Laser 5000 GBR5233 Taff & Ade

We cannot be complacent however and although we have found more boats and new crews are coming forward, there are one or two who have had to sell their boats due to family commitments and to the current fiscal climate where people are having to concentrate on work; leisure time is more difficult to find and understandably family priorities come first.  The boat remains a challenge for many and I suppose amongst the many different priorities that people have, they may find it easier to sail a less demanding boat, despite the high intensity thrills the 5 tonner provides.  We must find ways of getting the boats that are sitting in boat yards and gardens out on the water again and sailing.

Despite this, we have had an active season and those that are sailing made some sterling efforts to keep the association active and much fun and entertainment was had.

RYA DINGHY SHOW – ALEXANDRA PALACE

Laser 5000 stand 2011 RYA Volvo Dinghy Show Alexandra Palace

The association has had an extremely rewarding year which started with the help of Northampton Sailboats as they invited the Class to join them at the RYA Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace.  There were many who showed an interest in the class and many youngsters showed an interest in the skiff, particularly due to the very affordable 2nd hand prices.

GBR5233 at the 2011 RYA dinghy show

We’ve followed one or two of these up and it’s slowly beginning to pay dividends.  In addition, many of the ‘old sweats’ came to see the boat again and many yarns were re-counted.  It was particularly good to see Derek Clark and Cliff Norbury, who were part of the original design team.

TRAINING WEEKEND – GRAFHAM WATER SC

Laser 5000 Land simulator training at Grafham

The annual training weekend was run again in April, however this time it was at Grafham Water with some new faces on the scene.  Having seen Mark Reynell at the 2010 National Championships, it was good to see him again at the Training Weekend, although he probably delivered more training from his effortless sailing that he actually received!  One highlight of the weekend was the appearance of Ben Julian, who now owns GBR 5000, the original production model Laser 5000 and although he said there was lots of work to be done on it, it was great to see him.  The weekend went well with lots of boat handling drills, and I think that by the end of the Sunday, the crews there wanted to put the Coach’s whistle somewhere that shouldn’t be mentioned!

OPEN EVENT – POOLE YC

Laser 5000 GBR5248 Thomas & Ade at Poole

The next event for the Class Association was an open event held at Poole YC.  The club hosted us in fine style despite only 5 crews attending the event, probably due to the high winds forecast.  Having said that the winds on Saturday turned out to be light with many crews searching for the twin wire breeze.
True to the forecast, high winds in the top of a 5 range with massive force 6 gusts appeared on Sunday and it took a while for the decision to be made to head out to the sailing area.  2 boats decided to sit it out, with 3 heading out to the race area with the boat making the least mistakes (and therefore capsizes in these conditions) to win – but only just!

GBR5300 Mark & Susie at Poole

Results for Poole were:

1 GBR 5300 Mark/Susie Poole YC 3pts
2 GBR 5233 Taff/Mark, ASA 5pts
3 GBR 5196 Thomas/Alan Porthmadog 8pts
4 GBR 5113 Tom/Alec, RWSC 10pts
5 GBR 5248 Ade/James, Cargreen SC 16pts

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – FILEY YC (Sponsored by Northampton Sailboats)

GBR5307 Alistair & Paddy

In an effort to make the Class more inclusive in 2011, The Laser 5000 National Championships were held at Filey SC in North Yorkshire. The stunning venue allowed the 2010 European Champions from Scotland the opportunity to travel to the event covering more or less the same distance as those travelling from the south.  The Championships were kindly sponsored by Northampton Sailboats, our equipment supplier.  Entrants came from far and wide, with teams from Loch Lomond, Plymouth, Pembrokeshire, Suffolk, North Wales and the centre of England.

Final positions were:

1. GBR 5307 Alister/Paddy Loch Lomond 4 Points
2. GBR 5231 Thomas/Alistair GWSC 5 Points
3. GBR 5233 Taff/Nigel Army SA/Dale YC 8 Points
4. GBR 5249 Mark/Nicky GWSC 10 Points
5. GBR 5248 Ade/James Cargreen YC 12 Points
6. GBR 5269 Paul/Ed GWSC 13 Points
7. GBR 5035 Neil/Ben Felixstowe Ferry 21 Points
8. GBR 5196 Alan/Ed Porthmadog SC 22 Points.

OPEN EVENT – LOCH LOMOND SC(Sponsored by Glengoyne Distillery)
The Scots crews from Loch Lomond invited the Association to the Loch Lomond Dinghy Weekend and with the promise of sponsorship from Glengoyne Distillery, the class set off!
The club did a sterling job, with over 103 dinghies entering into a very tight fought and tactical weekend’s racing, with two courses for fast handicap and slow handicap fleets.  Of the Laser 5000 fleet, entries made the effort to drive up from as far as Plymouth, Poole, the Midlands, North Wales, Cambridgeshire, Pembrokeshire and of course Scotland and all were made welcome on the Friday evening by Paddy, the Club barman, Lasagne Cook and Laser 5000 sailor (is that wise making him the barman!?).  Boats were assembled; lasagne eaten and beer quaffed on the Friday evening before the rain arrived and the wind disappeared! (Note to self – check tent for leaks before you leave for an event nearly 400 miles away!).  The highlight of the weekend for me was seeing GBR 5000 – the original production Laser 5000 once again on the water after a lot of very hard work by Ben – she looked in a great condition considering the state she had been in some 3 months earlier.
And another note to self – in light airs, within 30 seconds of the gun, with boats all around and not going fast, it’s not a good idea to gybe away and expect to be able to accelerate across the line with backed battens, however much I swear at them!

