Brad Hein wins South Australian RC Laser titles
The SA RC Laser titles were run at Mawson Lakes on the weekend of April 29/30 in light conditions with a fleet of 19 boats from 4 states. The title favorites of Brad Hein and Peter Burton didn’t disappoint but local sailor Tony White in one of his first forays into the Laser world with a borrowed boat, really stirred up the competition.
The first race, which I won featured winds which were on the upper margin of A rigs and local sailors including Tony chose A rigs while most of the visitors selected B rigs. However, with a slight increase in SW wind speed at the beginning of race two 4-5 sailors downsized to B rigs. But not Tony. He stuck with his A rig and won the next two races. It was quite obvious that Tony’s larger A rig was advantageous in the tightly contested starts and his two wins soon had Brad and Peter running for their A rigs. Brad then proceeded to claim a string of four wins while Peter Elverd had gear problems. In the meantime Garry Polomka was quietly putting together a series of good races and finished day 1 in fifth place.
Garry Polomka, Peter Lee and Darren Cathie at very close quarters on Saturday Photo by Gerry Geibel.
The starts were difficult all day and with light airs getting clear wind was absolutely critical. As a result some of the heavy weather specialists like Grant Gillespie and Peter Lee struggled. John Halloran from Queensland was always up in the top third of the fleet and had some good results later in the day.
Sunday proved to be a difficult day with very light northerly winds. Only two races could be conducted before light drizzle set in killing of the last remnants of breeze. The first race saw a very spread out field with Brad, Peter and Peter Yates getting a big lead over the remaining boats. The final race was very challenging with the lead changing many times with at one stage a group of 6-7 boats catching up to the 3 leaders. I led on several occasions and was fortunate to pick the upwind mark at the leeward gate and then in very light airs I managed to beat Peter Burton by a nose.
Overall the series was sailed in the usual good spirits that we have come to expect from RC Laser events. Stewart Ross ran an excellent series and his firm hand in making decisions was appreciated by all. Len Hearing and Lindsay Sawyer were observers assisting Stewart. Lorraine Berry, Rose Ross and Ross Bessell were our trustworthy scorers for the event. Bob Whitehead and Lindsay Sawyer conducted measuring of boats. Brian Marshall, Garry Loughead, John Moore and Dean Bonnett staffed the recovery boat. Meredith Reardon and Gaynor Kouwenhoven kept us all fed and watered. John Berry was the organiser in charge of this successful event.
Adrian Heard
Nineteen sailors from four states, with RO Stewart Ross far left. Photo by Janet Lee
Results
Pos | Name/Club | Sail No. | Nett | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brad Hein PORTLAND | AUS 333 | 19.0 | 48.0 |
2 | Peter Burton FORSTER TUNCURRY | AUS 190 | 31.0 | 59.0 |
3 | Tony White SAILING @ LIGHTSVIEW | AUS 279 | 50.0 | 85.0 |
4 | Adrian Heard MAWSON LAKES MYC (SA) | AUS 392 | 51.0 | 75.0 |
5 | Garry Polomka MAWSON LAKES MYC (SA) | AUS 184 | 53.0 | 77.0 |
6 | John Halloran SUNSHINE COAST | AUS 399 | 56.0 | 86.0 |
7 | Darren Cathie PLRMYC | AUS 297 | 67.0 | 97.0 |
8 | Peter Elverd WSC | AUS 314 | 70.0 | 108.0 |
9 | Peter Yates PLRMYC | AUS 189 | 85.0 | 120.0 |
10 | Peter Lee PLRMYC | AUS 82 | 86.0 | 123.0 |
11 | Gary Hein PORTLAND | AUS 342 | 88.0 | 122.0 |
12 | Grant Gillespie PLRMYC | AUS 49 | 92.0 | 124.0 |
13 | Mervyn McDonald PLRMYC | AUS 252 | 114.0 | 148.0 |
14 | Neville Hank WSC | AUS 326 | 120.0 | 157.0 |
15 | Bob Whitehead MAWSON LAKES MYC (SA) | AUS 259 | 122.0 | 158.0 |
16 | Mark Easton MAWSON LAKES MYC (SA) | AUS 42 | 126.0 | 162.0 |
17 | Liam Harper PORTLAND | AUS 282 | 141.0 | 176.0 |
18 | Don Turnbull MAWSON LAKES MYC (SA) | AUS 55 | 144.0 | 184.0 |
19 | Peter White SOUTH EASTERN HILLS MYC | AUS 321 | 146.0 | 185.0 |