It was a day where you just had to hang in there.
The day for the 2018 NSW RC Laser State Titles started out at Dobroyd Aquatic Club feeling fairly benign. There was a cold westerly wind blowing, so an up and down course in front of the deck was set up with a clearance mark set at the windward mark, together with an indicator mark to give some size to the zone around the mark. There were a couple of B sails, but a majority of C sails were set for the first race; and then things started going downhill. Significant wind shifts occurred through the day; particularly “effective” in the last seconds of the countdown to some of the starts.
A quick decent with everyone on to D sails; and it just got worse. The problem was not so much the strength of the wind, but the depth of the lulls between the darkies. You would fall into a hole and be essentially stationary with the D sail providing very little assistance in keeping the boat moving. A few C sails re-appeared later in the day more in hope than with logic.
We had the works… gear failures, radios, sailaways, there was one rescue of three boats at once in different points of the compass; and a couple of dismastings. Yes, it was a lively day.
The conditions got the better of a number of sailors as the day progressed with a growing list of withdrawals occurring.
In spite of the conditions, Paul Derwent sailed perfectly to the conditions to destroy the opposition and take out the 2018 NSW RC Laser State Title – a fine exhibition of sailing under the conditions. Well done and well deserved Paul.
Graham Brown took second place, but was not comfortable at any time during the day. Noel McPherson was third, and was only lifted into the position with some kamikaze sailing with a C sail later in the day. Robin Tickner and Peter Close fought impressively for positions the whole day to finish on the same points, but Robin finished ahead on a count back. Daniel Bergan had a varied day, but the D sail ended up to be his undoing. Phillip Page sailed into some good results, but finally had to withdraw. Brian Chapman had an unfortunate day, being well positioned in a number of races, but not getting to the line to hold the position. Ivan Schlederer had some good results, and also could not continue the racing. Geoff Lucas found the going difficult, and finally had to pull out with gear failure; as did Mark Luland, Peter Lee and Steve Crewes.
It was an intense day – I think it will be etched in our brains for some time to come.
I want to thank everyone who helped out on the day, in particular PRO Paul Martin, and our scorer Jill Brown. Graham Brown and Brian Chapman did a great job with the rescue boat and the other peripheral things that have to be done.. Thanks everyone for a good day.
Words By Noel McPherson RCL#65. Photos by Carola Derwent
