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Spring visited for the 2017 RC Laser Victorian States bringing with it fine weather, wind coming from every direction and even weed!  The event was held at the National Water Sports Centre on the Patterson River and hosted by the Patterson Lakes Radio Model Yacht Club  (PLRMYC).  Interstate competitors included Adrian Heard from SA and Daniel Burgen from NSW, both keen to get in some championship practice prior to the RC Laser Championship of Nations.   

A big thankyou to David Thomas from the VRYA for taking on the PRO job yet again, along with Mike Pender and Tony Smith helping out and doing a fantastic job to make the day flow smoothly.   

Sailing was in light A rig conditions for most of the day and all competitors sailed with excellent sportsmanship, which we’ve come to expect within the RC Laser group.  The only lady skipper was deprived of a race win, by her husband who stole the race in the last meter to the finish line!

A record fleet competed in the inaugural South Australian RC Laser championships held over last weekend, 19-20 August. The Adelaide Radio Control Yacht Racing Club hosted at the popular Patawalonga Lake (aka “the Pat”) at Glenelg North in Adelaide – considered by many as one of the best RC sailing venues.

Congratulations to Scott Mitchell for becoming the inaugural South Australian RC Laser champion, to Scott Fleming for coming second (on count-back) and to Andrew Reid for taking third place. Here’s the full report from Adrian Heard. 

Shifty start to South Australian RC Laser Championships

After a week of rainy days the morning of Saturday 19^th August dawned with sunshine and a light north-easterly breeze. In the previous 48 hours an armada of nine Victorian sailors had assembled on South Australian soil, and together with nine local sailors and Mark Luland from Dobroyd in NSW, we had a fleet of nineteen boats for the event. By the listed 10.30am starting time the north-easterly breeze shifted to WSW, and around midday it shifted further to south-westerly and progressively strengthened during the day to a maximum of 7-8 knots. It was A rigs all day, with only Pat Parisienne, Bob Whitehead and John Berry daring to try B rigs after lunch.

After the first race was declared nul, due to the scorers being unable to read sail numbers at the distant finishing line, formal racing got under way. Scott Mitchell and Scott Fleming took first and second place in the first race, and this pattern or the reverse order was to be a regular feature of the day’s racing. Together they won twelve out of the sixteen races and occasionally by large margins. Other heat winners for the day were Andrew Reid (two wins), Rob Nowak (one win) and Jason Shilton (one win).

A real feature of the day’s sailing was the flukiness of the wind at the windward mark. This mark was set near the opposite side of the Patawalonga to the control area, and the distance and constant change in wind direction made judging the mark very difficult at times. We all had a bad moment or two at this mark. John Nieuwenhuizen had a couple of collisions early on, and Jurgen Luther and I had a farcial time trapped at the mark in race eleven. There were many other similar experiences by other sailors.

While the two Scotts were very consistent all day – Scott Fleming had to do only one 360 degree turn; remarkable in the conditions – Andrew Reid started slowly and improved as the day went on, and Rob Nowak could not find the consistency he needed to be able to win the title. Pat Parisienne was often near the front, and of the Mawson Lakes sailors I think Lindsay Sawyer and John Nieuwenhuizen should be pretty happy with their performances. For three of the eight Mawson Lakes sailors this was their first major regatta, and sailing in a fleet of nineteen boats was a potentially life-changing experience.

Scott Mitchell beat Scott Fleming on a count-back, by having one more second place. That’s how close it was. Congratulations to Scott Mitchell for becoming the inaugural South Australian RC Laser champion, to Scott Fleming for coming second and to Andrew Reid for taking third place. Also thanks to our PRO Johno Johnson who ran a great series, to the scorers Graham Ingerson and Bob Dagg and to the rescue boat operator Len Hearing. What a great mob they are at Adelaide Radio Control Yacht Racing Club. Yvonne and Peter Tiss were observers at the windward and leeward marks all day – a very busy job! Meredith Reardon helped with food and photography and John Berry organised the drinks.