Final placing’s were:

1. Mark/Susie GBR 5300 Poole YC
2. Alister/Paddy GBR 5307 Loch Lomond YC
3. Mark/Nicki GBR 5249 Grafham Water SC
4. Alan/Alastair GBR 5235 Loch Lomond YC
5. Taff/Ade GBR 5233 ASA/Dale YC
6. Ben/Chris GBR 5000 Edgebaston Reservoir SC
7. Paul/Ed GBR 5269 Grafham Water SC
8. Alan/Ed GBR 5196 Porthmadog SC

Laser 5000 2011 Loch Lomond Open meeting competitors

INLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS – RUTLAND WATER SC

GBR5243 Thomas & Alistair rigging

The usual final event of the season was the Inland Championships, held during the ‘Laser Classes’ event at Rutland Water.  Only 5 boats managed to make the trip, but some tight and interesting racing was seen in a range of wind conditions.

At the end of the weekend, the final 2011 Inland Championships results are:

1. Mark/Susie GBR5300 Poole YC
2. Thomas/Alistair GBR5231 Grafham Water SC
3. Tom/Niall GBR5301 Draycote Water SC
4. Taff/Nigel GBR5233 Army SA/ Dale YC
5. Neil/George GBR5035 Felixstowe Ferry SC

TRAVERLLERS’ SERIES RESULTS

2011 Rutland Inland Championships

At the end of the 2011, despite low turn-out at some of the events, a total of 13 boats were seen on the race track, which is an increase of 2 boats on the previous season, indicating a further increase in participation across the fleet.  Final placing’s in the Laser 5000
Travellers’ Series were therefore:

1st.  Mark and Susie Reynell GBR 5300 Pool YC 12 points
2nd. Taff Owens/Nigel Simms GBR 5322 ASA/Dale 14 points
3rd. Alister Kinsman/Paddy Adler GBR 5307 LLSC 15 points
4th. Thomas Sauval/Alistair Farman GBR 5321 GWSC 16 points
5th. Mark and Nicky Rushton GBR 5249 GWSC 19 points
=6th. Paul Burns/Ed James         GBR 5269 GWSC 25 points
=6th.Ade Beaven-Smith/James Williams GBR 5248 Cargeen SC 25 points
=6th. Alan Moss/ Alastair GBR5235 LLSC 25 points
=7th. Neil and George Luckett       GBR 5035   Felixstowe 27 points
=7th. Ben Julian/ and Chris GBR 5000 Edgebaston 27 points
=8th. Tom Hill/Alec GBR 5113 RWSC 28 points
=8th. Alan Butler/Ed GBR 5196 Porthmadog 28 points
=8th.Niall Ferguson/Tom Lambert GBR 5301 Draycot SC 28 points

Members of the Association will also be taking part in the SailJuice Series of races which are five major handicap events which constitute this winter’s series. They are:

Draycote Dash, Draycote Water Sailing ClubSaturday/Sunday 19/20 November 2011

Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing ClubMonday 2nd January 2012

Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club Saturday 7th January 2012

Steve Nicholson Trophy, Northampton Sailing Club Saturday 28 January 2012

John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th February 2012

2012 Laser 5000 Sailing Programme

This event marks the end of a great 2011 season of strong class racing to build on for 2012, starting with training at Grafham in April and including the European Championships on UK shores in Plymouth in July.
The full programme for 2012 is shown below.
Training Weekend at Grafham Water – 14th/15th April
Open Event at Grafham Water (During ‘Laser Masters’ event) – 26th/27th May
National Championships at Dale SC – 30 June/1 July (tbc)
European Championships at Plymouth –  23 to 29 July
Open Event in September (TBC)
Inland Championships at Rutland Water SC – Oct

A special mention is reserved for the loss of Thomas and Alistair from the UK fleet as regular circuit competitors as a result of Thomas moving back to France – we haven’t stopped trying to tempt them back, they will be missed.

OTHER MATTERS
Masts. Many of you will be aware that since the sale of the last mast held by Northampton Sailboats, I have been looking at the various options for getting new mast built for the Class.  Selden, who were the manufacturer of the original Cirrus section are no longer interested in producing the mast and there are no other manufacturers in the UK that are willing or able to produce it although Z Spars were very helpful to us, they cannot produce the mast we want.
I have sought the consensus of the Association and much debate was had about whether we should adopt a carbon option for a mast.  Eventually this option was not considered to be in the interests of the Association for various reasons – cost, separation of the fleet, undermining the one design ethos and the possibility of having to re-cut sails amongst others.  I have therefore sought the assistance of an aluminium extrusion company, not in the marine industry with the construction of a new mast.  We are still in the initial investigations; measurements have been taken, discussions had and in the first instance, the Chief Engineer is quite hopeful.  However, I have not discussed costs yet or how production and sales will be handled or who source the rigging.  So, despite some initial optimism, there is still a long way to go before I can truly say we have solved the problem.

