ILCA NSW & ACT

The next Laser Masters extravaganza is the State Masters which this season will be at Great Lakes Sailing Club located in the Booti Booti National Park at 4859 The Lakes Way Forster. The Google map location is HERE.

This is always a popular venue with great open water on Wallis Lake and no Manly Ferries or sundry stink boats to distract us from the sailing.

There is camping at the Club and ample accommodation nearby and at Forster/Tuncurry. (Booking.com Trivago AirB&B Wotif).

The event will be run to the usual six race, two day format on the weekend of 18-19th February. The Notice of Race is HERE . The Sailing Instructions are HERE.

You can enter online HERE or up until 11.30am on Saturday 18th February at the Club.

You can see who has entered to date HERE.

The State Masters will be precede by the usual Masters Golf Tournament on Friday 17th February.

At Wallis Lake we have played the Tuncurry course in the past but due to popular demand this year’s event will be  played at the Forster course in Strand Street.  First tee time 1:00pm, cost $33 and cheaper if we get more players.  $40 for a cart,  and you can book one at 02 6554 6167.

Please SMS Rob Lowndes at 0419 266 257 if you will be playing.

Remember, it is an Ambrose event so no worries if you are not a golfer of any repute!  Just come for the fun and get there by noon for a bite to eat before playing.

Masters sailors don’t miss it!

Applications for entry for two 2017 ILCA Laser World Championships will open Wednesday, 15 February:

• 2017 ILCA Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships
• 2017 ILCA Laser Under-21 World Championships

Information about the ILCA Laser World Championships can be found through the ILCA Events Page HERE.

If you don’t apply by the 28 March 2017 application deadline you may have little chance to receive an entry offer for these events.

World Sailing WS is the recently renamed world peak sailing administration body previously called ISAF. They do lots of really good stuff for sailing apart from producing the Racing Rules and updating them every four years. They have however recently come up with a proposal which we think would be very bad for Laser sailing.

WS have a proposal to get rid of Rule 42 for all WS Championships and the Olympics. Now most Olympic classes already allow pumping, ooching, skulling and repeated tacks and jibes to propel a boat which Rule 42 prevents. Lasers do not and we believe it should stay this way. It is our view that this proposed change as it inevitably trickles down from international to national, state, interclub and ultimately club events will be quite negative for Laser sailing generally. If you want to see what sailing without Rule 42 looks like have a look at the short video clip from the Rio Olympics HERE.

The main motivation for this change by World Sailing WS is said to be to “increase athleticism and competitiveness on downwind legs”. Others suggest that their focus is on making the sport more exciting for spectators and hence more marketable.

The Australian Laser Class Association and the International Laser Class Asociation are lobbying to have this proposition thrown out. It was recently very narrowly not adopted by the WS Council but it will most likely be submitted again for voting in November 2017.

If you are interested you can see our letter on the subject to Australian Sailing and their reply HERE.

Applications are now open (until 1st March) for this year’s 2017 NSW Youth Sailing Team.

The YST provides squad based coaching support for selected sailors from designated junior and youth classes which include Laser 4.7 and Radial.

Coaching will be conducted by State Performance Coaches targeting the development of skills required to perform at national level and be in consideration for a State Sailing Performance Program SSPP (NSWIS) Scholarship in the future.

The minimum contact days for Laser sailors in the program is 50.

More information about the program is HERE and applications can be made HERE.

Congratulations to Tom Burton following his award of an Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on Australia Day.

Tom was joined by 21 other Olympic Athletes recognised in the Australia Day awards.

Australian Sailing and the Australian Institute of Sport are seeking information from sailors on success factors in the sport.

They are seeking responses from sailors born from 1965 onwards and are offering a draw for Zhik vouchers as an incentive.

They say the survey should take 30 to 45 minutes to complete.

You can see more information about the survey HERE.

You can access the survey HERE.

The new Racing Rules of Sailing 2017-2020 has come into force from 1st January.

You can see and download a copy from the World Sailing web site here.

There are changes to sailing administration however there don’t appear to be any big changes to the rules.

Rule 18.3 has been reworded to clarify the situation when a boat tacks onto starboard in the zone at a windward mark being rounded to port. The words are new but the concept is unchanged in that the boat already on starboard coming into the mark does not have to sail above close hauled to avoid collision with the late in tacker. This is an often observed situation in our big fleets at the first windward mark so good to have a refresh read of the rule.

New Rule 18.3

Jack Littlechild on his was to an emphatic win in the 4.7′s
Photo Epson Ad Studios

Well done to everyone of the 210 competitors in the 2017 Laser Australian Championship held at Adelaide Sailing Club over Christmas – New Year.

The winds were uncharacteristically light in the first three days but improved after the New Year’s Day break.

The Standards and 4.7 saw emphatic wins by Matthew Wearn RPYC/FSC and Jack Littlechild WSC/BSC/RSYS respectively. Both sailors had their events wrapped up before the last day. This was far from the case in the Radials where the top five positions were all up for grabs in the final race. With highly variable conditions on the final day only one race was completed so the tension on the course was at high levels. You can see how the race unfolded by looking at the Tractrac tracker here.

The ultimate Radial winner was Rhett Gowans Mornington YC while the Women’s winner was Rio Olympic Representative Ashley Stoddart RQYS who was 5th overall.

55 of 210 competitors were Masters sailors including two current World Masters Champions. Add did well in the testing conditions.

