NSW/ACT State Laser Titles contested by an enthusiastic big fleet

by NSW/ACT Laser Media Anchor Man on 11 Feb 2009
The NSW/ACT State Titles have just been contested on what has become a dark weekend for the country. Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the fires and floods.

The regatta itself enjoyed a massive turn out of sailors with an overall fleet size of over 150 boats. Yarra Bay Sailing Club on Sydney’s Botany Bay handled the fleet size with complete ease and all there volunteers did an outstanding job.

The weather showed up with blue skies and a great north-east breeze tipping over 30 knots in the afternoons. The great 'race master' Col did a fantastic job running the competition. His judgement and prediction of the weather conditions continued to be outstanding. He consistently kept the fleet’s safety a focal point. Kath Hermann was at her best again, keeping the paper work ashore up to date which kept the regatta on track. Our thanks goes out to you both.

Racing was great with most fleets running very tight where just one mistake would 'spit you out' to the back of the pack. With five races being completed it was still very difficult to split the pack.

The Standard rig division was dominated by Brett Beyer of Sydney with Tom Burton from Belmont coming in second and chasing close behind in the points for third was Jan Scholten of Sydney.
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Standard Rig State Championships Results
No Sailno Name Scores 1 2 3 4 5
1 192577 Brett Beyer, A, WSC 4 1 1 1 (2) 1
2 193403 Tom Burton, O, B16SC 8 2 (3) 3 1 2
3 189014 Jan Scholten, M, RPAYC 16 5 2 5 4 (6)

The Radial fleets although a little more spread out showed some familiar faces mixed with rising stars. There was a tight fight for first place in the women’s Radial division. Gabrielle King claimed the first place by breaking a tie over Alex South of Sydney in their last race. Josefin Olsson from Sweden was third and Megan Darby from Belmont was fourth overall and third Australian boat.

The Masters division was hotly contested. This was the rerun of the blown out Jervis Bay regatta. There were a lot of keen sailors with plenty of fuel in the tank. They were simply showing everybody how it is done.

Standard Rig Masters State Championship
Standard Apprentice
No Sail no Name Scores 1 2 3 4 5
1 192577 Brett Beyer, A, WSC 4 (1) 1 1 1 1
2 192588 Sean Feeney, A, MHASC 8 (2) 2 2 2
3 186625 Ian Young, A, GRSC 14 3 4 4 (5) 3

Standard Master
No Sail no Name Scores 1 2 3 4 5
1 189014 Jan Scholten, M, RPAYC 4 (2) 1 1 1
2 192297 Chris Dawson, M, RPAYC 7 1 (2) 2 2
3 192599 Andrew Bate, M, RPAYC 14 3 4 4 (6)

Standard Grand Master
No Sail no Name Scores 1 2 3 4 5
1 191641 Mark Bethwaite, GM, DBSC 4 1 (2) 1 1
2 190362 Rob Lowndes, GM, MHASC 8 3 1 2 (7)
3 163879 Tim Alexander, GM, NSC 12 2 (6) 3 2

Radial Master
No Sail no Name Scores 1 2 3 4 5
1 186624 Gary Ratcliffe, M, GRSC 5 2 1 (4) 1
2 188628 Lyndall Patterson, M, RQYS 8 1 2 (5) 3
3 189048 Vanessa Dudley, M, MHASC 14 4 (5) 2 4

Radial Grand Master
No Sail no Name Scores 1 2 3 4 5
1 191614 John Sprague, GM, GSC 6 2 1 (6) 2
2 193408 Peter Heywood, GM, WSC 6 (3) 2 1 1
3 190342 Peter Kennett, GM, RPAYC 9 1 3 2 3

Radial Great Grand Master
No Sail no Name Scores 1 2 3 4 5
1 191608 Lew Verdon, GGM, MHASC 6 (2) 2 1 2
2 192622 Geoffrey Lucas, GGM, MHASC 7 (3) 1 3
3 167051 Barry Pownall, GGM, GSC 9 1 3 2 3

Radial Masters - Women
No Sail no Name Scores 1 2 3 4 5
1 188628 Lyndall Patterson, M, RQYS 4 1 1 (2) 1
2 189048 Vanessa Dudley, M, MHASC 7 (2) 2 1 2
3 184678 Diane Sissingh, A, MHASC 14 (5) 5 3 3

There is fantastic talent coming through the youth ranks and the 4.7 rigs are showing excellent displays of potential. Nicholas Howe was the stand out, winning the 4.7 Rig.
No Sail no Name Scores 1 2 3 4
1 191645 Nicholas Howe, Y, RSYS 3 (1) 1 1 1
2 185366 Elliot Scali, Y, WSC 7 2 2 (6) 3
3 1 Marcus Whitley, Y, WSC 8 (6) 3 3 2

The next regatta for NSW is the Metro's being held on 14 and 15 March at Connells Point Sailing Club.

Our thanks goes to all those that helped out at this regatta making it another very successful weekend. We even had a small spectator crowd who enjoyed the racing as the Yarra Bay sailing area was a perfect arena to display our sport.

If any clubs are interested in holding a Laser event in the future and would like to know more about the benefits of big fleet racing please go to http://www.laser.asn.au/contacts.htm and contact us.

Full results of the regatta http://www.laser.asn.au/results_p6.htm

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