ILCA NSW & ACT

Congratulations to the Australian Laser sailors who participated in the Open Men’s and Masters Worlds at Kingston Ontario Canada.

Tom Burton was third in a challenging open series which saw all six Australians in the 158 fleet qualify for the top 53 gold fleet.   Full results are here.

In the Masters 28 Australians competed in the fleets totalling some 260. Brett Beyer (SM), Mark Bethwaite (SGGM) and Rob Lowndes (RGGM) were winners in their divisions while Zac Skulander (RM) and Jeff Loosemore (RGM) were additional cube winners. Full results are below;

Standard Masters

Radial Masters

Photos from the events are here

Good luck and and good sailing to the Australians who will compete in the Youth Worlds at the same Kingston venue between 15-20th August. You can follow their results from the regatta web site here.

Australian Masters at Kingston

Tom Burton at Laser Worlds Photo by Sailingshot

H₂O Sports Academy have a number of training and coaching session planned. Of particular interest are the following.

H₂O Laser 4.7 Race Team – Applications open to any keen U19 Laser 4.7 sailor. Team coach is Laura Baldwin, Olympian and Coach. The program kicks off at the NSW Youth Sailing Championship 3-5 Oct at George’s River and continues through to the completion of the Australian Youth Championships. Team members will get uniform including t-shirts, caps, bibs and boat stickers. More info link

H₂O Laser Class Training – with World # 1 Tom Burton, Ryan Palk who recently finished 11th at the Laser World Championships and Laura Baldwin, Olympian and Coach. A series of training days have been set with a newly developed H2O Laser Training Program almost ready to launch. This program is mapped out in a logbook, with the coaches signing off skills you demonstrate correctly in the training session, leaving the areas to work on next clearly listed. More info link

H₂O Kids Race Training Camps – September 21-23 and 28-30, H2O are offering two 3-days, 2-nights fully catered residential race training camps with world-class coaches, Karyn Gojnich, Ryan Palk, Laura Baldwin and Haylee Outteridge for Lasers, Optimists, Sabots and 29ers sailors 8-17 years. More info link

Masters Sailors Tom Burton Coaching at the NSW States - World number  one ranked Tom Burton will be coaching a team of 6 sailors at the NSW Laser States at Wangi Wangi 14-15th November. $350 includes a weekend of coaching, t-shirt, boat and sail stickers and use of a race bib. Email  info@h2o-sports-academy.com to book a place.

The Belmont leg of the NB Sailsports Sprint Series saw a continuation of the light conditions experienced at Georges River and Avalon. Three races were completed in light westerly winds with 35 boats competing.

Thanks to Belmont 16′s for running this event. The winds were not kind but the management on the water and the facilities were first rate. The rain stayed away and despite the lack of wind it was a pleasant day on the water.

Lorenzo Cerretelli won the Standards convincingly with two first and a second place from Ric Longbottom on a countback from Ian Alexander. Lorenzo continues to lead the series overall.

The Alexanders also had a win in the Radials with series leader Finn the winner from Jordan Makin and Chris Meech. Finn’s two wins and a second on the day keep him firmly at the top of the overall series leader board.

Jack Littlechild also had a 1,1,2 result in the 4.7′s  winning from Mark Lewis and Jack Moran. Tom Farley leads the series overall.

The full results for the day are here and the series results overall to date are here.

The next leg of the event will be on Sunday 2nd August at Gosford Sailing Club with the first start at 1.00pm.

The next round of the NB Sailsports Sprint Series will be Sunday 21st June at Belmont 16′s Sailing Club.

There are three races scheduled the first of which is 11.00am.

Belmont is the venue for the Open National Laser Championship next season so this is a good chance to get some miles on the race track. The club has great facilities for sailing and for socialising on a winter Sunday.

You can enter online on the NB Sailsports web site here or using cash at the venue on Sunday. Entry fee is $20.

You still have lots of chances to get tickets for the draw for fabulous prizes from NB including a new Laser upgrade. The more races you compete in as well as how well you do will determine how many tickets you get for the prize draw which will occur at the final NB event at Double Bay Sailing Club on 29th August.

Results for the series to date are here.

The final leg of the NB Sailsports Sprint Series at Double Bay has been moved forward one week to 29th August.

At this event the draw for the prizes, including the new Laser upgrade, will be made. If you participate in any of the races in the series you will qualify for the draw but the more and better you sail the better your chances of winning.

