The 2016 Radio Controlled Laser National Championships hosted in Yarrawonga by Patterson Lakes Radio Model Yacht Club over 17 – 18^th September has  come and gone.

With the sails and sailing gear safely stowed away for the next event, we can’t help but to reflect on the great performance from many our RC Laser Sailors this past weekend.

With a record number of 42 competitors and 3 fleets (A, B & C), completing a good number of races proved to be a challenge during the two day regatta held at the Yarrawonga Yacht Club.  It was fantastic to see several new RC laser competitors and it took a few racing events to hit a smooth and fast rhythmic turnaround between fleets.

Saturday obliged us with excellent weather and good winds, and by lunch break, three radio controlled laser races (9 heats) had already been completed with Kirwan Robb taking an early lead followed closely by Jurgen Luther. This great start was in part due to the excellent launching facilities provided by the Yarrawonga Yacht Club. Four more races were held by the end of the extended day’s racing with Graham Brown finding himself in the lead on countback.

Saturday night rounded off a successful day’s sailing with a dinner held at the Yarrawonga Yacht Club, attended to by 78 people. Special mention goes to the organisers of this event especially Wendy Scholtes and her many helpers from the Yarrawonga Yacht Club.

Sunday’s weather proved foul with wet conditions delaying the start of racing until 11.30am.  Although wet underfoot with light fluky wind conditions, 27 radio control skippers braved the elements to finish a further three races for the day. Given the high flood waters in the region, the fast moving current played havoc with those not used to sailing under such conditions.
Nevertheless, the weather didn’t dampen spirits for long with the weekend proving to be a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

A huge thank you to Patterson Lakes Radio Model Yacht Club, Yarrawonga Yacht Club and to all the people who made it happen – you all did a fantastic job!

A shout out goes to:

• Scott Fleming – Event organiser
• Frank Katers – PRO
• Mario Gulic – Assistant
• Jayne Fleming and Lynda Katers – Scorers
• All the ‘behind the scene’ helpers: Tony Smith, Thomas Hutchison YYC, Noel McPherson DAC, Cliff Bromily, Peter Yates, Rod and Bill

Thank you to our generous event sponsors:

• Radio Control Sailing Australia
• Yarrawonga-Mulwala Visitor Information Centre

Last but not least, a big thank you to all the competitors for making the journey to the 2016 RC Laser National Championships.  Given the country location, everyone had to travel, although the Queenslanders could have packed a bit more sunshine into their kit.

 Event results are as follows:

1^st place – Kirwan Robb

2^nd place – Graham Brown

3^rd place – Scott Fleming

Sportsmanship Award – Peter Haymes (Donated by Sail Prizes)

Words: Mario Gulic & Scott Fleming
Photos: Cliff Bromiley

The 2016 RC Laser National Championships Is Almost Here

Over a year in planning, finally the 2016 RC Laser National Championships is upon us!

To be held at Yarrawonga Yacht Club, Victoria over this coming weekend with a record number of competitors (43) and many first time RC Laser sailors, it’s a great start to what will certainly prove to be an exciting weekend.

Due to the large number of entrants, fleets will be split into A, B & C fleets, allowing sailors of similar skill sets to compete against each other after the first couple of races.

A new addition to the RC Laser event will be the breakdown of awards into four age groups. These include:

• Mariner up to 55
• Captain 55-61
• Master 62-65
• Sea Master 66+

2016 RC Laser National Championships – Schedule

The weekend will certainly prove to be a busy one with the event organisers and member hosts of the Patterson Lakes Radio Model Yacht Club going all out to ensure a successful weekend of events.

This includes:

• Friday 16^th September – Social practice sailing 11h00hrs – 1600hrs
• Saturday 17^th and Sunday 18^th – RC Laser race event
• Saturday night – Buffet Style Dinner at the Yacht Club
• Sunday 18^th September – Awards presentation

For those not competing and wanting to explore, Yarrawonga town is certainly one not to be missed. Boasting great restaurants and plenty to see and do within a great country feel, you will be spoilt for choice.

Good luck to all our RC Laser sailors competing in this year’s 2016 RC Laser National Championships.