Congratulations to Adelaide Sailing Club and their great team of volunteers as well as PRO Ross Wilson and his team for the professional way in which the series was run.

The event web site is here and full results are here.

The 2018 Laser Nationals will be at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Brisbane over Christmas New Year and the separate National Masters will be at Mooloolaba Qld in February 2018.

Congratulations to Finn Alexander DBSC for his win the ISAF World Youth Sailing World Championship just concluded in Auckland.

After a DSQ in the first race Finn strung together a string of four bullets in heats 4 to 7 leaving the classy fleet of 57 a tough chase.

Zoe Thompson from Perth was 7th in the Girls Radial.

You can see the YouTube video clip HERE.

The web site for the series is HERE.

The results of the event are accessed HERE

The International Laser Class Association (ILCA) and the Laser Builders have agreed to release the new composite Laser top section.

The release of the new top section was delayed until after the 2016 Olympic Games.

The new composite masts will be legal for use in all ILCA events as soon as they are introduced which is expected to be in early 2017.

The formal ILCA press release on the subject is HERE.

You can pre-order the new mast section for delivery in February from NB Sailsports or PSA.

The 2017 Australian Laser Championships for Open, Youth and Masters will  be held in Adelaide from 27 December 2016 – 4 January 2017.  The Notice of Race, link to on-line entry, regatta information and news are available on the Adelaide Laser Nationals website http://adelaidelasernationals2017.com/.

Standard entry closes at 1700 AEST on 1st December 2016. After that an additional $100 late entry fee will be charged.

The organisers are looking at some great innovations this year, with daily video reports and plans to have some of the fleet tracked with GPS live on the event website.

The championships will be held at Adelaide Sailing Club  which offers state-of-the-art facilities including a large grass rigging area and beach access with breakwater protection.  The race course is only a 10-minute sail from the launching area, allowing for great spectating from the balcony at the clubhouse.

The Australian Youth Championships run by Australian Sailing will also be held at Adelaide Sailing Club. They will be from 10 -14th January 2017.

Entry, Race Documents and information for the Youth Championships are available HERE.

A late entry fee applies for the Youth Championship from 4th December.

Well done everyone who competed in the Laser Open States at Georges River over the weekend.

There were 100 competitors enjoying some really nice winds on uncrowded Botany Bay along with some pre and post race exercise moving Lasers across the sand at GRSC.

R.O. Col Chidgey and his team did a great job and the scheduled six races were completed.

The Standard rig winner quite convincingly was current World Masters Champion Brett Beyer. Brett won all but one race. Second was Fillah Karim from Royal Vancouver YC Canada just ahead of Woollahra SC sailor Nicholas Skulander.

Finn Alexander with the Radial State Championship Trophy

In the Radials Finn Alexander from “the best Laser sailing club in the world!” Double Bay won. Freed from the mental challenges of HSC exams Finn showed the classy Radial fleet a clean pair of heels in every race. Finn will be representing Australia in the ISAF Youth World Championship in Auckland next month – we wish him well. Second in the Radials and the first woman was Hungarian sailor Maria Erdi followed by Sam King. Both Maria and Sam are coached from Laura Caldecoat’s H2O Academy.

The 4.7′s sailed very well especially in the 18 knot conditions on Saturday. Nathan Bryant from Royal Prince Alfred YC won in a tight contest from Will Cooley WSC/DBSC and Jack Littlechild WSC/DBSC/RSYS. The first woman in the 4.7 was Paige Caldecoat from Belmont 16′s SC.

Thanks to Georges River Sailing Club Commodore Andrew McLachlan and his team for running a great regatta.

The full results are HERE.

The State Championship will be held on 26th and 27th November at Georges River Sailing Club.

This will be a great event leading up to Sail Sydney 15-18 December and the Nationals in Adelaide over Christmas New Year.

Georges River SC is a great venue and with sailing out on the waters of Botany Bay we will enjoy the best of Sydney’s summer breezes (promise).

The event Notice of Race is HERE. The Sailing Instructions are HERE.

You can enter online HERE. Entries will also be taken up to 11.30am on Saturday 26th November at the GRSC but you can save yourself something else to worry about on the day by entering online. You can see who has entered to date HERE.

The Annual General Meeting of the NSW & ACT Laser Association will be held at the States at 9.00am on Sunday 27th November. Come along and have your say about how we manage and support Laser sailors and sailing. The Agenda for the AGM is HERE.

In order to reduce congestion around Georges River Sailing Club during the Laser States, all RIB’s and support boats are requested to launch at Sylvania Waters Public Boat Ramp  or Kyeemagh Boat Ramp.

Only boats owned by Georges River Sailing Club will be launched at the club under strict supervision during the regatta. For safety reasons there will be no exceptions.

A trot line will be available at the club however NSW/ACT Laser Association and Georges River Sailing Club take no responsibility for the safety or security of your vessel should you choose to utilise the trot line. Please consider other boats tied up next to you by leaving your motor down and give others a lift to and from the shore if required.

St George Motor Boat Club  has limited secure storage available on their marina. Enquiries to marina@stgeorgembc.com.au

Sail Sydney will be held from 15th to 17th December at Woollahra Sailing Club.

10 races are scheduled over the three days for Laser Standard, Radial and 4.7.

The Notice of Race for the event is HERE.

You can Register and pay for entry online HERE.

The web site for Sail Sydney is HERE.