ILCA NSW & ACT

Rise to the challenge from our fellow Laser sailors across the ditch.

You guys might not be able to play rugby but World Masters Games sailing at Torbay, Auckland from 22nd to 28th April next year offers you the opportunity to cross the ditch, take on the kiwis yourself and while you are at it see a bit of NZ and be part of what will be the biggest world sporting event of 2017.

Charter boats are available on a first come best dressed basis and can be booked directly from Performance Sailcraft Australia at http://www.lasersailing.com.au/master-world-games/

So whether your 35 or 75, organise a boat and join over 100 sailors already registered and enter now.

More info and details are HERE and registration is at  www.worldmastersgames2017.co.nz

Jack Littlechild Leads in the 4.7′s on Sunday – Photo by Troy Cortis

80 Lasers competed in the Coast Championship held at South Lakes ASC over the weekend.

On Saturday the AP was aired as there was no wind. The first race was attempted in a 10 knot NW breeze but it died-push out by a building southerly change. That race was abandoned and sequently three races were run in a building southerly.

On Sunday lack of wind was never going to be a problem as the southerly built through the day reaching gust maximums near 35 knots. This kept the sailors on their toes and did result in a few broken masts. In particulat the 21 strong 4.7 fleet handled the conditions really well. Two races were run in the tough conditions.

The 4.7′s were narrowly won by Jack Littlechild who sails at Woollahra SC, Double Bay SC and RSYS. Second just one point behind Jack was Nathan Bryant from RPAYC followed by Boston Cortis. The first woman was Paige Caldecoat.

The radials were dominated by Finn Alexander from Double Bay SC. Finn took time off from HSC exams prep and won all the races he sailed with the bung screwed in his boat and came third in the one race which he sailed bungless. Hungarian Olympic representative Maria Erdi who finished 14th in Rio was second behind Finn followed closely by Masters sailor Shaun Feeney from MHASC.

Chris Caldecoat Laser builder PSA’s CEO took out the Standard rigs winning both of the heavy weather races. Fellow Masters sailor Stuart Holdsworthy from RPAYC was second and Newcastle CYC’s Jamie Woods a close third.

Thanks to South Lakes ASC, their great on water and club based volunteers and our RO Col Chidgey for the faultless effort running this event. South Lakes is a favourite venue for the Lasers and hopefully we will be back soon.

The final results are here.

The NSW/ACT Laser Coast Championship will be held at Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club at Sunshine next weekend 22nd and 23rd October.

This is always a great event to kick off the season’s interclub program.  SLMASC is a fantastic club and venue. The location on Sunshine Parade at Sunshine is HERE on Google maps.

There are six races scheduled, three on each day. Racing starts at 1.30pm on Saturday and at 11.00am on Sunday.

You can enter online HERE paying entry with Visa or Mastercard. Beach entries can be made at the venue on Saturday up to 11.30am using cash, Visa or Mastercard. Tou can see who has entered to date HERE.

Entry is $60 or $30 if you are under 21 years old. The Notice of Race is HERE and the Sailing Instructions are HERE.

International Laser Class Association (ILCA) has advised that the World Laser Men’s Open and World Masters Championships to be run in Spit Croatia from club Mornar have been rescheduled by one week as follows:

2017 Laser Standard Men’s World Championship
New Dates: 12–19 September 2017

2017 Laser Masters World Championships
New Dates: 21–30 September 2017

The change is to accommodate the shipping schedule for charter boats for the event.

You can see information on ILCA World Championship events HERE.

The list of Laser events for season 2016/17 is on this web site HERE and a printable version is HERE.

The final leg of the NB Sailsports Winter Sprint Series was held at Double Bay SC on Saturday 27th August.

The wind gods were finally kind with an 8 knot NE breeze springing up an hour after the scheduled start time enabling the running of the three scheduled races.

52 boats competed.

Results for the three races at Double Bay are HERE and for the five races of the series HERE. Due to the tight finishing there may be a few boats missed. If you are one of these please let us know by sending a message from HERE.

Josh Kirton was the lucky winner of the NB Sailsports new Laser trade. Josh has Laser 207197 so not such a big upgrade for him as for some previous winners of the great NB prize  but no doubt appreciated none the less.

The final NB Sailsports Winter Sprint Series will be held at Double Bay Sailing Club on Saturday 27th August.

The Sailing Instructions for the event are HERE. The first of the scheduled three races warning will be at 1.00pm. A briefing will be held at DBSC at 12.00pm.

Entries can be placed with NB Sailsports HERE or in cash at the club on race day. Entry is $20.

The draw for the fabulous NB Sailsports prizes, including a new Laser trade, and the presentation will be as soon as possible after racing at around 4.30pm. There will be a BBQ at the same time.

Sailors rigging at Double Bay can park their cars at the Double Bay School across Steyne Park from the DBSC. The cost is $10.

Competitors who are sailing over from other clubs should enter online on the NB Sailsports site HERE and should sign on and off via SMS to mobile 0409 391 304. Please include sail number and name in the SMS message.

Other information about the event and DBSC logistics are HERE.

Well done all the AST in Rio. In particular Tom Burton for his nerves of steel win in the Lasers which you can see in summary on Youtube HERE. Tom overcame a 10 point lead held by Croatian Tonci Stipanovic going into the double points medal race to win by 2 points. Sam Meech from New Zealand won the bronze medal.

