The Laser states at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club.
The Labour day Weekend March 2014
The Laser States are an institution I guess and the Laser sailors make every effort to get out and support the event.
I was unable to cover last year, but this year I'm on the water with the kind invitation of the Laser Association and I will be covering the second and third days at RFBYC.
The event was held at RFBYC and with 108 attendees it was a great weekend. By the time I dropped in, it was already apparent that the favourites were going to take some beating, but with Ryan Palk visiting us from Q'land he made it clear that the full rigs were going to have to work for it. And work they did as Matt Wearne, Mark Spearman, Luke Elliott and new full rig man Ben Walkmeyer pushed hard to get close to the finish.
In the radials, Tristan Brown was keen to hold down top spot, but with new man on the scene Alistair Young, the going was always to be hard. Particularly when Conor found his way back from the doctors surgery with a go ahead. The usual suspects were out there too and it was good to see them working with the younger sailors between the races helping them and answering questions.
It's hard to say you couldn't try harder and the action in the 4.7's must have been terrific as Zoe Thomson lost by a fraction of a whisker to Caeilin Winchcombe. Scores were even and they went right down to the wire ( the last page of the rule book ) and Caeilin took the prize. Well sailed to both of them.
Can't forget the masters and the G masters and the GG masters. Still out there, still sailing and causing younger sailors to reach for the sky as they come thundering into a mark with the calm authority of the ages they carry.
Many thanks to the WALA association for the invitation to cover the event and for the great feed on Monday. Thanks also to Jenny Suffield who is the new person in charge of dinghy sailing at RFBYC. A big help with results and other stuff. And finally to Tom Blaauw, a 420 man who was having a weekend off and got roped into driving a support boat and eventually me as well. Many thanks Tom... a great job and good company.
Enjoy the images
Rick Steuart
I was unable to cover last year, but this year I'm on the water with the kind invitation of the Laser Association and I will be covering the second and third days at RFBYC.
The event was held at RFBYC and with 108 attendees it was a great weekend. By the time I dropped in, it was already apparent that the favourites were going to take some beating, but with Ryan Palk visiting us from Q'land he made it clear that the full rigs were going to have to work for it. And work they did as Matt Wearne, Mark Spearman, Luke Elliott and new full rig man Ben Walkmeyer pushed hard to get close to the finish.
In the radials, Tristan Brown was keen to hold down top spot, but with new man on the scene Alistair Young, the going was always to be hard. Particularly when Conor found his way back from the doctors surgery with a go ahead. The usual suspects were out there too and it was good to see them working with the younger sailors between the races helping them and answering questions.
It's hard to say you couldn't try harder and the action in the 4.7's must have been terrific as Zoe Thomson lost by a fraction of a whisker to Caeilin Winchcombe. Scores were even and they went right down to the wire ( the last page of the rule book ) and Caeilin took the prize. Well sailed to both of them.
Can't forget the masters and the G masters and the GG masters. Still out there, still sailing and causing younger sailors to reach for the sky as they come thundering into a mark with the calm authority of the ages they carry.
Many thanks to the WALA association for the invitation to cover the event and for the great feed on Monday. Thanks also to Jenny Suffield who is the new person in charge of dinghy sailing at RFBYC. A big help with results and other stuff. And finally to Tom Blaauw, a 420 man who was having a weekend off and got roped into driving a support boat and eventually me as well. Many thanks Tom... a great job and good company.
Enjoy the images
Rick Steuart
Sunday the 2nd of March
Monday the 3rd of March
2014 Presentations
The Laser States at SoPYC 2012
The Lasers came out for the long weekend in March 2012 and South of Perth Yacht Club hosted 80 + Lasers in Full Rig, Radial and 4.7 's. The breeze was predominatley out of the east/nor east, without the seabreeze, but the sailing was brisk and the competition was fierce.
