ILCA NSW & ACT

Photo Stuart Wilson January 2013

Inspired by the Americas Cup AC72′s in SanFrancisco left is a sneak photo taken recently at Mystery Island Vanuatu of trials of the latest Laser development.

Laser sailors are invited to the Big River Sailing Club Single Hander Regatta Oct 26/27 on the lower reaches of the Clarence River.
BRSC Commodore Hariet Woodrow advises that this is a one stop sailing and social fun destination which offers:

• Beautiful parklands for rigging
• Free camping
• Beach launching
• Club catering all weekend
• All the sailing action is right in front of the clubhouse

Cut loose for damn good time, leave the city lights and come sailing among the cane fields.

Visit www.bigriver.yachting.org.au or email Hariet at hariet@outlook.com or phone her on 0409 664 511

Balmoral Sailing Club has started a small Laser fleet for the 2013-14 sailing season.

Balmoral Sailing Club offers well established club premises, a well run racing program each Saturday,  spacious rigging area, safe and easy launching and retrieval from a sheltered sandy beach.  New members are welcome and boat storage is currently available.

Balmoral Class Captain and long time Balmoral sailor Graham Hanna has a brief to grow class numbers over coming years and welcomes new and established Laser sailors to come along and try out all that the club has to offer.

Graham’s contact details are:

2/15 Little Street
Lane Cove NSW 2066

Phone – 9420 4111
Mobile – 0411 290 451

Email – grahamhanna2727@gmail.com

Balmoral Sailing Club is located at the south eastern end of Balmoral Beach, The Esplanade, Mosman.  Club website is www.balmoralsc.com.au.

Close racing at Double Bay Sailing Club at the front of the Radial Fleet

Double Bay Sailing Club hosted the final leg of the NB SailSports Sprint Series on Sunday 8 September in conjunction with the club’s annual regatta.  69 sailors entered on Sunday.  The day’s results are here and the overall series results are here.  The DBSC regatta results and some photos can be viewed on the DBSC web-site.

Blake Selley continued his excellent form in the 4.7s winning the day and the overall series.  Alex South was first for the day in the radial fleet, with Shane Conly first overall.  In the standard fleet, Mark Bethwaite was first for the day, with Sean Atherton taking out the series.

Rob McMillan from NB SailSports who very generously sponsored the series presented the placegetters with their prizes and drew the overall  prizes.

Our so-called Sydney winter is nearly over …. and what better way to start your DBSC Spring Season than with a 2 day Regatta on 7-8 September? This is the biggest regatta that DBSC has hosted in many a year and the sailing committee is hopeful that Laser skippers will turn out on both days to ensure a large fleet and help contribute to a weekend of competitive and enjoyable racing DBSC style.

DBSC is using this event to test their ability to host larger association events on Sydney Harbour, so please come along and help test them.

There are 3 events embedded in the Regatta:

• The scheduled 6 races of the DBSC Regatta for Standard, Radial and 4.7 Classes,
• The final leg of the very successful NB Sprint Series on the Sunday ( with a new Laser up for the winning – all you have to do is enter and race to be in the running for the prize), and
• The first leg of the inaugural DBSC – Vaucluse Interclub Championship on the Saturday, competing for the Dean Bergman and the Graham Reed trophies.

Click for the regatta Notice of Race and DBSC Regatta Sailing Instructions

Click to Enter.  Please enter as soon as possible as this will assist DBSC plan and cater for everyone.

The NB SailSports series notice of race and details of prizes can be found on the laser association’s events page.

The third round of the NB Sailsports Sprint Series was sailed out of Gosford Sailing Club on Sunday 25^th August with 49 boats entering.  The first race set in a very shifty light westerly made it challenging for all the sailors.  The forecast light SSE came in by the start of the second race providing pleasant racing conditions.

Winners on the day were Blake Selley in the 4.7 s, with three wins, Shane Conly in the Radials with a 1, 2, 2 and Sean Atherton in the Standards with three wins.  You can see the results for the day here and for the series to date here.  Please contact the Membership Secretary (see contacts page) for any queries regarding the results.

Thanks to Gosford Sailing Club for the event organisation and great bacon and egg rolls.

The next leg of the Sailsports Sprint Series is at Double Bay Sailing Club on Sunday 8th September with the first race start at 11.00 am.

Some photos of the day show the log-jam at the bottom mark in the first race, backdrop of smoke from hazard reduction burn during sailing and coming ashore.

The next round of the NB Sailsports Winter Sprint Series is on at Gosford Sailing Club on Sunday 25th August. As for each of the four rounds there will be three races. The warning signal for the first race will be at 1.00pm.

The Sailing Instructions for the Gosford leg are here

Sailing Anarchy is carrying news on PSA’s Chris Caldecott’s post on his experience with a new foil fitted Laser centreboard and rudder. There is discussion on the subject as well as a brief comment by Chris on his experience with the foiler Laser over the weekend. You can see the posts here.

Chris suggests that he hit 20 knots. This may not be up to the 30 knots which Moths routinely achieve, or the 40 knots of the AC72′s, but fast for less money may be in prospect.