All in all it was a very successful day, with smiling faces all around. There was resounding agreement that the South Australian RC Laser Titles are here to stay!

South Queensland RC Laser Championships

The  South Queensland RC Laser Championships was held between 29 – 30 July 2017 at Lakeside Park Dakabin, North of Brisbane. 21 entrants particpated in the event from the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, and NSW.

The event consisted of a two day regatta and was made up of two RC laser fleets, A & B – the faster yachts being assigned to fleet A.

Saturday started with very light and varying winds causing a certain amount of frustration for some of the entrants. Sunday’s weather did not fare much better, and after a late start the wind remained just as light in the afternoon as it had the day before.  
Nevertheless, with conditions being what they were, everyone enjoyed the warm and sunny conditions served up by sunny Queensland.

A shout out goes to Pine River Radio Yacht Club, the hosts of the South Queensland RC Laser Championships, as well as to the volunteers who helped out on the day. 
A special mention also goes to the Officer of the Day, Ian Ashe, and scorer, David Black.

The successful place getters of the South Queensland RC Laser Championships were:

1^st – Malcolm Kampe Qld                                                                                           

                                    

 

 

 
   

2^nd – Jason Rootes NSW

                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

 

3^rd – Daniel Bergan NSW                                                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

Best and Fairest – Linton Ward

 

 

 

 

  

Overall results of the South Queensland RC Laser Championship are hightlighted below.

 

Additional images from the day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copy and images: Ray Nasmith 

The South Australian RC Laser Series Rounds 1-5

Radio yachting is humming along in South Australia and we are now halfway through this year’s RC Laser series having just completed round 5. This year, three from our last year’s RC Laser fleet have left us and we have gained one, resulting in between four and six regular sailors for the series. The big difference for our fleet this year is that we are a recognised class in the Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club and we are now having Sunday afternoon sailing at the club once per month.

The 2017 season is proving to be very different to 2016. Last year we had mostly moderate to strong winds, but this year the weather has been much more stable with four of the first five rounds of the series being held in very light conditions.

Mark Easton and I have consistently taken the first two places in all but round 5. This has largely been due to the absence of Jurgen Luther, who won the series in 2016, and Lindsay Sawyer’s temporary absence on a caravan trip. Much of our work this year has been to get John Berry, who is relatively new to radio yachting,  and Don Turnbull, who is experienced in radio yachting but new to RC Lasers, to a level where they are competitive in the fleet. This process is well under way with Don Turnbull already finding a place in the middle of the fleet and John Berry having his first ever win during round 4.

The level of enthusiasm has been remarkable as the whole fleet, with the exception of John Nieuwenhuizen, will be attending the Championship of Nations at the Gold Coast in November. There is a great eagerness to learn and to experiment with rigs, and learning how to achieve maximum boat speed in light shifty conditions has been the key task so far this season.

Mawson Lakes is not an easy place to sail, but I suspect it is not dissimilar to Emerald Lakes on the Gold Coast. We certainly hope that there are similarities between the two venues! During round 2 the difficulties of Mawson Lakes were in evidence, with lots of wind shifts around buildings and a struggle between a north-easterly breeze and the south-westerly sea breeze. Round 5 was won by Lindsay in very fickle conditions and featured some of the closest racing between six boats that I have ever witnessed.

South Australia Radio Yachting – RC Laser Series Results 

                                                                                    Round No.

Skipper	Sail #	1	2	3	4	5
A Heard	192	1	1	1	1	2
M Easton	165	2	2	2	2	5
J Berry	256	4	3	5	4	4
D Turnbull	55	DNS	DNS	4	3	6
J Nieuwenhuizen	148	DNS	4	3	DNS	3
L Sawyer	172	3	DNS	DNS	DNS	1

We will sail the remaining five rounds of the series prior to the Championship of Nations, and use these rounds as a key part of our preparation for the November championships. My reading of our fleet is that, given the general rate of improvement, all of us should be able to mix it fairly well with the other 50-60 boats attending the Championship of Nations.

Words by Adrian Heard