The State Masters is coming up next month 5-6 February at the Bay Sailing Centre Port Stephens.

The BSC was the Port Stephens Sailing & Aquatic Club. It was renamed by Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club which is now managing the facility. The sailing water, access and accommodation is all as we have enjoyed over the years.

As we have done with our recent COVID era events sailors will need to be double vaccinated and follow the COVID safe plan including wearing masks, COVID check in and abiding by density limits. Sailors can sign on and off for sailing using the link in the SI’s and Here. Rigging can be spread along the Soldiers Point shore.

We will not be running a Saturday night dinner but the bar will be open at the club after sailing on Saturday and around the presentation on Sunday. Sailors should be able to dine in smaller groups at the nearby Bowling Club or other clubs and restaurants around Port Stephens. There is a wide range of accommodation available around Port Stephens and Soldiers Point.

You can enter the Masters online Here or until 11.30am on Saturday at the sailing office at the club. Entry is $60. The Notice of Race is Here.

Charters are available from NBSailsports Here.

The not-to-be-missed annual Masters Golf Tournament will be held again before the State Masters at Nelson Bay Golf Club on Friday 4^th February.  First tee time 12:44pm. Cost is $47 each plus $45 for two in a cart, payable at the pro-shop on the day.  It is worth letting the pro-shop know in advance if you want a cart (02 4981 1132).

It will be the usual Ambrose format which caters for all levels of golf ability.  Please arrive by midday to have lunch, select the teams and join in the usual banter.  Preferably advise Rob Lowndes at least a week before (text 0419 266 257 or lowndesr@bigpond.net.au) if you coming. If in doubt, just come!

The Laser Masters is at Westernport Yacht Club in Victoria 25-28 February 2022. The event will run as Australian Laser Masters irrespective of on again, off again WA Government determinations. There is information on the event and the venue on the Victorian Laser site Here.

The Notice of Race for the event is Here. You can enter Here.

Entry links, documents, updates and results for the event will be on the Australian Laser app. Select 2022 Laser Masters Australian Champs in National & District Events.

The Australian Masters will be preceded by a two day coaching clinic 22-23 February. Information on the coaching clinic is Here. You can enter for the clinic ($150) Here.

Information on PSA charters for the Masters event ($1,000) is Here and NBSailsports charters ($1,000) are Here.

This is the ranking event for the 2023 World Masters in Pattaya, Thailand 8-16 (ILCA 6) and 18-26 (ILCA 7) February 2023. Competing in this event will rank you ahead of applicants for 2023 World’s places who do not.

Kerry Waraker – World Laser Legend Champion

Ok this post is not about Laser sailing but about Laser sailors. Jules and Clogs are going to Hobart the hard way as the CYC Sydney Hobart site explains.

A Laser sailor these days, Jules Hall has been on and round boats his entire life, including doing some ocean racing through his twenties. All his boats have borne the name ‘Disko Trooper’, which comes from Rudyard Kipling’s Captains Courageous lead character, Disko Trooper. “We are proudly sponsored by Contender Sailcloth,” says Hall, whose side-kick is none other than Contender Sailcloth’s Jan ‘Clogs’ Scholten, a highly respected veteran sailor who Hall met racing his Laser.

“With twice the crew that we have on our Lasers, we’re both looking forward to having someone to cook our dinner,” Hall says, tongue in cheek. The pair has been training on Hall’s J/99, which was designed for double-handed racing, but is equally at home in fully crewed mode. 

They have had great results in the two handed lead-up events and are leading the division with only 580nm to go. Follow the progress of Disko Trooper on the Sydney Hobart Tracker Here.

Photo above shows Clogs making afternoon tea on the leg out of the Harbour – Perhaps that is why these guys aren’t leaning out?

The Annual General Meeting of the Association was held at Georges River Sailing Club on 5th December.

The minutes and reports tabled at the meeting are Here.

