The 2016 WA RC Laser State Championships hosted by WAnderers Radio Sailing Club was held at the South Perth Lake on Sunday 13 November.
A perfect Perth spring day was in store for the nine competing RC Lasers with easterly breezes in the morning and a SW sea breeze in the afternoon.
The morning course with its variable easterly breeze saw the fleet on A-sails with multiple race winners throughout the morning.
Early leader was Dave Pruden with the rest of the fleet engaged in close competition looking for the shifts. Honours were evenly spread with Brian, Dave and Garry successful early on when the breeze freshened up.
After lunch, the fleet changed to B-sails as a moderate sea breeze arrived and a new course was set.
This saw Rod, Fred (with C-sail) and Andy pick up the pace to give Dave some tough competition.
All in all, 17 heats were sailed and with overall consistency being important, the end results were very close.
Nearly all skippers in the fleet received a placing in the heats throughout the day.
Once scores were tallied, Dave Pruden was crowned our State Champion again for this year, followed by Rod in second place and Fred narrowly jumping into third by one point from Dave Bedford to round out the podium.
Huge thanks goes to our Secretary, Dave Bedford, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to get the event up and running. Not to mention our PRO, Glen Dawson, and Ian from RSAWA both of whom worked hard throughout the day setting courses, starts and scoring.
Glen’s role as PRO was exceptional with our usually casual and social sailors receiving great assistance from him with sailing rules interpretations and setting up sails.
Overall, it was a great day’s sailing for all. Thanks to Adam for the photos and to our expat Brit Andy and newbie Lachlan for coming along and joining in the regatta.
The final 2016 WA RC Laser State Championships scores are published below:
The beautiful Mawson Lakes where the 2016 South Australian RC Laser Series took place
Congratulations to Jurgen Luther, winner of The 2016 South Australian RC Laser Series
Jurgen won five out of the nine 2016 South Australian RC Laser Series rounds (one round was abandoned) and finished second in two other rounds.
Adrian Heard finished second, three points behind Jurgen, and Lindsay Sawyer, a further eight points behind Adrian, was third. Lindsay was also recognised as the most improved RC Laser sailor for the year.
And what an exciting year it has been…
2016 welcomed John Nieuwenhuizen and John Berry to our fleet, and with six boats starting in three of the last four rounds, it certainly has been a great year of RC Laser Sailing, with a well supported series.
A well deserved shout out goes to:
Adrian Heard for organising the 2016 South Australian RC Laser Series;
Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club for providing the facilities;
and last but not least to all the RC Laser sailors for their enthusiastic participation.
We look forward to good size fleets in the 2017 series.
The last three rounds of the 2016 South Australian RC Laser Series are outlined below.
Round 8 : Saturday 3rd September Mawson Lakes
Results:
1st Jurgen Luther; 2nd Lindsay Sawyer; 3rd Adrian Heard; 4th Mark Easto; 5th John Nieuwenhuizen; 6th Lou Lamberts
Another gusty north-westerly day with winds varying between 5-15 knots and a moderate chop on the lake.
Over the eight races, it was hard to decide between B and C rigs, with only Jurgen using a B rig for all races.
After winning the first two races, Jurgen had a downwind collision with Adrian, which led to him being dismasted and having to retire from the race. Lindsay prospered in the strong winds and could have won the day had it not been for a collision at the start line of the last race with Jurgen, which saw both of them retiring from that race.
Lou developed problems with the spring on his mainsheet nylon line and only sailed three races.
Mark had a consistent day in the middle of the fleet, and John had a couple of thirds.
The general consensus was that it was a tough day, with lots of nosediving and some difficulty getting about in strong gusts. On the final result sheet Jurgen and Lindsay had nett 10 points and Adrian 11 points.
Jurgen won on a countback – close racing at its best.
Round 9 : Saturday 1st October West Lakes
Results: 1st Jurgen Luther, 2nd John Nieuwenhuizen, 3rd Mark Easton, 4th John Berry
With Adrian Heard and Lindsay Sawyer both on leave after the national titles, there were four starters including newcomer John Berry.
All sailors started on A rigs but after two races dropped to B rigs.
Three races later all were on C rigs and wondering if they would soon be pulling the D rigs out of the bag.
With the wind out of the northwest there was a shifting wind near the windward mark.
As the afternoon wore on the sun glare on the water became a big problem making the windward mark very difficult to see. When sailing the boat on starboard tack across the lake it almost became invisible. This was the major factor in the decision to call it a day. With the time taken for numerous rig changes we managed to complete eight races.
Other than John B, who was having his baptism of fire, everyone managed at least one win.
Mark sailed well earlier in the day but struggled somewhat as the wind got stronger. Considering his short time in RC Lasers John N. handled the conditions very well. At the end of the day he and Mark were separated by only one point with John claiming second overall.
The conditions got increasingly difficult for John B who had gear issues and was without a C rig. He couldn’t continue after race five but I’m sure he learnt a lot from the day and will be back again much stronger.
Other than a DNF with rudder problems, Jurgen’s experience kept him at the front making him the winner on the day.
Round 10 : Tuesday 1st November Mawson Lakes
Results: 1st Adrian Heard, 2nd Jurgen Luther, 3rd Lindsay Sawyer, 4th Mark Easton, 5th Lou Lamberts, 6th John Berry
A very pleasant day with six boats on the water, but with the westerly wind varying between 5-10 knots it was difficult to decide whether to carry an A or a B rig over the eight races.