Association Handbook and Rules.   If you go to the Association Webpage you will find the latest edition (Edn 6) of the Association Handbook.  I would urge you all to read it and take note of the various hints and tips contained within it.  In addition it clearly indicates the rules for the One Design Class, it is crucial that all that sail the boat understand and apply these rules, not only for our Class Events, where weight and righting measurement will be taken and boats may be liable to inspection, but also within your own club handicap racing.  After all, the handicaps are based on the boats being sailed according to their rules and sailing the boat against others in the class should be all about skill and boat handling and not about different weight advantages and sailcloth etc.

Sponsorship.  During the year we have received some sponsorship for various sources – Northampton Sailboats, Glengoyne Distillery and you may not be aware, but also from Noble Marine who have provided some finance and are willing to do so again – hence the logo at the bottom of this page and on other documents that we produce.  They are very helpful to members of the association that have sought insurance through them on production of a valid membership number in the past.

Association Fees.   We have made the decision to reduce the membership fees for this coming year to £30 for full membership and students will only have to pay £20, so it’s once again a great deal to be a member and I would urge you all get your fees to Neil Luckett as soon as possible in 2012.  The committee do a great deal of work on your behalf and there are some events in 2012 where we will require some funding to reduce entry costs to members and we may also need a pot of money to help with the finance of the new masts. There have been a few instances in 2011 where people have sought assistance from the Association, but have not been members and have subsequently not paid, this will not happen in the future!

Activate the Fleet.   Some of you may be aware of the ‘Activate your Fleet’ campaign that the RYA have been running for the last few years.  In an attempt to improve the entries to events and to get more people sailing this great boat, a few of the committee have been very active in their areas to get in touch with various clubs and sailing associations to see if they can find boats in yards/garden etc and to try and encourage people to get them back onto the water.  We will continue with the campaign in 2012.  I would ask you all however, if you know of any boats or owners of boats that are not being used, to let us know or talk to them to find out why.  If we can help get them on the water again, we will.  If we can help sell them by advertising on our Classified Advert site on the webpage, we will.  If people want some training, we’ll also see what we can do.  We can also offer some trial sails (depending on location) if people want to try out a boat before they buy one.  Please help us out.

Finally, 2012 will be my last year as the Chairman of the Association, I would therefore ask, that all of you who own a boat and want to get the most out of it make every effort to attend some of our events for the year.  Crucially we have a European Championship in Plymouth, just as the Olympics are about to start (it’s a great way for the continental 5000 sailors to get across here to see some of the festivities).  In addition, and being totally self-serving, the Nationals will be held at my home club, Dale, in Pembrokeshire and in order to make it cost effective, we need as many people as possible to come to it.  It’s a lovely place, very beautiful, with a great sailing area and plenty of places to stay, the beer is pretty good to!

Although it’s slightly early, I hope you all the very best for the Christmas period and I hope that everybody has a great 2012.

All the best

Taff,
Chairman Laser 5000 Association

The weekend of the 15th & 16th October saw 5 crews gather at Rutland Sailing Club for the 2011 Inland Championships, the concluding event of a great 2011 season that started with a training weekend at Grafham in May, followed by class events in Poole, Filey, and Loch Lomond throughout the summer.

Three races were held on Saturday in difficult, light and shifty conditions. Race 1 got off to a great start with all five boats in close proximity to each other for the first lap. Thomas Sauvel and Alistair Farman in GBR5231 showed good light air boat speed and handling to win races 1 and 2 with solid starts and well executed tactics, keeping their nerve in race 1 when Mark and Susie Reynell in GBR 5300, only half a boat length astern, headed for the finish after lap four leaving Thomas and Alistair to start another beat. 5300 soon discovered it was a six lap race and re-joined to fight for 2nd with Thomas Lambert and Niall Ferguson in GBR 5301, whilst 5231 had it right and extended their lead to a healthy margin to take the pressure off and seal the victory.Meanwhile, close behind, the fleet were hot on their heels with frequent position changes in the shifty conditions.5300 got off the start line first in the last race and held on to the lead to win the third race with 5231 close behind in second. Taff Owens and Nigel Simms in GBR 5233 fought closely with 5301 and Neil and George Luckett in GBR5035 throughout the first two races with frequent place changes to share 3rd,4th and 5th positions. 5035 unfortunately had to bring their regatta to a close before the start of the third race.5231 ended the day as overnight leaders, one point clear of 5300.

With another three races scheduled, Sunday dawned to a mirror finish on Rutland Water, allowing competitors the chance to catch some rugby world cup action before the AP was finally lowered as the breeze began to fill in.By the time race 4 got under way the breeze had built to a solid 10 knots, gusting into the low to mid teens. Racing on the outer loop of the trapezoidal course, windward and leeward marks were placed within 30m of a parallel shore, making for exciting sailing on a congested race course. Positions changed throughout the fleet, the lead changing between 5231 and 5300, with 5300 eventually getting the bullet.

