems, (such as transmitter and cooked winch glitches) highlighted some issues that will need to be worked on and resolved before the 2016 RC Laser Nationals at Yarrawonga in a couple of weeks.

Patterson Lakes Radio Model Yacht Club would like to thank the following helpers who gave  their time to help make the event a great success:

• Mike Pender – PRO.  Well done on a good and hassle-free job.
• Tony Smith – for the early course setup/ adjustments and for getting the boats out.
• John Toner for being the spotter, handling registration, taking scores and organising the DF95 demos.
• Peter Haynes for partaking in boat retrievals and set-up.
• Stephen Early for taking photos and doing internet scoring.
• Jayne Fleming & Lyn for the catering.

It was great to have South Australian RC laser sailor, Scott Mitchell, at the event and back sailing Radio Controlled Lasers. This is one contender to watch out for at the 2016 RC Laser Nationals as his scores throughout the day just kept getting better and better.

Victorian RC Laser 2016 State Titles Results

The day’s results are listed below:

Words by Scott Fleming
Photos by Stephen Early

Five South Australia Radio Control Laser Sailors to Compete in the National Titles. 

South Australia has put their best foot forward this year with five Radio Control Laser Sailors set to compete at the RC Laser Nationals in Yarrawonga.

• Jurgen Luther, having represented SA in many RC Laser titles
• Scott Mitchell, National 2013 RC Laser champion
• Mark Easton who sailed in the 2013 Nationals in Adelaide
• Adrian Heard who sailed in the Sydney Nationals in 2015
• Lindsay Sawyer who is about to sail his first RC Laser National titles

You might be thinking ‘big deal’ as most the other Eastern States of Australia could easily round up even more sailors to compete, but what makes it a ‘big deal’ for SA is the fact that despite the RC Laser Nationals being held in Adelaide in 2013 (with six SA entrants), the actively sailing South Australia Radio Control Laser fleet remained in a parlous state for at least a year afterwards.

It is only in the last six months that we have had 3-4 regular starters in club sailing, and in the last two months 6 starters in our South Australia Radio Control Laser Series events.

As many people are aware, Jurgen Luther has almost single-handledly been the force behind developing the RC Laser class in SA. In 2014 he almost gave up because despite there being 3-4 sailors at two SA clubs, he and Lou Lamberts were often the only regulars at Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club, joined on occasion by Mark Easton, when not caught up in the pressures of work.

Late 2014 was the turning point with Adrian Heard purchasing a boat, followed by Lindsay Sawyer joining the group in early 2015.

2016 welcomed John Nieuwenhuizen and John Berry to our ranks, with SA now claiming a potential fleet of seven.

So as they say, from little things, big things grow, but as the SA RC Laser Sailors, we are still somewhat incredulous that we have been able to secure five team members to the National Titles. The experienced gained by our group will be invaluable for RC Laser sailing in SA, and will put us in good stead to field a good group of sailors for the Championship of Nations in Queensland in 2017.

Words and pictures by Adrian Heard.

We are continuing to promote the regatta to international radio yachting clubs and associations, as well as international sailing clubs and associations. Your help to spread the word is greatly appreciated. Please contact Peter ‘O Grady on cofn2017@gmail.com for more details

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10 New Boats For Hire – Free of Charge

The Australian distributor of the RC Laser, Cliff Bromiley, has offered to hire out up to 10 brand new boats free of charge to international competitors. He is asking for a fully refundable deposit of $200 AUD payable by October 2017. This offer excludes sails and radio gear. The offer will be available to international skippers in order of completed entry forms received.

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South Australian RC Laser Series – Rounds 5, 6 & 7

Round 5 – Saturday 4th June Mawson Lakes

This round of the South Australian RC Laser Series was cancelled due to a complete absence of wind. It was a reminder of how lacking in wind many of the Saturday morning races were in the 2015 Series and how we decided to change the format to a majority of afternoon races in 2016.

Round 6 – Tuesday 5th July Mawson Lakes

Results – 1^st Adrian Heard, 2^nd Lindsay Sawyer, 3^rd Mark Easton, 4^th Lou Lamberts, 5^th Jurgen Luther

We had five starters for the round completing eight races, with strong gusty southerly winds for most of the afternoon. C rigs were the order of the day, with only Adrian changing to a B rig for three races. Lindsay won the first two races, further cementing his credentials as our South Australian RC Laser heavy weather specialist. On the windward work of the first race the wind became so strong that the entire fleet had to gybe to go about on at least one occasion. Adrian won four of the next five races, with a close finish with Lou in one race and another tight result with Lindsay in a later race. Mark then won two of the last three races. In the first of those races Lou became a victim of Adrian’s B rig becoming badly overpowered and was rammed into by an out of control downwind boat while working to windward near the mark. While the wind was strong, there were parts of the course where there were wind shadows. Jurgen had a frustrating time caught in some of these wind shadows and had a day he’d rather forget.

Round 7 – Tuesday 5th July Mawson Lakes

Results – 1^st Adrian Heard, 2^nd Jurgen Luther, 3^rd Mark Easton, 4^th Lindsay Sawyer, 5^th Lou Lamberts, 6^th John Nieuwenhuizen

The most remarkable feature of this B rig dominated round of eight races was that we had six entrants. Besides the RC Laser National Titles held in South Australia in 2013, this is a record number of boats in an South Australian RC Laser event. We welcome John Nieuwenhuizen to the class. John has bought Scott Mitchell’s old boat and he has considerable radio control sailing experience. The other person who deserves a special mention is Jurgen Luther. Jurgen has worked so hard to promote South Australian RC Lasers over many years and he has helped so many people get started. He must have felt proud to see six RC Lasers racing at Mawson Lakes.

Two rivalries quickly developed in this round. Jurgen and Adrian in their usual tussle for the lead, and Mark and Lindsay fighting for third place. John and Lou really mixed it with the fleet, but during the first four races John often had a period caught in irons. We have all been there and done that! All in all some of the best racing we have ever had in South Australia and great preparation for the nationals.

Photos – (1) Our newest RC Laser recruit John Nieuwenhuizen with his boat on the stand. (2) Our heavy weather expert Lindsay Sawyer. The harder it blows the more he likes it!

words and pictures by Adrian Heard.

Central Coast RC Laser Launch A Great Success in Light Conditions 

Rafferty’s Resort at Cams Wharf , Lake Macquarie, was the stunning location for the RC Laser launch event of the new North Lakes Radio Sailing Club based on the Central Coast.

21 RC Laser sailors entered the Regatta, including many top sailors from the well established Sydney fleet, mixing it with locals, and a number of newcomers.

A beautiful day started with a nice light breeze, but this unfortunately dwindled to become a drifter which tested sailing skills and patience. Sailing was very competitive, although allowance was made for the conditions. Seven races were completed before the day was finally called off due to the conditions with only a handful completing the course for the last race.

Final results produced a win for experienced Sydney RC Laser skipper Graham Brown of Dobroyd Aquatic Club, with second going to Lake Macquarie RC Club’s Jason Rootes. Third was Robin Tickner also of DAC.

In addition, NLRSC presented bottles of wine, which were well received as lucky draw prizes.

The regatta was highly successful in initiating enthusiasm for the RC Laser on the Central Coast.

The next event in the series will be at Dobroyd Aquatic Club on August 21^st, in conjunction with the NSW titles, with subsequent races planned for Grahamstown Lake and Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club.

North Lakes will also soon start regular club racing for the RC Laser class on Saturdays at Lake Munmorah.

Enquiries to  North Lakes Radio Sailing club

President    Brian Lindsay  Tel  0438589910