Lindsay and Adrian sailed all but one race with B rigs, but Mark, Jurgen, Lou and John persisted with A rigs.
Lindsay, who despite his final position, was always near the front of the fleet, often got off to flying starts on the first windward work, usually with Jurgen in tow. Much to the annoyance of these two, Adrian had good downwind speed, and often caught the two of them for the final windward leg. Needless to say these three often had close finishes, with Mark and Lou sometimes up there as well.
John had two fourths in the first two races, and managed to finish all other races – some with an overpowered A rig.
Race six, which witnessed some extraordinary scenes at the leeward mark, was eventually won by Lindsay.
Leading up to this, Lou (A rig) and Adrian (B rig) were at the front of the fleet followed closely by Jurgen (A rig) and Lindsay (B rig). Just as Lou and Adrian reached the mark, they were hit by a 12 knot gust causing their boats to nosedive and swing wildly to windward. Enter Lindsay and Jurgen, with Lindsay maintaining control and going cleanly around the mark and Jurgen’s boat pirouetting in sympathy with the others.
After Lindsay’s sweet manoeuvre, Adrian recovered next, followed by Jurgen and Lou.
A great 2016 South Australian RC Laser Series was had by all!
Adrian Heard and Lindsay Sawyer at Yarrawonga for the 2016 RC Laser Nationals in Sunday’s rain. For those who were there – remember the feeling?Jurgen Luther receiving the winning trophy for the 2016 South Australian RC Laser Series
Saturday Radio Yachting at Yarrawonga plenty of fun for RC Laser sailors
Saturday the 22nd October saw the second competitive radio yachting round of the Yarrawonga Yacht Club Radio Controlled Division for the 2016 series.
RC Sailors were greeted with winds up to twenty knots with D rigs on the Lasers and B rigs on the Dragon Flites. Racing in the confines of the lagoon, Peter from Ballarat showed the fleet of 5 RC yachts how it’s done. He was closely followed by Rob from Sydney. It was a great day and a lot was learnt by all.
The next sailing of the YYC RCD will be held on the Saturday 5th of November at 1 pm at the Yarrawonga Yacht Club.
Visitors most welcome.
YYC RCD member Wayne Clement sailing his RC yacht 226 towards the finishing line in the recently held RC Laser National Championships.
Have you got a RC Laser question that you need answered?
From time to time we get emailed questions about the challenges of radio yachting
You may or may not be aware of the booklet called ‘Go Faster’ – (gives guidelines on how to set up your RC Laser for the best performance). For those of you who have not seen it before, we attach a link for you to download.
Here is a report and some questions that we received recently from Rob Todd, a NZ RC Laser sailing skipper, sailing at the Southern Reservoir Yacht Club in Dunedin.
Comments to Rob’s questions will be most welcome.
As reported by Rob……
“Wind was very light that day, and I experienced my first dunking of the Laser, but like the hardy boat it is, that was no hassle.
Although some of the guys were aware of the RC Laser class, there was more interest amongst the fleet than I was expecting.
I had a great day sailing. My only issue was that the boom worked its way out of the socket at the gooseneck, not much, but enough to upset the down haul that I had on the luff of the sail causing a bit of a wrinkle at the bottom which upset the curve of the foot.
So, I have some questions about that…
Maybe I have to have the mainsheet set further out on the boom and have it currently set straight above the eye on the deck?
Maybe the mainsheet needs to be set further back so that there is bit of loading towards the gooseneck?
I would have thought the outhaul tension would have kept the boom driven towards the gooseneck. Can you lock the boom into the gooseneck?
Round three of the Northlakes Radio Sailing Club Laser series was held in wild conditions on Sunday September 25th at Grahamstown Dam Sailing Club, near Newcastle.
A good entry of 15 skippers faced a very challenging day in 20 to 30 knot north westerly winds building up a lumpy onshore “surf”; with the final race being held in a violent rain squall.
Despite this (or because of it) most skippers enjoyed the challenge. Many swapping back and forth between C and D rigs trying to second guess conditions for each race.
One boat made a high speed break for the other side of the lake when launched with its receiver turned off! It was eventually caught by the rescue boat. Another had its rig lifted out clean of the hull when involved with a collision while running at the front of the fleet.
Racing was fast and furious, but at the end of the day Jason Rootes came out on top of round three of the Northlakes Radio Sailing Club Laser series. With local member Graeme Auld impressing with second position in a loaned boat! Third was Daniel Bergan. After that positions were extremely close with several boats within 2 or 3 points.
Jason Rootes (right) accepts his award from Brian Lindsay
Prizes were awarded, followed by a wine raffle in the Clubhouse after the event. Local “Horizons” host Club President Neil Wasson was thanked for their hospitality by NorthLakes President Brian Lindsay.
The final round of the Northlakes Radio Sailing Club Laser series round is to be confirmed for the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club.
Then the Club will commence regular Saturday racing on Lake Munmorah, at the Tom Burke reserve.
Further information from Brian Lindsay tel 0438589910
Round three of the Northlakes Radio Sailing Club Laser series was held in wild conditions on Sunday September 25th at Grahamstown Dam Sailing Club, near Newcastle.
Racing was fast and furious, but at the end of the day Jason Rootes came out on top of round three of the Northlakes Radio Sailing Club Laser series. With local member Graeme Auld impressing with second position in a loaned boat! Third was Daniel Bergan. After that positions were extremely close with several boats within 2 or 3 points.