This will be a great lead up to the 2017 RC Laser Championship of Nations next November in the Gold Coast.

Words by Scott Fleming

Victorian State Warm Up For 2016 RC Laser Nationals

Held this past weekend, the Victorian RC Laser 2016 State Titles, proved to be a great day of radio control yachting with worthy competition between all entrants.
Conditions on the day were such that we started on B rig and then moved onto A rig sails with the fluky Patterson Lakes Bridge syndrome threatening in the afternoon.
A few maintenance problems, (such as transmitter and cooked winch glitches) highlighted some issues that will need to be worked on and resolved before the 2016 RC Laser Nationals at Yarrawonga in a couple of weeks.

Patterson Lakes Radio Model Yacht Club would like to thank the following helpers who gave  their time to help make the event a great success:

• Mike Pender – PRO.  Well done on a good and hassle-free job.
• Tony Smith – for the early course setup/ adjustments and for getting the boats out.
• John Toner for being the spotter, handling registration, taking scores and organising the DF95 demos.
• Peter Haynes for partaking in boat retrievals and set-up.
• Stephen Early for taking photos and doing internet scoring.
• Jayne Fleming & Lyn for the catering.

It was great to have South Australian RC laser sailor, Scott Mitchell, at the event and back sailing Radio Controlled Lasers. This is one contender to watch out for at the 2016 RC Laser Nationals as his scores throughout the day just kept getting better and better.

Victorian RC Laser 2016 State Titles Results

The day’s results are listed below:

Words by Scott Fleming
Photos by Stephen Early

Five South Australia Radio Control Laser Sailors to Compete in the National Titles. 

South Australia has put their best foot forward this year with five Radio Control Laser Sailors set to compete at the RC Laser Nationals in Yarrawonga.

• Jurgen Luther, having represented SA in many RC Laser titles
• Scott Mitchell, National 2013 RC Laser champion
• Mark Easton who sailed in the 2013 Nationals in Adelaide
• Adrian Heard who sailed in the Sydney Nationals in 2015
• Lindsay Sawyer who is about to sail his first RC Laser National titles

You might be thinking ‘big deal’ as most the other Eastern States of Australia could easily round up even more sailors to compete, but what makes it a ‘big deal’ for SA is the fact that despite the RC Laser Nationals being held in Adelaide in 2013 (with six SA entrants), the actively sailing South Australia Radio Control Laser fleet remained in a parlous state for at least a year afterwards.

It is only in the last six months that we have had 3-4 regular starters in club sailing, and in the last two months 6 starters in our South Australia Radio Control Laser Series events.

As many people are aware, Jurgen Luther has almost single-handledly been the force behind developing the RC Laser class in SA. In 2014 he almost gave up because despite there being 3-4 sailors at two SA clubs, he and Lou Lamberts were often the only regulars at Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club, joined on occasion by Mark Easton, when not caught up in the pressures of work.

Late 2014 was the turning point with Adrian Heard purchasing a boat, followed by Lindsay Sawyer joining the group in early 2015.

2016 welcomed John Nieuwenhuizen and John Berry to our ranks, with SA now claiming a potential fleet of seven.

So as they say, from little things, big things grow, but as the SA RC Laser Sailors, we are still somewhat incredulous that we have been able to secure five team members to the National Titles. The experienced gained by our group will be invaluable for RC Laser sailing in SA, and will put us in good stead to field a good group of sailors for the Championship of Nations in Queensland in 2017.

Words and pictures by Adrian Heard.

We are continuing to promote the regatta to international radio yachting clubs and associations, as well as international sailing clubs and associations. Your help to spread the word is greatly appreciated. Please contact Peter ‘O Grady on cofn2017@gmail.com for more details

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10 New Boats For Hire – Free of Charge

The Australian distributor of the RC Laser, Cliff Bromiley, has offered to hire out up to 10 brand new boats free of charge to international competitors. He is asking for a fully refundable deposit of $200 AUD payable by October 2017. This offer excludes sails and radio gear. The offer will be available to international skippers in order of completed entry forms received.

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