The photo of the unit in action features our very own Peter Stephinson at the helm. You can see a video of the action here.

To see more about the Laser foiler kit visit the Glidefree site here.

Shane Conly on his way to winning MHASC leg of the series

Another fabulous day on the Harbour with the second round of the NB Sailsports Sprint Series sailed from Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club on Sunday 4th August. 49 boats competed in the three races held in a pleasant but shifty breeze which kept everyone on their toes.

Winners on the day were Blake Seley in the 4.7′s with a 1,1,2 Shane Conly in the Radials with a 3,2,2 and Ryan Palk in the Standards with three bullets.

Well done the young team of 4.7 sailors from Woollahra who sailed over to Middle Harbour to compete.You can see the results for the day here and the for series to date here.

You can see some photos of the races taken by Geoff Lucas here.

Thanks to Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club for the event organisation, the catering and arrangements for parking and rigging.

The next leg of the Sailsorts Sprint Series is at Gosford on Sunday 25th August with the first race start at 1.00pm.

The latest edition of Laser World is now available here. This edition features an interview with Lijia Xu the current Olympic Women’s Champion.

If you want to see a really great Laser race – to see how mentally and physically tough Lijia Xu was to win the Olympic gold medal race at Weymouth have a look at the You Tube video of the race (circa 50 minutes) here.

The next round of the NB Sailsports Winter Sprint Series is on at Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club on Sunday 4th August. As for each of the four rounds there will be three races. For Middle Harbour the warning signal for the first race will be at 1.00pm.

The Notice of Race for the Series is here.
The Sailing Instructions for Middle Harbour leg are here.

Parking will be limited, so sailors including MHASC members will be encouraged to drop off their boat and gear, and then to park their cars off site. Free parking is available on Parriwi Road, but some distance up the hill. Paid parking is available in the Council Carparks on both sides of Spit Road near the club, or at on-street metres in Parriwi Road.

Trailers can be accommodated in the MHASC Rigging/Parking Area

Food and drinks will be available at the Club both before and after the racing.

It should be a great day of Laser racing so come along and enjoy it.

The Notices of Race are now available for the Victorian Association hosted National Championships. Click the link below to view the notices:

• Open National to held at McCrae Yacht Club from 27 December 2013 to 4th January 2014
• National Masters to be held at Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club from 13 to 17th February 2014

Marlena Berzins on the way to winning Heat 1 of the 4.7′s

We had 44 entries and lots of breeze from the west to kick off the NB Sailsports Winter Sprint at Woollahra Sailing Club on Sunday.

Sean Atherton won each heat in the Standard Rig. Martin White leads the Radials in the series with consistent 2,4,2 results and Hannah Ranger with 2,2,3 leads in the 4.7′s.

You can see a report on the racing on the day written by the winner Sean Atherton here.

The 4.7 sailors in particular did well in what were, at times, pretty testing conditions.

Thanks to Woollahra Sailing Club for hosting these races. Everything ran like clockwork as usual.

The results are here and you can see some photos of the action taken by Peter Heywood here.

The next race day for the series is at Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club on Sunday 4th August with the first race start at 1.00pm.

The NBSailSports Sprint Series kicks off 10.00am this Sunday 21st July at Woollahra Sailing Club.

NBSailSports have donated a free trade on a brand new Laser as first prize for the series.

The way the prizes are awarded is:

All entrants earn tickets based on entry and performance.

There will be a prize draw held after racing on the final day of the series at Double Bay.

Tickets for the prize draw will be awarded on the following basis:

•  Each round entry earns a ticket
•  Entering all rounds gets a bonus ticket
•  The top 5 in each class (4/7, Radial & full rig) at each round get a ticket
•  The top 5 overall in each class get a ticket
•  The Youth – as per ISAF criteria in each class get a ticket at each event and overall
•  The Top Female sailor in each event and overall get a ticket

Prizes in addition to some giveaways and smaller round prizes are:

1st Prize: A FREE TRADE on the LASER that you used in the regatta in exchange for a new LASER.
2nd Prize: A new Mast, boom, and top section (choice of rig)
3rd Prize: A new Top and bottom section
4th Prize: A new sail with numbers and country letters (choice of cut)
5th Prize: A new Carbon tiller and CST extension

Terms: The new boat prize includes the boat, foils, turbo kit and ropes, sail and spars. The trade-in must replicate this making a like for like swap – old boat for new boat. The trade in must be the boat you have used across the regatta series. If you have borrowed a boat other arrangements will be made at the discretion of NB Sailsports.

Eligibility: Members of the AST or Australian Sailing Squad or other non-Australian National Team or Olympic representative are NOT eligible for the main prize of the Laser.

The Notice of Race for the series is here.

NBSailsports has a number of Laser charter boats and transport for all major east coast regattas this Summer. These will include:

• NSW Youths
• Sail Sydney
• Sail Melbourne
• Laser Nationals
• Youth Nationals and Optimist Nationals
• Laser Masters

For more information or to make a booking please contact NB at Somersby 0243402223, Woollahra SC 0293717475, RQYS Manly 0402970060 or email info@nbsailsports.com.au