Below is a Jon West photo which could contest action shot of the year. It is of Scott Farley on Sunday at the States when the wind had eased up a little but was still enough to blow Scott’s visor off.

Jon West retrieved the visor and, reunited with its owner, it will see many more Laser race days as we are sure will Scott and his son Tom. Father and son finished 12th and 5th respectively in the GRSC event.

You can see many more of Jon’s States photos on his web site Here.

States Winners – Photos by Jon West

The NSW & ACT State Championships were held at Georges River Sailing Club on 4-5 December. Day 1 saw 22 gusting to 28 knots SSW which tested the skill and endurance of the sailors. Day 2 presented a more manageable 15 gusting to 18 knot SE so no complaints about the wind.

The fleets were smaller than usual but no less competitive. In the Standards Brett Beyer Woollahra  SC had a one point victory over Daniel Costandi who sails at GRSC, Double Bay and RSYS. Daniel was the first Under 21 and Alexander Bijkerk (also Under 21) from RPAYC was third.

In the Radials Sylvie Stannage HHSC/DBSC had a convincing win counting four firsts and a second and dropping a third place. She thanked her coach Brett Beyer among others for supporting her sailing. Second was Jeff Loosemore MHASC/GRSC closely followed by GRSC sailor David Early. Ashton Scott from RSYS was the first Under 17.

The 4.7s were won convincingly by Hamish Cowell from Blairgowrie YS and Brighton YC. Hamish counted three firsts and a second for his win. He was also first Under 18. Second and first Under 16 was Aidan Simmons from Indented Head YC. Nathan Deng from RSYS was very consistent and finished third. Pru Bennett was the first woman and finished 5th.

The results for the States at Georges River are Here.

Jon West’s photos of all the action are Here.

Daniel Costandi leading Alexander Bijkerk in the breezy Day 1 – Photo by Jon West

John West Action Photo from States 2020

Our State Championship is coming up at Georges River Sailing Club 4 & 5th December.

Sailing Instructions are now posted Here.

It is great that by this date we will be able to welcome all sailors from NSW & ACT and likely some from interstate.

Because the 2022 Australian Championships in WA have had to be cancelled the States will be the ranking event for NSW & ACT sailors for 2022 ILCA World Championships except ILCA World Masters.

Georges River Sailing Club as we all know is a great club and offers beautiful sailing on Botany Bay. It will be the venue for the 2023 Australian Championships 1-8 January 2023.

The Notice of Race for the Event is Here. You can enter Here.

To compete in the States you will need to be a  member of a Laser District. Our NSW & ACT membership runs from 1st October 2021 to 30th September 2022 and cost $40 or $20 if you are under 21 at 1st October 2021. You can joint or renew membership Here.

We are all more into sailing than attending meetings however our NSW & ACT Laser District AGM is a chance to review what has happened in the past year and have an input into what should be done going forward.

This year the meeting will be held in the Sailing Office at Georges River Sailing Club on 9.00am Sunday 5th December co-incident with the State Championships.

The 2021 agenda, minutes from the 2020 AGM and reports for this meeting are Here.

ALCA are changing the ranking arrangement for ILCA World Masters Championships to apply from World Masters 2023 which will be held in Pattaya, Thailand in February 2023.

The new ranking policy Here is based on results from the previous Australian Laser Masters Championships.

This policy is much simpler than the previous ranking policy issued in July 2017 which factors results from six World National and State Masters events. The new ranking regime is facilitated by the change to Australian Masters from 2022 all being stand-alone Masters events held in rotation between the eastern states.

With its adoption the ranking of sailors for all ILCA World Championships (Open, Youth and Masters) will be consistent and based on performance at the respective Australian Championships.

In summary ranking for May 2022 World Masters in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico will be based on results of the previous two World, National and State Masters events as per the existing policy Here. For the February 2023 World Masters in Pattaya, Thailand ranking will be based on the results of the Australian Masters February 2022 Westernport YC as per the new policy Here.