Race 5 saw more close racing on a course re-laid for the right hand shift in wind direction, moving competitors further away from the shore. 5300 lead from 5231 culminating in a nail biting final close reach to the finish, 5231 holding their kite whilst 5300 chose to go for white sails only. Eventually, a short leg and a couple of badly timed gusts transpired against 5231, securing 5300 the win.

Close racing throughout the weekend meant that settling the final results came down to last race duels between 5231 and 5300 for 1st and 5233 and 5301 for 3rd. Pre-start saw aggressive match race manoeuvring between 5231 and 5300 on a pin end bias line. This theme was continued up the first beat with some close quarter action and matched tacking, with 5233 and 5301 also in the mix.5300 reached the first mark ahead, followed by 5301, 5231 and 5233 respectively. 5300 went on to extend their lead to the finish and secure the overall win, whilst positions changed behind to see 5231 coming in 2nd, followed by 5301 and 5233; 5301 doing enough to secure 3rd overall on count back. Following completion of the course, it transpired that 5231 had been deemed OCS amongst the pre-start excitment.

At the end of the weekend, the final 2011 Inland Championships results are:
1st GBR5300 Mark Reynell/ Susie Reynell Poole YC
2nd GBR5231 Thomas Sauvel/ Alistair Farman Grafham Water SC
3rd GBR5301 Thomas Lambert/ Niall Ferguson Draycote Water SC
4th GBR5233 Taff Owens/ Nigel Simms Army SA/ Dale YC
5th GBR5035 Neil Luckett/ George Luckett Felixstowe Ferry SC

This event marks the end of a great 2011 season of strong class racing to build on for 2012, starting with training at Grafham in April and including the European Championships on UK shores in Plymouth in July.
A special mention is reserved for the loss of Thomas and Alistair from the UK fleet as regular circuit competitors as a result of Thomas moving back to France – we haven’t stopped trying to tempt them back, they will be missed.

Report by Mark Reynell
Laser 5000 Class Association Secretary

Laser 5000 2011 Loch Lomond Open meeting competitors

Well done to all everybody who competed in 2011 and good luck in 2012.

(Sponsored by Glengoyne Distillery)

Once again, the Laser 5000 Association came together to hold an Open Meeting at the stunning venue of Loch Lomond as part of the Loch Lomond Dinghy Weekend, with the results counting towards the Laser 5000 Travellers’ Series.

The club did a sterling job, with over 103 dinghies entering into a very tight fought and tactical weekend’s racing, with two courses for fast handicap and slow handicap fleets, which where once again split down to the various competitions.

Of the Laser 5000 fleet, entries made the effort to drive up from as far as Plymouth, Poole, the Midlands, North Wales, Cambridgeshire, Pembrokeshire and of course Scotland and all were made welcome on the Friday evening by Paddy, the Club barman, Lasagne Cook and Laser 5000 sailor (is that wise making him the barman!?). Boats were assembled, lasagne eaten and beer quaffed on the Friday evening before the rain arrived and the wind disappeard! (Note to self – check tent for leaks before you leave for an event nearly 400 miles away!). The highlight of the weekend for me was seeing GBR 5000 – the original production Laser 5000 once again on the water after a lot of very hard work by Ben Julian to get her back on the water and she looked in a great condition considering the state she had been in some 3 months earlier.

So, Saturday morning presented itself as wet with not much wind; however as the morning progressed and we got into our wetsuits, the clouds began to break and the wind built. At ¾ of an hour before the start, the wind was such that heavy settings were applied and a screaming two sail reach to the start area was much enjoyed! Oh, what a mistake, that was the most of the wind throughout the weekend and it slowly subsided to around a very fluky and hard to read force 2 to 3 at best. However, the Race Officer did a sterling job to lay a course in an ever shifting wind and the races got underway.

Laser 5000 Fleet

It soon became apparent that Mark and Susie in GBR 5300 had lost none of the boat speed that they demonstrated at Poole in the early part of the year and soon got off to a striking lead, with Alister and Paddy in GBR 5307 chasing hard. Indeed, these two boats held pretty much the same position for most of the racing, with most of the change of positions being made mid fleet. There were some interesting tussles between Mark and Nicky in GBR 5246 (Nimby) and Ben and Chris in 5000 showing that the older boats remain as
competitive as the higher sail numbers. Taff and Ade GBR 5233 (Army), Alan and Alister in GBR 5235 and Paul and Ed in GBR 5269 (Shaken not Stirred) were having a great battles for the mid fleet positions with GBR 5235 getting the slightly better in the light conditions and Army struggling to maintain boat speed – until an almighty gust came down the course! Army managed to capitalise on the wind and held a very tight reach to the downwind mark and on upwind before the wind died again to take a very lucky 3rd place behind Mark/Susie and Alister/Paddy, with a trail of other boats wondering what had just happened and why the metal wasn’t in the sky anymore!

