The 2018 West Australian State Laser Championships
at the South of Perth Yacht Club
Labour Day Weekend.
Welcome to the page for the 2018 WA Laser States.
For once, I'm at "home" and instead of sharing the hospitality of the country sailing centres, I can work out of my office each night.
As I have previously done, each day will be reported on with a summary of the day and a good look at the day in an image form. I look forward to the involvement of a number of the more senior sailors (both in age and in skill level) and hope that we'll get a number of people who sail other classes stepping up to this legendary boat for the weekend. The racing is very civilised, each afternoon with a 3 , 3 , 2 basis and time for a cold lemonade afterwards.
Please remember that the images will go up each morning, not at night and will be ready for you to view.
For once, I'm at "home" and instead of sharing the hospitality of the country sailing centres, I can work out of my office each night.
As I have previously done, each day will be reported on with a summary of the day and a good look at the day in an image form. I look forward to the involvement of a number of the more senior sailors (both in age and in skill level) and hope that we'll get a number of people who sail other classes stepping up to this legendary boat for the weekend. The racing is very civilised, each afternoon with a 3 , 3 , 2 basis and time for a cold lemonade afterwards.
Please remember that the images will go up each morning, not at night and will be ready for you to view.
The Presentations
Thanks to Commodore Phil Warwick for doing the presentations. Many thanks to the organisers Dave and Karen, I'm sure they'll get it right next year. And to the sailors one and all. Thanks for the show. I've got good memories.
Thanks to Commodore Phil Warwick for doing the presentations. Many thanks to the organisers Dave and Karen, I'm sure they'll get it right next year. And to the sailors one and all. Thanks for the show. I've got good memories.
Monday the 5th of March
Easterlies in the morning can be really nasty, as they whip through with plenty of venom. 20 knots isn't uncommon and there is no chance of it staying steady like the sea breeze in the afternoon. It's usually hard work, but then again plenty of passing lanes for all if you're prepared to take chances.
Two races and with plenty of breeze to play with, Race Officer Les Swinton and his team parked up, distributed the marks and went to work on time. As usual the Radials were fired away first with the U flag in evidence. A sure sign that the RO wasn’t going to muck around and the Radials took the advice and behaved. The main requirement was to pick the gusts as they swept down the river from the South Perth shore line and on the first beat up, there was a lot to contend with. Some boats found the right line others went the long way, but sure enough, up the middle worked just fine for visitors Manami Doi of Japan, Mara Stransky of Queensland and Maria Erdi of Hungary. Well done the ladies and they led the fleet to the outer loop of the trapezoid.
Amongst the Standards, Richard Maher continued on his winning ways and it was sufficient to make him this years State Champion. The two behind him didn’t budge either and Ken Fujimoto and Richard Leslie kept their cool and their places. David Whait put in a rock solid performance in the stronger breezes to move up to an overall 4th and remain top of the Masters. Craig Hughes was happy to take the Grand Masters title and Peter Laczko of Royal Perth led the Great G Masters from Glenn Thomas of SoPYC and John Robeson of RPYC.
The 4.7’s were cleaned up by the two mentioned yesterday with Lawson McAullay topping the fleet even though he retired with broken gear after the first race. Young Caitlin Shaw did a great job on the final day with a second and a first putting her well ahead of the third place getter Bryce Taylor. Caitlin picked up first female in the 4.7’s as well.
Back to the Radials and we do have to pay credit to the older members of the subclass. Lloyd Lissiman kept the faith and took the cube as top grand master with Colin Dibb and David Luketina battled it out to take second and third places. The GGM’s had David Joyce take the cake, Lewis Arndt of SoPYC was second and Harley Dymond of Hillarys was the third and last of the GG’s.
Congratulations to Tony Bayliss of RPYC, who apparently didn’t even sail a race but was acknowledged as a Legend in Laser parlance. Amongst the junior members of the radial fleet Caelin Winchcombe took home the State Championship in the overall Radial fleet with the win in the radial youth as well. Stefan Elliot-Shirc of SoPYC took the Radial Juniors and in the females, Zoë Thomson of RFBYC took the lead from sisters Elyse and Jacinta Ainsworth of SoPYC.
