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2019 Laser North Island Champs Results and Report

Mon 25 Nov 2019 8:28pm

Standard, Radial and 4.7 Laser Results

We were back at the Napier Sailing Club's Summer Regatta for our 2019 North Island Laser Champs on 23rd & 24th November.

Napier SC always puts on a great event and this year it was the biggest, with over 200 boats across all the classes, from Opti's, Bic's through to the adult classes. Add some Hawkes Bay sun and warmth and it was a great start to the summer sailing.

The Lasers were on the outer Triangle/Windward/Leeward course along with Europes, OK's and Paper Tigers. Managing your position amongst the wider fleet was a big part of the weekend.

Saturday was a real challenge. The breeze was generally light to medium - but very unstable with short lived changes in wind direction and pressure. At times it was quite tricky keeping optimally trimmed and powered up in the small waves. Our RO Andrew had to reset the course before every race, and did well to get our 4 races in. The 3rd race was a bit dodgy for the Standards, crumping out a couple of times before a shortened finish. And the Radials had to abandon that start and were out fairly late getting their 4th race.

Sunday was lighter but actually more stable and we got our last 3 races in and back home fairly smoothly.

Most of us had our ups and downs, but as usual the best guys and girls were consistently at the front. They really earned their results.

Luke Cashmore won the Standards quite convincingly, ahead of the masters Dave Ridley and Andrew Delabarca.

Results were closer in the Radials. Youth sailor Caleb Armit had the measure of master sailor Phil Wild who finished just ahead of the first female Courtney Reynolds Smith. But all 3 sailors had wins.

Nathan Putt from Rotorua represented the 4.7s sailing within the other fleets.

Thanks again to the Napier SC for a well run and enjoyable regatta.

Canterbury Laser Champs 2019

Mon 25 Nov 2019 7:28pm

2019 Canterbury Laser Champs Results

Over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th November, 14 Full rigs, 4 4.7’s and 4 Radials competed at Christchurch Yacht Club. The racing was combined with the P Class trials.

We had a good spring tide and a window to work with for the days races in the Christchurch estuary. 

Saturday the breeze came in and we had 10-15 knots NE in Race 1 and 15-20 knots for Race 2. On Sunday we started Race 3 in a NW 20 knots which shifted to SW after the first 2 legs, so there was a lot of “follow the leader” reaches. Race 4 saw a SW to NE wind shift with 2 minutes to go. So, a downwind start it was, with the course again being a difficult Outer 3 type. The race officer Peter Stokell tried in desperation to get another start but the wind was doing 360’s.

Thanks again to CYC for the great event. 

Hamish Atkinson South Island rep.

2020 Auckland Women's Laser Champs

Thu 21 Nov 2019 12:50pm

Calling all women and female youth LASER SAILORS!

Point Chevalier Sailing Club warmly invites you to join us for the 7th edition of the Auckland Women's Laser Champs

Saturday 29th February 2020.

Race start: 10.30

NOR and event info to follow.

Please  contact Kirsty MacDonald pcsc.secretary@gmail.com to indicate your interest.

This event is for laser sailors new to racing as well as experienced sailors of all ages. 

 

A fun and welcoming regatta and a chance to meet up with other women laser sailors.

2019 North Harbour Masters Results & Report

Sun 10 Nov 2019 7:43pm
Results

A forecast of 20 to 30 knots freshening for a time in the middle of the day put quite a few off but after a couple of pretty fresh and gusty races to begin with the breeze dropped to around 10 knots for the final 3 races, giving everyone plenty of chances and allowing the fleet to avoid total exhaustion while providing extremely close racing, with many photo finishes right through the fleet.

 
There were quite a few swimmers in the first 2 races, with the very gusty northerly catching many out on the runs. This mixed up the results quite a bit, leading to an early discard for some of the favourites. In the end Cris Brodie (M) was a clear and well deserved winner in the Standards, showing consistent speed and tactics which enabled him to work up through the fleet on several occasions when he got back a bit early. Starting off the carpark with the breeze from the north provided some interesting challenges, with lulls, squalls and big shifts making getting to the first mark near the top of the bunch a bit of a lottery at times.
 
Second overall was GM Nick Page, who was looking good after the first 2 races and managed to be just consistent enough over the final 3 races to hold out Master Tony Nicholson. Tony a couple of great races, getting the bullet in race 2, but struggled for consistency and verticality, ending up 3rd overall. Other race winners in the Standards were GM Mark Hursthouse, who finished 4th overall and Thomas Borrmann, who did a horizon job on the fleet in race 4.
 
In the Radials, who started with the Standards, Apprentice Phil Wild managed a clean sweep, several times also beating almost all of the Standard fleet! Second was GM Werner Hennig who made the drive up from Hamilton for the day, while GM Jeff Coffin just pipped WM Georgina Wooldridge for 3rd spot.
 
Nick Page

Wanted - NZ Laser Association Secretary

Mon 4 Nov 2019 10:36am
After 7 years our NZLA secretary Karen Grimwade is moving on. Very many thanks to Karen who has done such a wonderful job and put up with us all for so long.
 
But now we are looking for a new NZLA secretary. 
 
This is a part time position covering all the usual administration of the class in NZ and carries an honorarium, currently $4000 pa. The secretary is fully supported by the NZLA committee, who are always available to assist in sorting out any problems that arise.
 