You can see the post Olympics interview for Laser World HERE.

In the Radials Ashley Stoddart made it into the medal race and finished 3rd in that race and 9th overall. The Women’s gold medal was won by Dutch sailor Marit Bowmeester from Ireland’s Annalise Murphy and Anne-Marie Rindom from Denmark.

You can see the full results of all the Olympic Sailing HERE.

The sailing in Rio starts at 2.00am tomorrow AEST.

We wish our Laser sailors Tom Burton and Ashley Stoddart and all the Australian sailors good luck for the event. Australian Sailing’s site with information on the Australian Sailing Team is HERE.

The schedule for the sailing events and the course locations are HERE.

You can follow the sailing results for all the classes on the World Sailing site HERE or on the Olympic site HERE

You can see the action with Channel 7′s free and premium coverage on the net HERE , free to air on Channel 7 or via 7′s Android or iOS apps.

World Sailing has a sailing tracker site with links to 2D and 3D tracking HERE. There is a 3D tracker app for tablets at iOS Android.

Rio is 13 hours behind Australian Eastern Standard Time. You can check the time in Rio HERE.

In winter lately it seems it is either blowing the oysters off the rocks or flat calm. The 30 would be starters for the NBSS round three at Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron experienced the latter in spades on Sunday with most boats towed to the start and then towed home after racing was called off by RO Rob Lowndes.

A nice day of drifting around Kurraba and Cremorne Points and on water socialising replaced the normally very competitive racing.

The final three races of the series will be held at Double Bay Sailing Club on Saturday 27th August. The draw for the new Laser and the series prizes will occur after sailing on that day.

All the sailors who entered the RSYS and the Georges River NBSS events (both of which saw no races completed) will receive a ticket in the draw for each event. Thus, with only two races run at Middle Harbour, if you  sail at Double Bay you will still have a good chance to win a prize.

The next round of the NBSS Winter Sprint Series will be held from Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron on Sunday 7th August with the first of the scheduled 3 races starting at 11.00 am.

The Sailing Instructions for the event are HERE.

Entry is $20 and can be made online on the NB SailSports web site HERE or up to 10.00 am in cash at RSYS.

Only two of the scheduled races have been completed for the series to date so you still have a chance of gaining a good place. You never know you could be lucky and win a brand new Laser courtesy of NB SailSports. This is the main series prize determined by a draw with tickets based on performance and the number of races sailed in the series. The draw for the new Laser and other prizes will be at the final event at Double Bay Sailing Club on 27th August.

Please note that while you can enter the RSYS through the club’s carpark to drop off or unload boats and road trailers, unless you are a RSYS member you can’t park your car there. You have to exit the club and park locally in the surrounding area. If you plan to sail over to RSYS you can sign on and off at the start boat provided you have entered online HERE.

RSYS web site may have additional information HERE.

Vaucluse Yacht Club before the storm

Sadly Vaucluse Yacht Club, the host club for our Laser Metros next season, was hit hard by the east coast low in June and the damage will take some time to repair.

Double Bay have stepped in and will run the Metros on the same scheduled weekend (18-19 March 2017). They will include arrangements to allow sailors to stage from other clubs around the Harbour.

We hope that Vaucluse YC manages to repair the extensive damage to their building and that we can look to running Laser interclub events there in the future.

The World Masters Games will be held in Auckland 21-30 April 2017.

Sailing, one of the 28 sports being contested at the event, will be held from Torbay Sailing Club 22 Km north of Auckland.

Information and registration is on the WMG web site HERE. There is an information flyer HERE and the Notice of Race is HERE.

A limited number of new Laser charter boats will be available for $1,350 AUD plus refundable damage deposit. Charter information is HERE

Alternatively some Laser charters may be available direct from NZ Laser owners either;

1. Via The Water Shed (NZ Laser Distributor). Email The Water Shed directly on shop@nzwatershed.co.nz or via their website: http://www.nzwatershed.co.nz/contact-2/.

2. Directly with owners via the New Zealand Laser Class Association webpage: http://www.nzlaser.org/laser-charters-2017-world-masters-games

The NoR for the Nationals to be held at the Adelaide Sailing Club from 27th December 2016 to 4th January 2017 is now available HERE.

The event web site is HERE.

ASC is a great club and the waters of St Vincent’s Gulf will provide top notch Laser sailing. Start your planning now to experience this great event. Promo video is HERE.

36 Lasers came to sail in round two of the NB Sailsports Winter Sprint Series at Georges River.

Unfortunately the wind did not make an appearance so after 80 minutes of drifting around and socialising the racing was abandoned by RO Andrew McLachlan.

Race sponsor Rob McMillan is giving all the folks who came along and enjoyed a day of drifting in the winter sun a ticket for the draw to win a new Laser. The draw will be held at the end of the series regatta at Double Bay.

The next round of the series will be at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron on Sunday 7th August with the first race at 11.00am. Hopefully the wind will oblige for the earlier start.

  ILCA have just announced the 2017 Youth, Men’s and Women’s Radial World Championships to be held in Medemblik Netherlands in August 2017.

 Laser Radial Youth World Championships

11 August 2017 – 18 August 2017

   Laser Radial Women’s World Championship

   19 August 2017 – 26 August 2017

    Laser Radial Men’s World Championship

19 August 2017 – 26 August 2017 

Applications will accepted from 7 February 2017.