The revised Notice of Race for the series is here.

It is a whole winter and a bit away but the Coast Championship this year will be held on 17-18th October at Port Kembla Sailing Club.

This should be a great event and a while since we have had a Laser event on Lake Illawarra.

The club has unpowered camp sites and will allow sailors with swags to bunk down in the club. The club will be open from mid day on Friday 16th October. There is also motel style accommodation availble in the area.

The club has a fully licensed canteen and a cafe and it will be serving dinner on Saturday night at very reasonable cost.

More information on the venue and arrangements for the event are here.

The Notice of Race is here and you can enter online here.

To assist with indicative planning and catering the club have asked that on entry you indicate if you would like to avail of the camping, swag space or dinner on Saturday. There are check boxes on the entry for this purpose.

Radial winner and series leader Finn Alexander on a better wind day

66 boats turned out for the NB Sailsports Sprint Series run by Avalon Sailing Club off Sand Point at Palm Beach on Sunday.

Thanks to Commodore Jan Scholten and the team at Avalon Sailing Club the event ran smoothly, if slowly and the après sail sausage sizzle was much appreciated.

The weather was cold and damp and the wind took a holiday so only two of the scheduled three races were completed for the Standards and Radials. The 4.7′s completed only one race when the race time ran out in in their second as the shifty four knot breeze retired early.

It was great to see the large contingent of 4.7′s towed up from RPAYC on the day. They probably enjoyed the tow more than the sailing – such is life.

Winner on the day in the 26 boat Standard’s fleet was Chris Dawson. Chris won by one point from fellow RPAYC sailor William Dargaville. Malcolm Parker was another point away in third.

In the Radials Finn Alexander from DBSC posted a first and a second in the tricky conditions to win in the 21 boat radial fleet. Second was Jordan Makin from GSC closely followed by Noah Taylor from CYC.

Nathan Bryant from RPAYC won the only completed 4.7 race from Jack Littlechild and Charley Wells. 19 4.7′s competed.

Results for the day are here.

The results for the series to date i.e. after four races are here.

Avalon are raffling a new Laser sail. Tickets are $5. The funds raised from the raffle will be put towards the club’s deck construction which is currently underway. The draw for the sail will be made at the Gosford leg of the NB Sailsports on 2nd August so you still have a chance to win. If you would like to donate to help Avalon then there is a form here.

The next round of the series will be at the National’s venue Belmont 16′s Sailing Club on 21st June. A good chance to experience an interclub Laser event on the National’s race track.

The next round of the NB Sailsports Winter Sprint Series is on Sunday 31st May hosted from Avalon Sailing Club. The rigging and sign on and off location will be at Sand Point Palm Beach on Sand Point Lane off Iluka Road and Woorak Roads. You can see the location by clicking the link here.

The sailing course will be off Sand Point and will be windward leeward with three races. The first race warning will be at 11.00am.

The Sailing Instructions, the Notice of Race, and the results to date are on this web site.

As usual you can enter online, paying by credit card, on NB Sailsports web site here or by beach entry in cash at Sand Point. Entry fee is $20.

After racing results, a sausage sizzle and a drink will be available at Avalon Sailing Club. There will be a raffle for a new Laser sail drawn on the day at ASC.

Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club Laser fleet races on Newcastle harbour on Friday nights during summer.

The fleet has grown from three boats five years ago to more than 20 each race. With the races being at the end of the week, there’s a casual but competitive atmosphere with everyone heading over to NCYC bar afterwards for a beer or “Laser burger”.

The club has built a launch pontoon off the end of one of its piers to give easy access into the harbour. The fleet has experienced phenomenal growth over the past three seasons due to the relaxed atmosphere, location and timing of the races.

During daylight saving the NCYC races are from 5.30pm and are usually finished by 7.30pm, or sunset, at the latest. The series starts on the first Friday after daylight savings begins i.e. 9th October this year.

Entries are now open for both the Australian Open Laser Championship at Belmont 16′s 27 December 2015 to 4 January 2016 and the Australian Laser Masters Championship  12th to 15th February 2016 at Port Stephens Sailing & Aquatic Club.

You can get the Notices of Race and information as well as place entries on the dedicated event web sites:

2016 Australian Open Laser Championship

2016 Australian Laser Masters Championship

Laser Masters don’t forget the South Pacific Masters Championship is on earlier this year from 15 -18th May 2015 at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.

This is always a great event.

