Category: News

Congratulations to all sailors for making it another terrific RC Laser event. And a big thanks and congratulations to the organisers – well done!

After two sunny days of B rig sailing in fluky 8-15 knot south westerly breezes at Wallaroo, Daniel Bergan and Scott Fleming were tied on 21 points. Scott was not about to relinquish his title as national champion easily. However, he was having the odd difficult race compared with Daniel’s amazing consistency and ultimately this left him slightly vulnerable going into day 3.With a lengthy start line to accommodate 22 boats choosing a place to start was difficult. Scott said that there was no obvious favouritism at either end of the start-line so he settled for trying to find an open patch in the middle. Daniel sailed with a tighter leech than Scott and said that for him this was the key for keeping his boat moving in the calm patches.Day 3 saw Daniel do just enough to keep Scott out and Brad Hein worked his way back to beat Peter Burton for third place on a countback.Other performances of note were Garry Polomka’s 7th place and Mark Stockhausen’s 13th place. Vanessa McCallum, who is very new to RCLs, finished all races bar the last and had a best result of 10th place in a great display of persistence. The whole event was sailed on the fun first competition second principle and the Laser class continues to be very supportive of new sailors at state and national events.The major placings were-:1st Daniel Bergan 2nd Scott Fleming 3rd Brad HeinMaster Peter Burton Grand Master Gary HeinA big thank you to Wallaroo Sailing Club for hosting us for a long weekend. Peter and Julie Elverd did an amazing job. Also, thanks to John Berry for his role in organising the event and thanks to the other Laser sub-committee members Garry Polomka and Bob Whitehead.Our observers included Aaron Jenkins, Alan How, David Woods and John Berry. Thanks to our scoring team of Lorraine Berry, Rose Ross and Gaynor Kouwenhoven. The rescue boat crew for the whole event were Colin Bridgeland and John Orchard. Food and drinks were provided by Julie Elverd and Warwick. Stewart Ross was our guiding hand as race officer. All in all, an excellent group of helpers. A happy bunch of the sailors at the end of the series, taken at Wallaroo Sailing Club

With Christmas and the holiday season coming up we wanted to give you a timely reminder of what a great event the Wallaroo 2024 RC Laser Nationals are likely to be. Here is the link to the Notice of Race for the event showing the planned sailing schedule.

The event will be sailed using the SHRS scoring system under the direction of RO, Stewart Ross. This scoring system means that less experienced sailors get more time sailing with the top sailors and also get the opportunity to compete for a trophy in the silver fleet in the second half of the titles.

Peter Elverd (vice commodore Wallaroo SC) and Neville Hank and other WSC members will turn on a social program that you will enjoy in sailing club facilities that you will love. There will be a sit down meal at the club on Friday night and a barbecue again at the club on Saturday night.

There will be members of both Wallaroo SC and Mawson Lakes MYC present to ensure that the event runs smoothly. All this in an environment where the emphasis will be on fun and enjoyable sailing.

What more could a RC Laser sailor want for the new year?

Have a good Christmas and we hope to see a good number of you at Wallaroo from May 3-5, 2024. And by the way if you want to make a 3 week holiday of it RC Lasers are featured at the SA Masters Games at Wallaroo on April 11-12.

Please pass this message on to other RCL sailors who you think may be interested.

Adrian Heard on behalf of the MLMYC RC Laser sub-committee 

The arial view of the Copper Cove Marina, showing the flexibility it allows for setting courses for different wind directions.