The regatta was sailed in changeable breezes with even a sea breeze on the first day. The blend tested all the sailors and on the last day I watched as a young 4.7 sailor pulled the severely bent bottom section off his mast. But he’d sailed and sailed well. The standard rigs were a credit to the young men and the masters as it was a case of no quarter given and the discussions on the water were usually brief and to the point.
Thanks to South of Perth Yacht club for keeping everyone on the go and looking after the volunteers who put in the hours to make it happen. To WALA and the hard pressed team that have been working behind the scene to make it all happen. Many thanks to the start team headed by Les Swinton who made the event work very well on the water and kept the races flowing one after the other. And my thanks to SoPYC for getting me a boat I could drive by my self. Hooray! No one to blame except myself if I fouled up on a shot.
Presentation images up tomorrow.
Easterlies in the morning can be really nasty, as they whip through with plenty of venom. 20 knots isn't uncommon and there is no chance of it staying steady like the sea breeze in the afternoon. It's usually hard work, but then again plenty of passing lanes for all if you're prepared to take chances.
Two races and with plenty of breeze to play with, Race Officer Les Swinton and his team parked up, distributed the marks and went to work on time. As usual the Radials were fired away first with the U flag in evidence. A sure sign that the RO wasn’t going to muck around and the Radials took the advice and behaved. The main requirement was to pick the gusts as they swept down the river from the South Perth shore line and on the first beat up, there was a lot to contend with. Some boats found the right line others went the long way, but sure enough, up the middle worked just fine for visitors Manami Doi of Japan, Mara Stransky of Queensland and Maria Erdi of Hungary. Well done the ladies and they led the fleet to the outer loop of the trapezoid.
Amongst the Standards, Richard Maher continued on his winning ways and it was sufficient to make him this years State Champion. The two behind him didn’t budge either and Ken Fujimoto and Richard Leslie kept their cool and their places. David Whait put in a rock solid performance in the stronger breezes to move up to an overall 4th and remain top of the Masters. Craig Hughes was happy to take the Grand Masters title and Peter Laczko of Royal Perth led the Great G Masters from Glenn Thomas of SoPYC and John Robeson of RPYC.
The 4.7’s were cleaned up by the two mentioned yesterday with Lawson McAullay topping the fleet even though he retired with broken gear after the first race. Young Caitlin Shaw did a great job on the final day with a second and a first putting her well ahead of the third place getter Bryce Taylor. Caitlin picked up first female in the 4.7’s as well.
Back to the Radials and we do have to pay credit to the older members of the subclass. Lloyd Lissiman kept the faith and took the cube as top grand master with Colin Dibb and David Luketina battled it out to take second and third places. The GGM’s had David Joyce take the cake, Lewis Arndt of SoPYC was second and Harley Dymond of Hillarys was the third and last of the GG’s.
Congratulations to Tony Bayliss of RPYC, who apparently didn’t even sail a race but was acknowledged as a Legend in Laser parlance. Amongst the junior members of the radial fleet Caelin Winchcombe took home the State Championship in the overall Radial fleet with the win in the radial youth as well. Stefan Elliot-Shirc of SoPYC took the Radial Juniors and in the females, Zoë Thomson of RFBYC took the lead from sisters Elyse and Jacinta Ainsworth of SoPYC.
The regatta was sailed in changeable breezes with even a sea breeze on the first day. The blend tested all the sailors and on the last day I watched as a young 4.7 sailor pulled the severely bent bottom section off his mast. But he’d sailed and sailed well. The standard rigs were a credit to the young men and the masters as it was a case of no quarter given and the discussions on the water were usually brief and to the point.
Thanks to South of Perth Yacht club for keeping everyone on the go and looking after the volunteers who put in the hours to make it happen. To WALA and the hard pressed team that have been working behind the scene to make it all happen. Many thanks to the start team headed by Les Swinton who made the event work very well on the water and kept the races flowing one after the other. And my thanks to SoPYC for getting me a boat I could drive by my self. Hooray! No one to blame except myself if I fouled up on a shot.