The shifting and testing wind conditions became the order of the day, with the Race Officer having to change the course each time between races and those that had applied heavy weather settings at the start of the day began to seriously regret that decision with some boats taking a chance and changing the rig settings on the water. Not a move for the feint hearted! However, the dye had been cast, Mark/Susie and Alister/Paddy were showing the rest of the fleet a clean pair if heels and gave brilliant demonstrations of how to keep the boat going in the right direction with speed in the lightest of conditions.

So, after 3 races, it was back to the club for some more beer, fine tales and good food and some stunning views of the Loch and the surrounding hills.

Sunday appeared, but the wind didn’t and in even less wind than the day before, the fleet set off for the race area and the Race Officer decided that there was sufficient (and more consistent) wind to start Race 4.

Now, in light airs, within 30 seconds of the gun, with boats all around and not going fast, it’s never a good idea to gybe away from other boats and expect to be able to accelerate across the line with backed battens, but I tried! Stopping, watching the rest of the fleet get away to a clean start and still being on the wrong side of the line half way through the next fleet’s start sequence is never a good idea and after having a word with myself (with the crew piping in), GBR 5233 managed to get going again! Typically, Mark/Susie were about rounding the upwind mark by this stage, with Ben/Chris(GBR 5000) showing brilliant boat speed in the light conditions not far

behind and in real competition with Alister and Paddy, good for them! Alan and Ed in GBR 5196, being quite new to 5000 sailing had just got the hang of making sure that Ed (the crew) was staying well forward in front of the mast, great. What came as a surprise to Alan was that when some wind did come through
and Ed not easily able to ‘spring’ out onto the wire that the boat would go from underneath him and so they decided to wash the sails! Still, another lesson learnt. Thankfully, Alan/Alister (GBR 5235) also decided to hang the washing out with a rather tied up kite, which allowed Taff/Ade to squeeze through to take 6th position, which was a real bonus and not expected.

Time for the 5th race of the series and this time, the whole fleet managed to cross the line in reasonable competition with each other and once again, GBR 5000 getting a brilliant start and were doing well up the windward leg, with GBR 5300 slowly reeling them in. As the last boats in the fleet managed to get around the upwind mark, the last of the wind gave up! Kites that had been flying were now a hindrance as they trailed in the water and were soon put away one by one. The RO shortened course at the downwind mark
and it was now a test of who could drift the fastest. The leading two boats – Mark/Susie and Ben/Chris were almost within touching distance of each other as they passed the mark and finished with Alister/Paddy not far behind. However, there was a large gap to the next 3 boats – Mark/Nicky, Alan/Alister and Taff/Ade with Paul/Ed behind them and Alan/Ed only halfway down the leg. Somehow, Army (GBR 5233) managed to get the smallest zephyr of wind to gain sufficient momentum to carry past both boats in front to take 4th.

There was no point in trying to run a 6th race and the Race Officer called it a day and we all headed off to the club in the most stunning scenery. Despite the light and fickle winds, the weekend was a great success. The fleet had made the effort to travel a long way to get there, GBR 5000 is back on the water racing, some great Malt Whiskey prizes for the top 5 (thank heavens for that zephyr of wind!) provided by the Glengoyne Distillary, some great hosts and good banter and more boats on the water show that the Laser 5000 fleet
is still a force to be reckoned with!. Final placing’s were:

1st Mark and Susie GBR5300
2nd Alister and Paddy GBR5307
3rd Mark and Nicki GBR5249
4th Alan and Alastair GBR5235 (Nimby)
5th Taff and Ade GBR5233 (Army)
6th Ben and Chris GBR5000
7th Paul and Ed GBR5269 (Shaken Not Stirred)
8th Alan and Ed GBR5196

That means that the travellers’ series now looks like:

1 GBR 5307 9 Points
2 GBR 5233 10 Points
3 GBR 5300 11 Points
4 GBR 5249 13 Points
5 GBR 5231 14 Points
6 GBR 5235 19 Points
=6 GBR 5248 19 Points
=6 GBR 5269 19 Points
7 GBR 5000 21 Points
=8 GBR 5035 22 Points
=8 GBR 5113 22 Points
=8 GBR 5196 22 Points

The final event to count towards this series is the Inland Championships at
Rutland Water SC on 15th and 16th October. I hope to see you all there.

Click here for a short video of the Laser 5000 stand at the show

Pic 2

Laser 5000 RYA 2011 Dinghy Show Stand

I’ll start with a huge thank you to the teams who manned the Laser 5000 stand over the weekend and special thanks have to go to Taff for his herculean efforts in organising our presence at the show. Massive thanks are also due to Tony, Dan and the Sailboats.co.uk team for their invaluable sponsorship of the class association stand.

The weekend brought a steady flow of visitors to the stand from past masters, current contenders through to potential future champions. We met many people recounting their memories of sailing or campainging a 5k in it’s early years. All were pleased to see that there is still an active 5k class association and fleet with some even expressing an interest in coming back to play with us again.