The Notice of Race is here and you can enter online here.

MHASC’s change room with a sea view

Due to unfortunate storm damage at Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club the second round of the NB Sailsports Sprint Series on 31st May 2015 has been moved from MHASC to Avalon Sailing Club. The first start not before 11.00am. The revised Notice of Race is here.

The sailing will take place in the area off Sand Point. Launching is recommended at Sand Point, where plenty of trailer and car parking is available just adjacent to Iluka Road. For those that are familiar with it – this is the beach where the Hobies usually race.

Following racing a sausage sizzle and bar will operate at Avalon Sailing club and we would like to encourage sailors to come along and share in the après sail fun. To this end NB Sailsports will be running a raffle for a sail – with the proceeds going to the refurbishment of the club.

Jan Scholten is the commodore at Avalon S.C. He can provide additional information and can be contacted on 0418 245 902.

MHASC are working to repair the damage to the club. The club sustained damage to flooring, launching ramp, piles and now has a change room with a sea view. There is information on the storm damage and the club activities on their web site here.

The first round of the NB Sailsports Sprint Series was held at Georges River Sailing Club on Anzac Day. There were 43 entries with Standard Rig the strongest having 23 competitors.

Two races of the three scheduled were completed before everyone headed for shore to avoid the ominous looking storm which later caused havoc in Sydney further north.

With no breeze and a fair tide at 1.00 pm the start was delayed. A little later a nice 8 knot sea breeze gave pleasant sailing conditions on the two lap windward/leeward course set by R.O. Andrew McLauchlin.

The tide, which changed as the races progressed, proved to be important and those watching and following the locals heading towards the Towra shore did best in the run in tide in race 1.

Winners on the day were Malcolm Parker from David Early in the Standards, Finn Alexander just nudged out Jordan Makin in the Radials while Joshua Bull won the 4.7′s by a point from Charley Wells.

The full results are here.

Time to start planning for next season. This will be a big one for us as we are hosting the Australian Open Laser Championship at Belmont over Christmas/New Year and the National Laser Masters Championship at Port Stephens 12-15th February 2016.

We have set our regatta program for next season as follows:

• Coasts 17/18 Oct 2015 Port Kembla Sailing Club
• Combined State Open and Masters 14/15 November 2015 Wangi WRSLASC
• Nationals Belmont 16’s 27 Dec 2015 to 4 Jan 2016 Belmont 16’s SC
• National Masters 12-15 Feb 2016 Port Stephens PSSAC
• Metros 5/6 March 2016 Bayview BYRA

Because we have the Open Nationals and National Masters and a big Sail Sydney you will notice that we have combined the Open and Masters States just for next season.

Notices of Race, Sailing Instructions and online entry for all these events will be available on this web site.

We will be encouraging participation but also looking out for some assistance on the water and on the land with the running of the two big National Championship events. In particular because we expect these events to draw large fleets we are looking for additional RIB’s or similar craft, preferably with a driver to augment the fleet we have. If you are, or know someone who is, willing to assist and enjoy aspects of these prime events from close quarters while helping to make them memorable then please contact Kevin Phillips at chairman@laser.asn.au

If any clubs are interested to host any of our NSW/ACT events in season 2016/17 (a long way off I know) then please contact chairman@laser.asn.au. We pay $2,000 to offset host club’s costs and have race management logistics, race officer and some equipment to help clubs with events.

The NB Sailsports Winter Series is on again this year. The venues and dates for the series are:

• 25th April: Georges River Sailing Club
• 31st May: Avalon Sailing Club
• 21st June: Belmont 16ft Skiff Sailing Club
• 2nd August: Gosford Sailing Club
• 5th September: Double Bay Sailing Club

There will be three races at each venue. $20 entry online  here  or in cash at the venue.

The Notice of Race is here. Sailing Instructions will be available at the venue.

NB are again offering the major prize of a new Laser trade-up. Anyone who enters any of the six three race events can win this and other great prizes simply by participating. The more races you complete the better your chance to win a prize. There are of course prizes for the series winners in 4.7’s Radials and Standard rigs.

Rob McMillan at NB is further offering a $750 NB parts voucher to anyone who enters three of the series events and purchases a new Laser from NB before round one of the series. Rob’s offer and event flyer are here.

And if to much sailing is never enough RPAYC is running an ice breaker series starting on Sunday 17th May then every 3rd Sunday through to 16th August. The notice of race is here.