ILCA will open applications for 2022 World Masters Championships for ILCA 7 on 1 December 2021 and for 2022 WMC for ILCA 6 on 11 December 2021.

The International Laser Class Association proposes changes to its constitution and needs a 2/3rds majority vote to bring this about.

We posted in April 2020 Here about the reason for the update then requesting suggestions for changes.

In summary the Constitution needs to be brought into the 21st century, to reflect the new naming and class builder arrangements and to reform the representation and voting rights on the ILCA World Council and modernise its governance.

Information about the proposed changes and a link to the voting site are available for the next six months on the ILCA website Here:

This is a non controversial change and a yes vote is recommended.

Evie Saunders – Radial Winner

On Sunday 14th November four clubs, Northbridge Sailing Club (NSC), Manly Yacht Club (MYC), Vaucluse Yacht Club (VYC) and Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club (MHASC), held the inaugural Battle of the Sound regatta for Laser/ILCA dinghies.

The Sound is that part of Sydney Harbour where Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour and North Harbour converge.

The weather gods produced a strong westerly breeze which increased over the course of the day, with gusts of 30 knots-plus during the afternoon.

Sixty-four competitors registered and 44 ‘brave souls’ (25 Radials and 19 Standard rigs) made it to the 1pm start in what could only be described as tough conditions, under the watchful eye of Olympic Race Officer Hughie Leicester.
The winning team from MYC took home the refurbished centreboard trophy.

The full results are Here.

More details of the event thanks to MHASC Commodore Chris Kelleway  are Here.

ILCA has just announced that from 2022 the Apprentice Masters age range will be extended from 35-44 to 30-44.

ILCA says that it is excited about this change, which for the first time gives sailors under the age of 35 the opportunity to join the ILCA Masters World Championships and to enjoy the unique atmosphere of that fleet. All other Masters age categories will remain unchanged.

The new age range will apply for all ILCA District, Regional and World events including the upcoming 2022 Australian Masters at Westernport and the 2022 Masters World Championships in Mexico.

ILCA says that while it does not expect this change to dramatically increase the number of Apprentice entries in events it believes that by being more inclusive and “broadening the tent” to allow more adult sailors to enjoy Masters events it will attract more interest in the ILCA class from both grass roots and former competitive ILCA sailors looking to get back into our great sport.

The NSW Government has now set the resumption of both regional travel and community sport to the Monday after 80% of over 16s have been vaccinated. This is projected to be on Monday 25th October.

We will not be able to run the 2021 Coast Championships at South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club on 23 -24 October as planned. The event is now cancelled.

When we set the event timing we didn’t expect that COVID Delta would come along and upset our plans (and our lives).

It looks like most sailing clubs are planning to resume racing in early November and we are confident that our State Championships 4-5 December at Georges River Sailing Club will go ahead as planned.

Australian Sailing’s ran webinars in September featuring the 470 and Laser sailors.

If you missed the webinars you can see the recordings on YouTube on the following links;

• 470 Mat Belcher and Will Ryan 7pm Thursday 16 September
• Laser Matt Wearn Tuesday 21 September
• Laser Radial Mara Stransky Thursday 30 September

An interesting half hour movie of Laser history from 1974 has come to light.

It tells the Laser story of Ian Bruce and Performance Sailcraft the company which he originally formed to produce and market it.

The movie shows one of the first ever big fleet Laser regattas held at Association Island, New York on Lake Ontario across the lake from Kingston (with Ian Bruce competing!). The movie has interviews with Ian, Bruce Kirby, and Laser sail designer Hans Fogh along with shots of Lasers being produced in Ian’s factory.

There is footage of Hans Fogh helming the prototype Laser in an October 1970 regatta held for boats under $1000 at the Playboy Club at Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. It was called ‘The America’s Teacup Regatta’. Ian and Hans decided to call the prototype the ‘Weekender’ with sail number TGIF, the abbreviation for ‘Thank God It’s Friday’.”

The movie is from the National Film Board of Canada archive Here