We made contact with several long term 5k owners who have not sailed their boats often or with us recently. We have hopefully engendered some enthusiasm for them to dust off their 5ks and come and join us at the events this year, especially the Laser 5000 training on 9th and 10th April month at Grafham to help them to tame their beasts! You guys know who you are so get those boats out and come and join in next month. I was in your position last year and have found the 5K hard core one of the friendliest and helpful groups in our sport, this has undoubtedly helped kick start my 5k career!

Pic 2

GBR5000 Reaching

One of the many highlights of the show was learning that GBR5000 the very first of the production boats is alive and kicking. Ben and Dan have acquired her are bestowing lots of TLC and sailing her in the Birmingham area. They need help with a few bits so please let us know if you have any spares that you’d be willing to part with to help them out. Spinnaker system, Pole, Sock, Bag and kite all needed as well as weights.

Another memorable moments over the weekend were visits from Derek Clark and Cliff Norbury two of the original design team, both of who came over with valuable information for us and to catch up with the latest happenings in the fleet.

In summary we had a really good show and have definitely raised the profile of the 5K within the sailing community once again.

Happy New Year to you all and I hope that you’ve all had a restive period and are now ready for the 2011 sailing season.  I see from some of the posts on the forum of our fantastic new website that the more intrepid (or nutty) ones of you have already started your training for the season.  Well done and it’s a good reminder to the rest of us to get away from the doom and gloom of the economic situation and blow away the cobwebs by getting out for a blast.

Those of you who were at the AGM at Rutland will know that the Association has had rewarding 2010 season with many high points from sailing at the Nationals in some very windy conditions to perhaps the best bit of news – 11 boats competing at international level at our European Championships at the Mohnesee in Germany – well done to all of you that made it and thanks for helping make it such a good event.

The Association committee has done wonders again and on your behalf I’d like to thank them all for the hard work, selfless commitment and time that they contribute to making sure that the class continues to develop and grow once again; without their help, my job would be impossible and the class would be in trouble.

And so to the plans for the 2011 season; as far as the racing is concerned, we’ve tried to spread it through the country in order to try and get more of our membership (you) involved and to raise awareness of the Association once again so please, if you can, try and get to the events.

You may have noticed from the website that we are going to be represented at the RYA Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace on the 5^th and 6^th of March.  We will be sharing a stand with the Laser 4000 and Laser 2 Associations.   The stand is being sponsored by Northampton Sailboats with whom we are developing a good relationship and they are supporting us very well in 2011 – including more sponsorship for our Nationals – more of this later.  Come along to Ali Pally in March and see us there.  I’m also looking for one or two volunteers to help out on the stand.

We have our usual training weekend in April over the 9^th and 10^th. This time it’s going to be at Grafham Water SC, where the majority of the fleet are.  I fully expect the format to be similar to those events in the past, but if you have any suggestions, please send them to me or other members of the committee.  The sooner you get your name down for this the better we can prepare.

In May (7^th and 8^th) we’ll have our first races of the season with an Open event at Poole which is being coordinated by Mark Reynell, details will be posted onto the website in due course.  Please try and make it.

Our National Championships this year will be held at Filey SC near Scarborough in North Yorkshire on 25^th and 26^th of June.  We have chosen this venue because it will allow a number of boats to come south from Scotland reasonably easily, but it’s also roughly equidistant for the boats from the south of the country.  It is of course a coastal venue which is a pre-requisite of the Nationals.  It also coincides with the Filey Regatta, which should be a good social event with a beach BBQ – which as a very exuberant association, I’m sure we can contribute to!

We are also going to take part in the Loch Lomond Dinghy Weekend on the 3^rd and 4^th of September as one of our official open events. As this is the home of our current European Champions, I’m sure that there is some great racing to be had and a great social also (so they tell me).  Start your plans now.

Our final official event for the season will once again be the Inland Championships hosted as part of the Rutland Water Laser Classes event in October (15^th and 16^th).  This proved to be a challenging event in 2010, with some pretty close and interesting racing.

PLEASE I would request that you all try and make it to these events where you can.  There are many reasons to try, but perhaps most importantly, we are a friendly and welcoming association and you’ll have a great time in good company.  We will share ideas and thoughts and you will improve your sailing, no matter what standard you are at.

A reminder to all that at all of these events, the Association rules regarding weight equalisation will apply.  If you’re not sure of these, then please have a look on the website.  This makes it an equal playing field for all those that participate.  We have had some issues with scales/planks in 2010, which we will try to resolve for 2011.

Lastly, my usual call for you to pay your association subs – we have had to raise them for this year only for returning members – new members and students will get their membership at half price.  We had a very successful year last year, but it did cost the Association a lot of money and as a consequence our coffers look very empty and we have some commitments to pay for this year, so I request that you please get your membership into Neil as soon as possible.  You get some great benefits – cheaper insurance through Noble Marine, 10% off the price of sails through Northampton Sailboats are a couple. Please pay up!

On that note, have a great 2011 J! I hope to see you at the Dinghy Show and all of the other events this year.

Regards

Taff
Chairman
Laser 5000 Association.

