Fair winds to all competitors
VIC State Title – Portland – 18/19th June 2022
Author: Beth
2022 Victorian State Title
2022 Victorian RC Laser State Titles
18 Jun, 2022 – 19 Jun, 2022
VRYA
Portland Yacht Club
Notice of Race, Entry Form and Entrants are available on the ARYA web-site, see link below
https://radiosailing.org.au/index.php?arcade=event&eventid=2229
Peter Burton wins SA RC Laser titles in sunny Wallaroo
Report from Adrian Heard
I have now had the pleasure of sailing four times at one of the ARYA’s most recently registered RC yacht clubs – Wallaroo Sailing Club – which conducts their RC sailing on the Copper Coast marina at Wallaroo. Each time I sail there my estimation of the venue goes up and last weekend with brilliant sunshine and winds in the range of 7-12 knots all weekend was no exception. It is one of South Australia’s top RC sailing venues in my opinion.
A fleet of 14 RC Lasers from 3 states gathered at Wallaroo for the first RC state titles ever to be run at Wallaroo Sailing Club. We began on Saturday afternoon with a south-easterly breeze varying in strength from 5-12 knots and capable of producing some moderate shifts in wind direction.
Peter Burton’s ability to keep his boat pointing high in shifty conditions and his determination to hold his course even in significant lulls in the wind made him stand out from the rest of the fleet. He also positioned himself well at the start, often 5-10 metres down the start line to get clean air and then would work his way up to windward on the rest of the fleet.
The other standout for the day was local sailor (and Wallaroo Sailing Club Commodore) Peter Elverd, who showed the benefit of being used to the conditions and he sailed consistently well over the whole day, often being in the top 2-3 boats to the first windward mark.
Peter Yates and Gary Hein (both from Victoria) were also quick out of the blocks to notch up an impressive line-up of finishing positions in the early races.
By race 5 Peter Burton has won 4 races and with the Victorians also doing well things were looking bad for the locals. Tim Arland and Alex Hayter had both had a tough day and when Bob Whitehead and I were both black flagged in race 10 things looked even worse. The top local sailors were definitely Phil Clerke (who was only able to sail on the Saturday) and Peter Elverd.
However, after a delay of half an hour, Sunday produced a beautiful westerly breeze of about 8-10 knots which was very consistent in direction. Neville Hank and I benefitted early on from sailing out to the starboard side of the course and picking up some extra wind, but we were soon joined by Peter Burton and others. Also, the starboard side of the course didn’t always pay off and Alex Hayter had some top finishes by sailing on the port side. John Berry and Rob Lees also had some very pleasing results.
All in all, it was a magnificent day for sailing and Peter Burton did more than enough to maintain his winning position. Gary Hein nudged Peter Elverd out of second position and Tim Arland, Alex Hayter and I all moved several places up the ranks from our positions on the first day.
Many thanks to the wonderful volunteers at Wallaroo Sailing Club who provided us with great meals and warm country hospitality. Margaret Pope and Julie Elverd did an excellent job. Thanks also to the board and volunteers from Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club who played a role in organising the event.
Filling the rescue boat and observer roles were Bevan Atkinson, Colin Bridgeman and John Orchard. Scoring was ably conducted by Lorraine Berry and Rose Ross. Our RO for the series was Stewart Ross, whose vast RO experience was clearly on display over the weekend – despite the black flags!
South Australian RC Laser News
The Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club RC Laser club championship has been sailed over 8 rounds during winter. Winners of rounds included Lindsay Sawyer, Tim Arland, Steven Cibich, Phil Clerke and Adrian Heard. The overall place-getters were 1st Tim Arland 2nd Adrian Heard and 3rd Garry Polomka. There were 14 sailors competing in the championship.
Tim Arland is a new RC Laser sailor this year who has a strong local record in IOM and A Class model yachts. He has adapted to sailing RC Lasers very quickly. He was a clear winner of the championship winning 3 of the 8 rounds.
We are currently sailing our Twilight Series at Port River Sailing Club. This series is held on Thursday nights and the venue is well known to the 32 Laser sailors who made their way there for the SA State Titles earlier this year. This is always a really fun series and this year some sailors have shown strong performances. In round 3, Garry Polomka had a great night and in round 4, Kym Stringer really showed the field how to sail. Overall, there are 12 rounds to this series and there is always a great meal put on by Port River after the sailing.
Dates set for SA State Titles 2022
The 2022 SA States will be held at Wallaroo Sailing Club on April 2nd and 3rd.
Please put this date in your diaries!
Wallaroo is a comfortable 2 hours drive north of Adelaide and the marina there offers an excellent location for sailing. The SA Masters Games were held at this venue in 2021 and Gary Hein from Portland ventured north for the event and he really enjoyed the venue. Accomodation is available at two caravan parks in Wallaroo, but nearby Kadina and Moonta have good accommodation options as well. The Copper Coast – as the three towns are called – has a combined population of 15,000, so the facilities in the area are excellent.
Peter Elverd, who is the commodore of Wallaroo Sailing Club is an RC Laser sailor and the club has a growing RCL fleet.
We wish all RC Laser sailors a happy Christmas and we hope to see many people from interstate at our State Championships in April 2022.
Adrian Heard
2021 Victorian Rc Laser Titles Results
You may have seen the results of the 2021 Victorian RC Laser Titles published as a story from the Geelong Advertiser on the RC Laser Facebook Page. Congratulations to Brad Hein first, Scott Fleming, second, Mario Gulic, third. And well done to all 13 competitors. Thanks to the organisers, volunteers and host, Royal Geelong Yacht Club.
Here is the results sheet.
