ILCA NSW & ACT

The ALCA has launched a ‘Youth Solidarity’ program. This program is designed to encourage clubs to choose the ILCA 4 (Laser 4.7) for girls & boys transitioning from junior training classes & will be rolled out Nationally.
A similar program has been running in Europe since 2018. It is designed to encourage more girls & boys into Laser sailing via the ILCA4 pathway.
Our initial launch will be at the upcoming Nationals to be held in Sydney at GRSC. This year the focus will be on female sailors.

Each Australian Laser district (5 states + NT) will be asked to select a young female sailor to compete at the Nationals. The selected sailors will receive the following support from the ALCA:

• Free entry into the championship.
• Free ILCA 4.7 charter boat in race condition.
• Free squad coaching during the regatta.
• Free Solidarity squad T-shirt

They will be supported throughout the event by a suitable mentor & will get the chance to meet & chat with members of the Australian Sailing Team & Australian Sailing Squad.
The selections will not be limited to sailors currently in the Laser class. Female sailors considered to have potential can come from any class if they meet the selection criteria. We plan to caste a wide net advertising this opportunity to the broader sailing community.

Any enquiries about this initiative should be directed to solidarity@laser.asn.au

Application forms can be downloaded PDF Word or complete the online application form Here.

Application forms should be submitted by October 25^th. Successful applicants will be notified on first week in November.

We have a great season for Laser events coming up.

The season’s regattas being run in NSW & ACT are listed below along with links to their Notice of Race, Online Entry and Event Web Sites.

And if too much sailing is never enough there are many other national and international events listed on our Events Page Here.

Current State Under 21 Champion Daniel Costandi in flat out and wet mode

Australian Sailing along with local clubs Mannering Park, South Lake Macquarie and Wangi are running Youth Sail NSW at Point Wolstoncroft

The event will comprise coaching 28-30th September and racing 1-3rd October. The event will comprise 5 two person boats and 8 one person boats plus windfoils. Laser Radial and 4.7 are included. Participants must be under 23 years of age at 31 December 2022.

The Notice of Race for the championship racing is Here. Registration and information is on the Australian Sailing web site Here.

To assist with planning the annual masters golf tournament, which precedes the State Masters each year is on again this year on Friday 18 November. As the States this year combine Open Youth and Masters the golf will be open to all ages.

The venue is just 10 minutes drive from Wangi at the Toronto Golf Club, 122 Wangi Road Toronto.  The plan is to gather from 1200 over a quick lunch with first tee time at 1:00pm.   Cost will be $32 per head plus $20 for half share of a  cart.

It would help if you send a message to Rob Lowndes (0419 266 257) at least a week in advance to advise numbers.  Always heaps of fun and hackers welcome for the usual Ambrose format.

We are looking for volunteers to help make the Laser Open and Youth Championships at Georges River Sailing Club a success.

We need on and off water help over the 1-8 January dates of the event. If sailors or parents/family/friends of those competing can help out in the areas named for any of the days please fill out details on the web form Here.

If anyone has any specific things they would like to do, or discuss, they should feel free to call or email Georges River Sailing Club Sailing Manager, Andrew Hawkins, on 0457 152 168 or at grscsailingmanager@gmail.com.

The 2023 Oceania & Australian Open and Youth Championships will be held at Georges River Sailing Club on Botany Bay 1-8 January 2023.

After the disappointments of cancellation of the event scheduled in Fremantle, WA in 2021 and 2022 it will be great to stage these championships in 2023.

Botany Bay is a great venue for big sailing events with lots of open water and clear winds. The club is near to the airport and the surrounding suburbs have lots of accommodation options.

There will be great lead up events with the NSW & ACT Laser State titles at Wangi A.S.C. on Lake Macquarie in November 2022 and Sail Sydney on Sydney Harbour from Woollahra S.C. 13-18 December 2022.

The Notice of Race for this event is Here. There is more information on the Australian Laser Championships web site. It will be the reference web site for the event.

Entries can be placed $350 until 30th November 2022 Here and may be accepted with an additional $80 late fee after that date.

Charters will be available from NB Sailsports and Performance Sailcraft Australia.

Request for Volunteers

We are looking for volunteers to help make the regatta a success! We need on and off water help over the 1-8 January dates of the event. If you can help out in the areas named for any of the days please fill out your details on the form Here.