Welcome to the new look Class Association Website, which has been built by Adrian Beaven-Smith who has dedicated a lot of hard work in his own time to building this interactive site. I think you’ll agree that it looks fantastic and will be a great asset to the Association. Please get in touch with us if you have any ideas for inclusion into the site. You will notice a page for Classified Advertisements, which you can all use for a (very) small fee to advertise either your boat or any parts that you may wish to get shot of. Although you can go to ApplloDuck and get a free advertisement, you only get one picture and it does not necessarily attract potential 5000 sailors.

If any of you out there are new to the 5000, please get in touch with me and let me know what sail number you have and where you’ll be sailing, we are a very friendly bunch who are always prepared to provide hints and tips to improve your sailing. Mind you, if you ask me, the best tips I can give you are about capsize recovery!

Well, other than the nutter’s who are going to be doing frostbite series, the 2010 sailing is just about done and dusted and what a season it’s been for the Association.

It all started with the normal training event held at Thorney Island where 4 boats attended and received some instruction in some very tidal conditions which proved to be an interesting challenge for the pond sailors who came. Well done to those newcomers who came to the training, and we’re in negotiations to find a venue for next years’ training event.

Our National Championships were hosted by Lymington Town SC, and what an epic it turned out to be, force 5 – 6 winds on the Saturday building to 6 with gusts of 7 on the Sunday, 9 boats made the trip, which was a great effort. Unfortunately, the wind got the better of many and in the final race, only 3 boats started with their hair on fire! Well done to Thomas and Alastair who once again lifted the National Championship Trophy.

For the first time in several years, we arranged a European Championships over 5 days in August at the British Mohnesee Sail Training Centre, Germany. The winds there were very fluky and light, which proved frustrating and times, but produced some extremely tactical sailing. Teams from England, Wales, Scotland, France, Germany and Poland were represented, with the Scottish pair of Alastair and Paddy taking the glassware home – well done guys. The next Eurocup will be in 2012 and we’re thinking of staging it in Denmark.

The final class event for 2010 was the Inland Championships which as usual were held the Laser event at Rutland Water SC along with the 2k’s, 4k’s, Vago and Varios. The weather was a real mixed bag over a fairly short but testing course. Well done to Mark and Nikky Rushton, who managed to win the event in the only competition they have competed in all season due to injury! A great effort.

As a bit of fun, I collated the results over the year of everybody that took part in events and came up with the following series positions:

1st Thomas/Alastair
2nd Taff/Nigel/Simon
3rd Alister/Paddy
4th Tom/Mat/Andrew
5th Alan Moss/Gav Wilson
5th Paul/Mark/Ed
6th Mark/Nikky
7th Mark/Susie
8th Adrian/James
9th Neil/Ben/George
10th Alan/?
11th Niall/Matt

If you want to get your name on the roll of honour for next year, come along to the events!

Talking of next year, the events that we have planned are all on this website under the events banner. In addition there are a number of events around the country in which you may be competing (for example the Bloody Mary, Tiger Trophy, Lord Birkett etc), please let us know how you get on and make sure to get your boat in as many pictures of the event as possible, the more we promote the class, the bigger the fleet will become again. Please make every effort to come up to North Yorkshire (Filey SC) for the National Championships – it’s about time Thomas handed over the National Champion title to somebody else! Northampton Sailboats are going to sponsor the event, so come along and join in the fun.

We may also be entering two boats into the London Boat Show ‘Battle of the Classes’ race, which is pretty challenging for a fully battened boat with a large Asymmetric kite in a narrow dock! Let me know if you’re interested, the sooner the better however.

Finally, on the subject of Association fees once again! You will see that we are going to have a stand at the RYA Dinghy Show in March next year. Northampton Sailboats have kindly agreed to pay for half of the fees of the stand etc and the 3 classes they support are going to pay the rest (4000, 5000 and Laser 2). However, this still means that we have to pay over £400 as well as our RYA affiliation fees, plus any other expenses for 2011. At the AGM in October it was agreed that we would unfortunately have to raise the Association fees (just for 2011). To that end, fees for the year will be:

£60 for continuing membership
£30 for new members
£30 for students

These fees will be reviewed for 2012 with a view to bringing them down again. Part of the reason we are in this position is that people have not paid their fees for 2010 and we had a significant amount of bills to pay – so the moral of the story is PAY UP (You can start paying for the whole of 2012 from the end of this month). We cannot promote the class without your support.

Anyway, that concludes this newsletter. I am looking forward to the 2011 season, who knows I may go to the Bloody Mary and I hope to see some of you there. I certainly hope to see over 10 boats on each of the start lines in our 2011 season events. Good luck

Taff
Chairman

As I sit here, in the club house at the British Mohnesee Sail Training Centre watching the sun shine and people relaxing after the first European Championships that the Association has held for several years, it’s nice to contemplate the last 8 months and to reflect on where the Association is now and where it may be in a year’s time.

This year has seen a series of highs for the Class and very few lows. There have been successes in training, National and International events, Class Association membership is growing and our equipment suppliers have made huge leaps forward in support to the Class.