Presentation images up tomorrow.
Sunday the 4th of March
Once again the easterlies swept across Melville Waters and the sailing actually began to improve. People were starting to work out where the pressure was coming from and the realization that banging corners just wasn’t going to work unless you felt really lucky.
Temperatures in the low thirties and a breeze that did flick around a little causing the occasional AP as RO Les Swinton and his team rejigged the course to suit. The major difference was that for once we had continuous pressure that fluctuated a little but essentially gave the sailors something to sail with.
As mentioned, this was the moving day and one fellow is looking to lock the door in the Standard rigs. Richard Maher (SoPYC) is 4 points ahead of Ken Fujimoto of FSC and with the one drop allowed has a score of 6. Ken is doing his best as he’s been around for a while now and is always looking to improve. However lurking behind him by another 4 points is Richard Leslie of SoPYC and now that he’s based here in Perth for a while, has been working hard to re-establish himself as one of the premier young standard rig drivers. In the Standard Masters David Whait has been showing what consistency will do and holds the lead there with Craig Hughes as a Grand Master not far off the pace behind him.
In the 4.7’s Lawson McAullay of RPYC has given young Caitlin Shaw from SoPYC a run for her money and currently sits atop the pile by 5 points but spare a thought for two young men who share third spot, Pat Scally of SoPYC and Bryce Taylor from Hillarys on 21 points. Understandably the field is still wide open in the 4.7s as the younger sailors sort their skills out, but that’s what these regattas are about in a sense. You learn what is required and you learn to deal with the fact that someone will take advantage of your hesitancy.
The Radials… Ah! There’s no let up here. Geographe Bay sailor Caelin Winchecombe is still being hard pressed by the two international visitors Maria Erdi and Manami Doi who incidentally are level in their scores as well. Race two, in the gusts that came storming down the left hand side had a Ladies Day when no fewer than 4 female sailors came streaming past me at mark five, turning for the finish line with Caelin locked back further in the pack. Lucky for him that was one he could drop, but the competition is keen and local sisters Jacinta and Elyse Ainsworth of SoPYC were really putting the skates on, making Zoe Thompson of RFBYC look back over her shoulder occasionally as they constantly challenged the leaders. It’s still not over for the more senior members either as Lloyd Lissiman from RPYC has grabbed a 13 point lead over the next Grand Master Dave Luketina of SoPYC. Not that a Dave should worry about that.
Unfortunately some of the expected performers are still suffering from the indignity of OCS’s they haven’t returned for. Sorry fellow sailors; but when the RO asks you to return by offering a sound signal and hoisting a flag, examine your conscience and think of the consequences.
And sail straight on…. It was the person next to you.
Monday is the final day and we’re looking forward to the morning easterlies. Generally heavier than the afternoon and the gusts can be extraordinary. Well I hope so anyway.
Please note that the next lot of images will up a little later on.
Once again the easterlies swept across Melville Waters and the sailing actually began to improve. People were starting to work out where the pressure was coming from and the realization that banging corners just wasn’t going to work unless you felt really lucky.
Temperatures in the low thirties and a breeze that did flick around a little causing the occasional AP as RO Les Swinton and his team rejigged the course to suit. The major difference was that for once we had continuous pressure that fluctuated a little but essentially gave the sailors something to sail with.
As mentioned, this was the moving day and one fellow is looking to lock the door in the Standard rigs. Richard Maher (SoPYC) is 4 points ahead of Ken Fujimoto of FSC and with the one drop allowed has a score of 6. Ken is doing his best as he’s been around for a while now and is always looking to improve. However lurking behind him by another 4 points is Richard Leslie of SoPYC and now that he’s based here in Perth for a while, has been working hard to re-establish himself as one of the premier young standard rig drivers. In the Standard Masters David Whait has been showing what consistency will do and holds the lead there with Craig Hughes as a Grand Master not far off the pace behind him.