Matt Wearn current Australian and Olympic Laser Champions – Photo by Jesus Renedo

The 2023 Oceania & Australian Masters Championships will be held at the Bay Sailing Centre Soldiers Point on Port Stephens 10-13 March 2023.

This event is a little later in the year than normal and was re-scheduled to avoid clashing with the ILCA World Masters Pattaya, Thailand 8-16 (ILCA 6) and 18-26 (ILCA 7) February 2023.

Port Stephens is our favourite venue for Masters events with great sailing winds and water and lots of accommodation in all price ranges.

The Notice of Race for this event is Here.

Charters will be available from NB Sailsports and Performance Sailcraft Australia.

Jeff Loosemore ILCA 6 GGM and Brett Beyer ILCA 7 GM Current World Masters Champions – Photos John West

This is a must read for all Laser sailors younger than 50 or new to the class.

“If you have not already become aware of it there is an art to wearing the right clothing at a sailing regatta.  I am not talking about your Brian Rockford tracksuit or your Polo shirt (Lacoste is old hat) but your humble T-shirt. You can tell everything about the sailor by the T-shirt he wears.”

These are the opening words of Laser legend Andrew York’s seminal light-hearted 1985 article ”T-shirt etiquette” which set the standard for regattas for the last 40 plus years.  Click here to read the full article.  You’ll never feel embarrassed again.

Click here to access the full archive of Lasernews containing other priceless information by legends of the class.

Photo right – A seriously impressive T-shirt by Yorkie’s rules.

The Women’s Regatta will be held on Saturday 3 December 2022 at Double Bay Sailing Club, an integral event for female ILCA / Laser sailors around Australia.

The one-day event will include races on Sydney Harbour, great food, entertainment, and activities aimed at women of all ages who currently sail an ILCA / Laser dinghy, or are looking to return to racing.

Double Bay Sailing Club will also run a series of small-group training clinics in the weeks leading up to the event, focusing on improving sailing skills such as race starts, upwind technique, and downwind technique.

After the disruption of the past two years DBSC are looking forward to running this fantastic Regatta again and restoring it as an annual event.

Sign up to receive news and updates Here  or watch out for entry and further details at the following;

thewomensregatta.com.au
instagram.com/thewomensregatta 
facebook.com/thewomensregatta
#thewomensregatta

About The Women’s Regatta

The Women’s Regatta was first held in September 2018, planned and run by members of Double Bay Sailing Club. The regatta weekend incorporated yoga, coaching, racing, group dinner, and guest speakers; fostering competition, education, camaraderie, and fun.

The Women’s Regatta raises awareness and encourages participation for women and girls in ILCA Laser sailing. The event brings together current female sailors; those who have sailed in the past; those wanting to get into sailing; friends and family of sailors; as well as an immense show of support from sponsors and volunteers. You can see some of their smiling faces and hear commentary Here.

Australian Sailing has just released its Club Participation Programs guide which it says gives clubs and class associations a valuable resource to assist in delivery of sailing programs aimed at attracting and keeping members (and potentional members) engaged with the sport.

This guide AS say will help sailors and coaches through their sailing journey in delivering coaching and programs specific to the various skill levels (beginner/learn to race, intermediate and advanced).

While the guide is written generally to cover participation in all manner of sailing craft from Optis to foiling boards the principles should be useful for club and class participation & training programs.

The guide is Here.

Evie Saunders at the Youth Worlds The Hague, Netherlands – Photo Sailing Energy

Evie Saunders from Manly Yacht Club after a very strong start finished second in the 56 boat ILCA 6 fleet in the World Sailing run 2022 Allianz Youth World Sailing Championships July 10-14 off the coast of Scheveningen in The Hague, Netherlands.

Evie said that her motto throughout the week was; “start well, go the right way with speed and keep it simple,” She said. “l was in a super tight position but knew l had to trust in the training that l had done to prepare for the regatta.”

Seven of the scheduled nine races were completed in the ILCA 6 event. In the Youth World Championships this year there were  431 youth sailors from 67 countries competing in 11 separate events.

Information and results for the event are Here.

Australian Sailing have re-negotiated the personal accident and public liability insurance which they hold.

Personal Accident Insurance

The policy covers all AS members and now also volunteers of AS affiliated clubs.

In summary the policy;

• Covers all members and volunteers of AS affiliated clubs
• Covers sailors when racing and training or practicing for races
• Covers delivering a yacht to and from a race
• Covers travelling directly between home and a club
• No longer covers travelling to or competing in overseas events
• Does not cover persons when on the club premises in a personal capacity (having a meal/ drink, working on boat etc).
• Does not cover persons when engaged in recreational boating activities (going for an afternoon cruise, coastal journeys etc)

Full details including changes from previous arrangements, coverage, benefits and claims are on the AS web site Here.

