VIC RC Laser State Championship @ Portland
Jun 20, 2022
A nice sunny day greeted us at Portland for the first day of sailing of the 2022 VIC RC Laser State Championship held over the weekend of 18-19 June. A rigs were the sail of choice for day one and the course was set up nicely by the boat guy and that’s how it stayed for the rest of the day.
Peter Lee started the day on a flyer rounding the top mark ahead of the fleet in the first 2 races, only to lose control at the bottom mark both times and ending with a 4th and a 3rd. Last years Victorian champ Brad Hein was doing it tough with a boat malfunction, while Scott Fleming had to wait until race 5 before being beaten. Peter’s luck got worse from race 3 and repairs were necessary stealing parts from Janet’s boat. Another person down on luck for the day was Gary Hein who placed second in Adelaide earlier this year.
On a positive note Adrian was sailing consistently and newbie Luke Donovan was showing some promise.
The results at the end of day one showed Scott leading, with Mario second and Adrian rounding up third place.
Day two turned out being a ‘more typical Victorian winters day’, it was cold, windy and the water was choppy.
C rigs were the preferred sail for most of the day while some skippers opted for D rigs towards the end.
The day started well for Scott and Brad in the tricky conditions while for most of the fleet the cold and the first mark would be their undoing.
Robert Lees was the first casualty with major repairs needed and retired for the day along with Des Hein. Neville Hank also retired in race 17 after a excellent 2nd in race 16.
Mario and Adrian were doing there best to see who could fall the furthest for the day. Terry and Grant had a side bet on while the guy leading the event was sailing off in the distance.
At the end of the day it was Scott Fleming who dominated the event finishing first on 22 points, Brad Hein second on 50 points and Mario Gulic rounding out the podium, third on 64 points. (Pictured above L-R Hein, Fleming, Gulic).
Congratulations to all winners and a big thank you to the boat guy, the PRO Tim, the Scorers Jayne and Dianne, Scott and the Portland Yacht Club.
A quick snap of all the competitors, well done everyone.
Of course there were some antics too….. maybe someone felt they earnt the trophy more?????
The above is a transcript from the ARYA web-site – detailed results are available in the full report via the link below