Greetings from Australia’s Gold Coast – the site for the 2017 RC Laser Championship of Nations.

Since we sent out our message last year we have received expressions of interest from USA, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and every mainland state in Australia.

It’s still more than 18 months before the series and we know that we will be receiving many more enquiries from overseas.

If you have not already done so, you can register for the 2017 RC Laser Championship of Nations now. Register Here

Our organising committee has been meeting regularly and we are pleased to report some major developments.

Firstly, the Australian distributor of the RC Laser, Cliff Bromiley, has offered to hire out up to 10 brand new boats. He is asking for a deposit of $200 AUD payable by October 2017. This is good news. Even better news is that the deposit is fully refundable to any overseas visitor who sails in the regatta. Cliff is asking that you bring your own sails and radio gear.

For any further information please contact Cliff at info@radiosail.com.au or contact us.

This offer must be limited to 10 boats so we suggest that you place your order as soon as possible.

The other good news is that many of our club members have offered free board and lodging to overseas visitors for the duration of the regatta.

We are certain that all visitors will enjoy their time here – even if they do not win the series.

Take the time to look at the following videos and show them to your family – but only if you realise that you may be opening a Pandora’s Box!
Gold Coast Australia = travel guide and must see attractions
Gold Coast – city video guide
Gold Coast Tourism Movie

If you have not already done so please register for the 2017 RC Laser Championship of Nations now.
Register Here

By Peter O’Grady, RC Laser Championship of Nations 2017 Organising Committee

RC Laser Sailing Central Coast style

 

 

 

Sunday afternoon RC Laser sailing on the Central Coast couldn’t have been better – the weather was great (apart from the wind); the venue was great and so was the company.  There was a fleet of 13 boats – great to have so many RC Lasers on the water! There was a lot of interest generated among the Central Coast sailors to try and get themselves more organised as a RC Laser fleet.

The forecast was for a north easterly breeze 20 to 30 kph from the middle of the day… it might have been that way on the beach, but it didn’t come through on the still water.

The course was 4 sided; if we were lucky, the start was into the wind, but swung around to a bit of a reach, then swung around to a following breeze on the approach to the first mark. There were some big rafts around that one! As you emerged, the wind appeared to be coming from the south east, so it was an initial work, but as you got used to that, you had to turn down to the second mark, then start a work up to the third mark. If you were lucky, the breeze held, and you could maintain your course; but most of the time it swung away further to the south to take you away from the mark. But everything was saved for the last leg – you just had to keep your boat moving – in any direction – then try to come back to the finishing line, and start over again. I think everyone was hoping for more solid wind to come in but it didn’t happen.

We sailed on the A sail all day – there was one B sail up, but I think it struggled more with the conditions than most of us.

To Graeme, Richard, Derek, Brian, Roman, Ivan, Mark and Tony Hill; I hope the day has encouraged you to get into more frequent RC Laser sailing together. You are all welcome anytime at Dobroyd. To the Dobroyd sailors, thanks for coming along for the day. Thanks to Kevin and Brian for hosting the day – well done; and thanks to Brian Lindsay for his enthusiasm for extending the class on the Central Coast.

Noel McPherson
RCL#65

2017 RC Laser Championship of Nations to be held on the Gold Coast

The 2017 RC Laser Championship of Nations has been awarded to Australia. At the recent Australian National Titles held in Sydney, it was decided that the Paradise Radio Yacht Club on the Gold Coast would host this important event.

The Gold Coast is Australia’s favorite holiday destination due to the climate, the beaches and the many tourist attractions. The 2017 RC Laser Championship of Nations is the only excuse you need for you and your family to travel to Australia for a holiday. Apart from the sailing, which promises to be a huge event with not one but two regattas, there are 5 theme parks including native flora and fauna, whale watching, dozens [hundreds?] of eating establishments, shopping centres and of course the weather and beautiful beaches.

Gold Coast Climate

The Championship will be held in mid November 2017 when the average temperature varies from an overnight 19 degrees C to about 27 during the day. The mean wind speed in the morning is 10 knots and in the afternoon increases to 13 knots. It is stunning weather at this time of year, and a welcome break from the cold for our Northern Hemisphere friends.

Things to do on the Gold Coast

Because it is such a popular area there are many websites promoting the whole experience of the Gold Coast. Here are a few of many that will provide you with information and a desire to come to the Gold Coast to compete in the Championships  and holiday with your family.   http://www.australia.com/en/places/gold-coast.html and http://www.visitgoldcoast.com/

Event Planning

As well as the Championship of Nations we are planning to have the 2017 Australian RC Laser Nationals as a warm up series. Depending on numbers, this will be open to all-comers and will be used to select the Australian team for the Championship of Nations if numbers need to be restricted. If there are more than 50 total entries for the big event we plan to have a parallel series, this way everyone will have a full week of racing.

To help with our planning we are asking all fleets to canvass their members to get expressions of interest. This will help us to decide if there needs to be a quota system and, if so, how it should operate so that it is fair for everyone.

We understand that sometimes it is difficult to know what you will be doing in two year’s time but we would appreciate hearing how much interest there is in coming to Australia for a wonderful holiday, good friendships and, of course, some excellent sailing. We would initially like to hear from you as to whether you think that you or any of your members will make the trip to Australia in 2017. We hope to have preliminary estimate of numbers by March 2016.

If you have any comments or questions you can send them to cofn2017@gmail.com

We have a great video to add to the growing collection of radio yachting videos available online. This one was taken using a drone during the recent 2015 RC Laser National Championships.  It features the start of the last race of a magnificent day on Sydney Harbour.

With more than 35 boats on the water,  the footage shows the magic of radio yachting.