Many personal travel insurance policies provide broad coverage overseas including for competition. If competition is excluded from your policy then AS say that this coverage can be arranged for clubs and individuals by contacting the AS insurance broker Stedfast IRS Pty Ltd trading as Network Insurance Group.

Public Liability Insurance

The definition of insured persons under this policy now reads:

• All Australian Sailing accredited Officials and Volunteers, only whilst working for or conducting activities on behalf of Australian Sailing or affiliated clubs;
• All Australian Sailing accredited Instructors, only whilst working for or conducting activities on behalf of Australian Sailing or accredited Discover Sailing Centres;
• All Australian Sailing accredited Coaches while working for or conducting activities for Australian Sailing or an affiliated club or an affiliated class association;

and only if not otherwise insured.

If you require assistance with additional insurance needs please contact AS brokers, Network Insurance Group as listed below.

Network Insurance Group | 1300 655 037 | sailing@networksteadfast.com.au | https://networksteadfast.com.au
02 9957 2544 | Level 12, 122 Arthur Street North Sydney NSW 2060 | PO Box 84 North Sydney 2059

The ILCA 6 World Masters sailed from the Vallarta Yacht Club in Mexico has concluded with an emphatic win for Jeff Loosemore in the GGM Division. Jeff won nine of the 12 races and had three seconds to win by 25 points.

MHASC club mate Rob Lowndes was eighth in the GGM division. Rob’s commented on Jeff’s win “Jeff is the GGM World Champion, his third world masters championship. His sailing today was as always meticulously planned and executed. He got a conservative start in the third row and sailed slow downwind to avoid any hint of a yellow flag to the extent that I was sailing at about the same speed! Having got that over and the overall win in the bag he let fly in the last race winning by at least a minute. Congratulations Jeff”.

WA sailor David Luketina lead for most of the series in the GM Division but was pipped at the post by three points by Canadian Allan Clark.

Hard luck story of the final day was in the Legends Division where Bill Symes USA had 8 wins and a second with two races to go and so only had to finish both races to win. Instead he got a UFD (over start line early) in Race 11 and was disqualified letting “Boomer” Chris Boome win overall by one point. Rob Lowndes recalls that Chris was about the only sailor who started in Lasers 50 years ago and was ecstatic about his win. He was 3rd in the very first worlds in Bermuda in 1974.

The full event results are Here and photos and reports are on the event web site Here.

Jeff Loosemore on his way to his emphatic win in GGMs in Mexico – Photo by John Pounder

Brett Beyer was a clear winner in the Grand Masters division of the ILCA 7 World Masters just concluded in Mexico.

Brett finished with eight bullets in the 12 race series for a convincing win. Mark Little (GBR) and ILCA North America President Andy Roy were runners up. There were 24 in the GM fleet and 61 in the event in total. Steve Gunther was a creditable 7th. He, like Brett showed the benefit of lots of practice, often together, leading up to the series.

This was Brett’s 14 Laser/ILCA World Masters win and he has now won sufficient cubes at all levels to build a moderate sized bungalow.

Jeff Loosemore was 6th in the GGMs won by Tim Law (GBR). Too much sailing is never enough for Jeff. He is also competing in the ILCA 6 GGMs which start at the same Riviera Nayarit, Mexico venue on Saturday 11 June. Follow this event at the web site Here.

The full results of the ILCA 7 World Masters are Here.

ILCA 7 World Masters GM Podium – Photo  John Pounder

The 2022 Oceania Laser Masters Championship will be held 20-26 August from the Darwin Sailing Club Fannie Bay, Northern Territory.

The Notice of Race is Here. Entries/Registration are open until 20th June 2022 Here. After this date a $100 late entry fee applies.

It is a long drive so most sailors will prefer to fly and charter. A limited number of charters are available from PSA Here.

There is a flyer with more information Here and web information and links Here.

NT Laser District have put a lot of work into the regatta and are looking forward to a great championship at in Darwin Sailing Club. Entry places and charters are still available so place your entry and come to compete in one of the best places you will sail at.

Contact NT Laser District at ntlaser22@gmail.com or Darwin Sailing Club admin@dwnsail.com.au if you need more more information.