The WA State Championship 2013 hosted by WAnderers will be held on Sunday 10 November at the Douglas Avenue lake on the South Perth foreshore and the NOR and Sailing Instructions have been posted on the ARYA site (see url below). All local and interstate RC Laser visitors will be most welcome to participate.
http://www.radiosailing.org.au/2013arya/index.php/notice-of-race/wa/291-wa-iom-perth-classic-4
The decision to hold the 2013 RC Laser Championships at the Adelaide Radio Control Yacht Racing Club on ”the Pat” proved to be a very popular choice as all States of Australia were represented in the 24 boat fleet entered for the event. With no RC Laser club established in South Australia, Jurgen Luther worked very hard to get the event organised and publicised and was rewarded with six South Australian entries which could form the core of a future SA fleet of RC Lasers.
The regatta was sailed on 5 / 6 October in mostly light/medium conditions using A and B sails and the Pat provided a challenge for skippers with variable wind strengths and directions. Our PRO, ‘Johno’ Johnson and his dinghy team of ‘Gully’ Cameron and Steve Lucas, were kept busy moving the course marks around as the breeze direction varied.
With 24 boats there was an A and B fleet for each race and boats were moved between heats based on their results in the previous heat.
From the start competition was tough with a number of different boats scoring heat wins on the first day – the result was going to come down to consistency over the two days sailing. The fleet contained all National and almost all State championship winners since the first Nationals in NSW in 2009. The result sheet below give an indication of the closeness of the racing and the Recorders Trevor Johns and Ian Whitrod were kept very busy sorting out close finishes !
Early leaders were Graham Brown (NSW) and Jurgen (SA) but as the first day came to a close Scott Mitchell (SA), Scott Fleming (Vic), and George Fish (TAS) started showing good form and tactics as they settled down to the conditions and scored top points. Scott (SA) showed a lot of skill sailing a loaned demo RC Laser into top place at the end of the day.
Pam, Janet and Jenny served the hungry competitors a lovely lunch and, with Greg Peake in charge of the BBQ, a very substantial evening meal on the Saturday evening when events of the day were relived with a lot of good humour.
Sunday morning saw light patchy winds on the Pat and all skippers were looking to stay out of holes on the course. In the early races the two Scotts slowly drew away in the lead with most of the leaders spending some time in the B fleet – Jurgen’s consistent good results in the A fleet slowly moving him up in the standings from the day before. With a late change to stronger winds B sails come out and the regatta was finished in medium southerly winds.
As expected, when Graham Ingerson the Scorer tallied up the points, the results of the championship were very close with single points separating many of the final places and success for the most consistent skippers. The presentation of prizes saw Scott Mitchell as the new National RC Laser Champion followed by Scott Fleming from Victoria and George Fish from Tasmania in third place.
All skippers received mementos of their participation in the championship and they all showed their appreciation of the excellent management of the championship by the ARCYRC and the facilities provided. Awards were made to the leading unplaced skippers from each State and a special award to Jayne Fleming as the leading lady skipper.
Special mention was made of the substantial teams that travelled from NSW and Victoria to Adelaide and in particular, from the Paradise Lakes club in Queensland. Rod Popham and Cliff Bromiley agreed that the 2014 RC Laser Australian Championships would be sailed at the Paradise Lakes Radio Yacht Club in Queensland and another strong fleet is expected to participate next year.
Rod Popham – RC Laser Co-ordinator
AUS 42
Report from 2013 Tasmanian RC Laser Championships
By George Fish
A fleet of six RC Laser sailors faced the starter on Sunday 22nd Sept for the 2013 Tasmanian State Championships on a day that saw light winds and early morning drizzle.
By lunch the weather was fine but the A rigs prevailed all day. The last race, however, saw an increase in wind strength just after the start, catching the fleet with too much sail up and causing half the fleet to retire.
George Fish, last year’s state champion, won the event and was closely followed by Geoff Martin in second and Chris Madizra gaining third place. Biggest improver over 12 months was Andy Hamilton who came in fourth.
The PRO, Paul Laverty, kept the races ticking over and in the end achieved fourteen completed.
Competitors seemed to enjoy the event with some penalties applied to most skippers throughout.
Have you seen the article in AFLOAT promoting the 2013 RC Laser Nationals?
Check out the link below.
It is going to be one of our best ever events with sailors coming from all over the country and our first major event in Adelaide. A great step forward for the class in Australia. It is not too late to register and spectators will be very welcome
http://www.afloat.com.au/press-releases/adelaide-to-host-2013-rc-laser-national-championships
Adelaide to Welcome Record Number of RC Laser Sailors for National Champs
With just under 3 weeks to go until the 2013 RC Laser National Championships kick off at “the Pat” in Adelaide, there is a record number of sailors registered to compete.
It’s also the first time that RC Laser sailing clubs from every state are being represented.
If you haven’t yet registered, there is still time to do so. The Notice of Race can be found at http://www.radiosailing.org.
If you are travelling interstate and haven’t yet booked flights, now is also the time to do that. There are still some good deals on Jetstar. And of course partners, families, spectators are welcome. There is good viewing on the Lake Shore and social events organised.
