Author: Beth

The 2015 RC Laser Victorian State Titles are on Sunday August 23rd, hosted by the Patterson Lakes Radio Model Yacht Club.  It’s a great event on its own and also this year takes place a week before the RC Laser National Championship being held at Rodd Point in Sydney, so it’s a warm up for the Nationals as well.

The preferred venue is the National Water Sports Centre,  which is expected to be confirmed shortly. The National Water Sports Centre was originally developed in 1988 in preparation for Melbourne’s bid for the 1996 Olympic Games. The 2000 metre rowing course, provides an excellent place for RC Laser racing.  And it has something for the spectators too – the Dandenong Creek Valley Bike Trail passes through it. Spectators can come down on their bikes and ride between racing! The venue is about 34 kms south east of Melbourne along Patterson River in Bangholme.

The Notice of Race and Entry Form are available for download here. For more information contact flemingscott67[at]gmail[dot]com

RC Laser 2015 VIC Title Notice of Race

RC Laser 2015 VIC Title Entry Form

 

 

 

The 2015 RC Laser Queensland titles will be held at Emerald Lakes, Gold Coast on Sunday July 26. Entry forms can be found on rcyachts.net.au.

Last year 11 skippers competed for the Queensland State Title trophy held at Lake Kawana on the Sunshine Coast. Nigel Price of host club Sunshine Coast RYC took out the title, with Peter Burford of Paradise Radio Yacht Club sailing into 2^nd place .

RC Laser sailing in extreme weather is not for the faint hearted. Sydney experienced some extreme weather yesterday.  Winds averaged 20 knots plus and gusted to 33 knots. Six gusty RC Laser sailors set up at Rodd Point in Sydney to test their Radio Control Lasers under these conditions.

Our correspondent, Noel, thought he might get away with a C sail and set out try it out. He promptly came back, rigged the D sail.. and sailed with that all day. Here is Noel’s report.

“The wind, from the south west,  was swirling around as well as blasting in in heavy gusts.  At times there were quieter periods just to annoy us as well. The one thing about the direction was that the water was relatively flat; so downwind, if you got your boat going, it really screamed along.

Under the circumstances, we felt the wind was an additional handicap, so we settled for scratch starts.  It was a struggle to get to the line in the first place.  There was so much leeway on the boats that it would wipe out any planning to get near the pin on the starts.  Having gone through the start line, the next problem was to tack… you really had to keep going and wait out the gusts, choose your moment, then go for it.  The marks were rather lively at the best of times, but you had to sail so far past the windward mark that you would not be caught be the leeway on the boat to run into the mark or have to make another tack to get around.  Sailing to not touch the marks kept us away from them.
In spite of the conditions, we had some very close finishes – I think that is a good reflection on everyone who sailed.”

 

We are publishing some of the top tips from the Radio Control Laser Community. This one comes from Ned Whiteley of  Victoria and explains how to repair the sail winch in 30 minutes at a cost of $14.

How to Repair the Sail Winch on the RC Laser

Step 1
Place tape around the bottom of the servo casing to ensure that the bottom cover remains in place when you remove the four retaining screws.

Step 2
Carefully remove the retaining screws and then remove the top cover to expose the servo gears. Examine the gears and ascertain where the problem lies (in this case, four teeth have sheared off the small gear at the top of the right hand stack).

Step 3
Carefully remove all the components, starting with the small ‘O’ ring, and lay them out so that you know the order you need to replace them in. Clean out any old grease and broken teeth.
Note: The top ball race is a very tight fit and may have to be lifted out still attached to the gear. If the gear is undamaged, I would recommend leaving it attached and using it for the rebuild.
The bottom gear (centre spindle) may prove difficult to remove and can be left in place (as in this case) if undamaged.

Step 4
Replace the components in reverse order, substituting the new gears where appropriate (always best to change the whole set just to be safe) and add a small amount of servo grease to each gear set. Replace the top cover and screws and remove the tape. Your servo should now be ready to go.

Total cost $14 Time taken 30
Please send your top tips and photos to fun(at)radiosail.com.au