The general scope of the position is as follows;
  • Agendas and minutes for AGM, and two or three committee meetings a year.
  • Registration of members over the year;  administer our database of contact details and payments, and as membership registrations come in, send out membership pack (sticker, handbook & welcome letter).  NZLA has approximately 150 active members.
  • Pay the bills and keep an eye on the bank account.
  • Interact with the ILCA; payment of annual membership, ranking of Worlds Sailors and order cubes.
  • Administer Nationals entries in the lead up to Nationals each January.
  • Attend Nationals; manage the registration of entries and other Nationals related administration.
  • Send out ‘newsletter’ style emails to members from time to time over the year
 
The amount of work required each week varies with the time of year, with the period leading up to the Nationals being the busiest, but there will be many weeks where no work is required other than general monitoring of e mails etc. Management of the class website and facebook page is done by other committee members.
 
If you may be interested and available please contact the NZLA chairman, Nick Page (pages4@xtra.co.nz), and have a chat and raise any questions you may have.
 

Chairmans Report - 2019 NZ Laser Association AGM

Tue 22 Oct 2019 2:31pm
Yes, 2019 has again been a good year for Laser in NZ with good turnouts nationally at regattas, particularly in the Youth fleet, and success on the international stage for our Olympic sailors. 
 
The core of the success of the class however remains attracting and retaining new sailors at all levels. It has been pleasing to see strong club fleets in many regions but it remains a challenge for the class to retain numbers as longstanding members of the masters fleet become less active and youth sailors move on to new challenges if they are not looking at Olympic campaigns.
 
After a very challenging couple of years for the class, the Laser and the Laser Radial have been confirmed by World Sailing as the single handed classes for men and women for the 2024 Olympics. I believe this is great news for the class and its future. Part of World Sailing’s requirements for Olympic selection was that the class adopt a policy to allow new manufacturers to enter the Laser market. The class has agreed to this and is just commencing the appointment process. In NZ we do not expect any rapid change to the market for boats and equipment but in the medium term we hope that the scope of the class will expand and that this will lead to more competitive pricing for boats and equipment in the future.
 
Congratulations to George Gautrey and Sam Meech, whos results on the world stage this year have continued to demonstrate the strength of our Men’s Laser squad and the talent of our sailors. Of particularly note are George’s podium finish in the worlds in Japan and Sam’s consistency and No1 World Ranking. Our women sailors have also competed internationally and have been successful in qualifying NZ for an Olympic spot in 2024 if they are able to meet the NZ Olympic committee selection criteria.
 
Congratulations also to Dave Ridley and Scott Leith for their recent victories in the World Masters in Holland. There were also many other solid performances from our top Youth, Open and Masters sailors at international regattas.
 
The Nationals at Manly was again a success, with good numbers in the Masters and Youths. It was extremely well run by Manly and the fleet again enjoyed a great variety of conditions. We trust that this years nationals in New Plymouth will be well supported and we look forward to some awesome sailing at this iconic venue.
 
Our grants and coaching initiatives have continued and NZLA will continue to encourage and sponsor coaching this season for any club or group of Laser sailors.  I think this is a great opportunity for clubs and would encourage any club to get in touch to see how we can assist.
 
Financially we again had a satisfactory year and the Association remains in good financial health. We again had a small loss but this was within the committees comfort zone, given the cash resources of the Association. We are however continuing to look at options for a fundraising initiative to bolster the Associations coffers and ensure its ongoing financial health.
 
Internationally ILCA continues to try and work with the manufacturers on the ongoing equipment issues. We understand that approval of the carbon alternative for the Radial bottom section imminent. Unfortunately the issues with the European Laser manufacturers have continued, but with the introduction of the WS FRAND policy this year we are hopeful that these too are nearing resolution. 
 
Thanks again to Karen who has continued to do a great job as our secretary and to all our committee for their input this year. 
 
If anyone would like to join the committee or propose or discuss any Laser issue you are always welcome to contact me or any member of the committee via the NZLA website e mail contacts
 
Thanks 
Nick Page 
Chairman NZLA
 

2019 South Island Laser Champs

Thu 17 Oct 2019 11:26am
  • 30th Nov & 1st Dec 2019
  • Vaxhaull Yacht CLub, Dunedin
  • NOR
  • Entry

 

Royal Akarana Laser Twilight Series

Tue 24 Sep 2019 6:24pm

The second season of the Akarana Thursday night Laser Twilight series is about to kick off

  • Thursday nights
  • starts Thursday 3rd October 2019.
  • 5:15pm briefing
  • 6pm first race
  • more details and dates at rayc.co.nz/lasers/

2 NZ Champions - Laser Masters Worlds 2019

Sun 15 Sep 2019 7:46pm

Great effort by NZ sailors at the 2019 Laser Master Worlds at Port Zelande, Netherlands.

With Dave Ridley winning the Standard Apprentice Masters only securing the win on the last day after and epic battle with Eduardo Van Vianan (NED) and Jared West (ESP).

And Scott Leith won yet again in the Radial Masters, holding the lead from the 2nd day of the regatta to beat Anders Mattsson (SWE) and Ledet Jean-Christophe (FRA).

Rounding put the NZ tean were Andrew Dellabarca, Cris Brodie and Luuk Van Basten Battenburg now living and sailing for the Netherlands.

It was a tricky regatta with big wind shifts in some races, catching out even some of the big names.


2020 Mitre10 MEGA NZ National Laser Champs - New Plymouth

Sun 18 Aug 2019 3:08pm

Back to New Plymouth for our national champs with the generous support of Mitre10 MEGA.

The NPYC runs great regattas, and the sailing there can be fantastic. We have had memorable years with spectacular downwind sailing.

Enter early to get a T-Shirt.

Don't miss it.

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