In the 4.7’s Lawson McAullay of RPYC has given young Caitlin Shaw from SoPYC a run for her money and currently sits atop the pile by 5 points but spare a thought for two young men who share third spot, Pat Scally of SoPYC and Bryce Taylor from Hillarys on 21 points. Understandably the field is still wide open in the 4.7s as the younger sailors sort their skills out, but that’s what these regattas are about in a sense. You learn what is required and you learn to deal with the fact that someone will take advantage of your hesitancy.
The Radials… Ah! There’s no let up here. Geographe Bay sailor Caelin Winchecombe is still being hard pressed by the two international visitors Maria Erdi and Manami Doi who incidentally are level in their scores as well. Race two, in the gusts that came storming down the left hand side had a Ladies Day when no fewer than 4 female sailors came streaming past me at mark five, turning for the finish line with Caelin locked back further in the pack. Lucky for him that was one he could drop, but the competition is keen and local sisters Jacinta and Elyse Ainsworth of SoPYC were really putting the skates on, making Zoe Thompson of RFBYC look back over her shoulder occasionally as they constantly challenged the leaders. It’s still not over for the more senior members either as Lloyd Lissiman from RPYC has grabbed a 13 point lead over the next Grand Master Dave Luketina of SoPYC. Not that a Dave should worry about that.
Unfortunately some of the expected performers are still suffering from the indignity of OCS’s they haven’t returned for. Sorry fellow sailors; but when the RO asks you to return by offering a sound signal and hoisting a flag, examine your conscience and think of the consequences.
And sail straight on…. It was the person next to you.
Monday is the final day and we’re looking forward to the morning easterlies. Generally heavier than the afternoon and the gusts can be extraordinary. Well I hope so anyway.
Please note that the next lot of images will up a little later on.
Saturday the 3rd of March
I might have guessed that the easterlies would be in. All the signs were there and even the forecasters were droning on about it. So away we went with a unsteady breeze out of the east that was swinging happily through 20 degrees. Nothing out of the ordinary, but not as many sailors this year to play with the breezes.
Race Officer Les Swinton had the game under way bang on time and had the lasers firing off the line quick smart. For all the show, it was still an easterly and it dropped in and out, swung as far as possible without having to shut down the race. But I did see some of the 4.7's on a glory run straight up the right hand side, heading toward the mark. Then the breeze changed again.
The Radials have changed again with the migration of several up to the big time and some of the 4.7's moving up into the radials. Nice to see it and surprisingly we had some young ladies in the radial mix as well. And they are good. The Standards have got two Richards back, well Richard Leslie has been back for a while and sailing well, but Richard Mahr has returned to the fold and is really punching above his weight. Keeps the masters and G Masters on their toes, that's for sure. The 4.7's need an injection of young blood and looking around the fleets, we need to start thinking about getting them with us.
And then the breeze came in and the Radial startline exploded with energy as everyone could see a chance. Awesome moment for photography. Have a look for yourself.
I might have guessed that the easterlies would be in. All the signs were there and even the forecasters were droning on about it. So away we went with a unsteady breeze out of the east that was swinging happily through 20 degrees. Nothing out of the ordinary, but not as many sailors this year to play with the breezes.
Race Officer Les Swinton had the game under way bang on time and had the lasers firing off the line quick smart. For all the show, it was still an easterly and it dropped in and out, swung as far as possible without having to shut down the race. But I did see some of the 4.7's on a glory run straight up the right hand side, heading toward the mark. Then the breeze changed again.
The Radials have changed again with the migration of several up to the big time and some of the 4.7's moving up into the radials. Nice to see it and surprisingly we had some young ladies in the radial mix as well. And they are good. The Standards have got two Richards back, well Richard Leslie has been back for a while and sailing well, but Richard Mahr has returned to the fold and is really punching above his weight. Keeps the masters and G Masters on their toes, that's for sure. The 4.7's need an injection of young blood and looking around the fleets, we need to start thinking about getting them with us.
And then the breeze came in and the Radial startline exploded with energy as everyone could see a chance. Awesome moment for photography. Have a look for yourself.