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