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VIC RC Laser State Championship @ Portland

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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

https://radiosailing.org.au/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=321&cntnt01origid=35&cntnt01returnid=129

Fair winds to all competitors

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

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!