The newcomers that came to the training weekend at Thorney Island gained valuable experience and learnt much in relation to rig set up, boat handling, both upwind and down and some start line practice. It’s always nice to see new people at the training weekend and it would be even better to get more at next year’s session. If you have any thoughts on where you’d like it to be, or a change in the format, please let me know, however, it’s unlikely that it will be held at Thorney Island next year.

The increased interest in the Association was reflected in the entries for the National Championships at Lymington where we were hosted in fine style by the Lymington Town Sailing Club and we were sponsored by Northampton Sailboats who kindly donated prizes. The racing was magnificent; with winds ranging from force 4 to 5 on the Saturday and force 6 on Sunday with some massive gusts that could well have been in lower force 7 range. A valiant effort by all those who sailed in some very testing conditions and well done to our 2010 National Champions – Thomas Sauval and Alistair Farman. We’re thinking of trying to get a venue further to the North next year – on the sea, but somewhere that is likely to attract more participation from our Scottish friends. Once again, your thoughts and feedback would be appreciated, as we want the best for everybody. The south coast is of course always a good place to go, but why not try some other coastal area?

The European Championships, held on the Mohnesee just south east of Dortmund proved to be one of the biggest events that the Class Association has seen in several years. We had 11 boats, representing Germany, Poland/France, England, Wales and Scotland and with 11 races completed out of the planned 12, the weather, although fickle and at some times very frustrating was, in the end a challenge and all those attending seemed to enjoy themselves. My personal thanks must go to all of those who made the huge effort to travel to and from the event (even though my car ended up on an AA recovery truck at Dover!) and also to the huge help and welcome that all of the staff at the British Mohnesee Sail Training Centre gave us. It was fantastic. Of course no race will run without the race officer, and Clive Grant from the Army Sailing Association was superb and gave calm, considered advice and guidance to the fleet when required and also ran some great races, with some very close start line calls (I still don’t think I was OCS – lol!). Of course a huge WELL DONE to Alistair Kinsman and Paddy Adler on becoming the 2010 European Champions in very fine style.

On the subject of European Championships and indeed all the other Association events, it has become apparent, and entirely understandable, that not everybody is entirely aware of the rules regarding the boat and how the one design concept works. The boat standing rigging, sails, foils etc are designed to be equal across the entire fleet in order that no one boat should have a ‘design’ advantage over any of the others. The boat speed is entirely down to crew skill, even down to the weight equalisation. To use any other equipment that does not conform to our rules is against the ethos of the Association. During the last 6 or 7 years, we as an Association have been pretty relaxed about applying the rules to try and encourage newcomers at the same time pointing out the correct way to do things whilst also understanding that equipment has not always been available. This approach will continue, however I must emphasise that the rules are pretty strict for our Class events and we will apply them to make sure that everybody is on the same playing field (lake!). Please get in touch if any of you have problems conforming to the rules because of kit issues and we’ll try and help out, we do not want to stop people competing, because after all, that’s the best way to improve in these magnificent boats – against other boats of the same specification. Have a look at the Rules on this website and get back to me with any issues. In addition, there will be no compromise on safety issues, therefore if the Racing Rules state that Personal Buoyancy is to be worn, then competitors run the risk of disqualification if buoyancy aids are not worn.

As previously mentioned, we are already beginning to think of venues for next year’s events. We need to find somewhere to hold the training weekend, sometime in April or early May, perhaps once again at Grafham or other suitable lake location with sufficient facilities.

The Nationals may be on the South Coast but I’m willing to consider somewhere else as long as it will increase the numbers that participate (note that the Nationals will always be on a tidal location). We’re very unlikely to arrange a European Championships next year, as we think that a bi-annual event is more likely to attract the entries, although to ensure that we get it right, we’ll start thinking of locations soon, perhaps somewhere on the sea next time – Denmark perhaps or maybe somewhere in France, but once again, I’m willing to take advice and ideas on this.

For an Open Event, there is the possibility of the Class joining in with the Loch Lomond Dinghy Weekend in early September, but in order for us to go ahead with arranging this, I’ll need some early feedback on expected numbers. We would be able to join in with some great racing and the other Scottish 5000s will be able to join in the fun. I know that it’s a long way for many people to travel, so we need to consider this option closely. I think that once again, the Inlands will be held at Rutland provided there is no huge problem with this year’s event.

We have two more Class Events this year, please try your very hardest to get to them if you can. Let’s try and maintain the momentum that we’ve started; the first will be the Open Meeting at Broadstairs next month (24/25th). Having said that, I’m afraid that due to work commitments, I won’t be able to make the Broadstairs event and Thomas Sauval will be our Association representative there. Let me know if you’re going, the club there is great and very keen to host our event.

The Inlands will be the last major event of 2010, please make every effort to get there. There is the potential to have upwards of 15 boats on the start line if people try. Don’t’ worry if you haven’t sailed your boat much this year or if you feel that you’re not up to it. We’ve all done a lot of swimming in these boats; it’s all part of the learning experience that we all go through. People are very friendly and will give loads of advice if you want it. Our AGM will also be held there so if you have any agenda points, please get them into our Secretary, Tom Hill as soon as possible.

Talking of swimming, we’re going to put together a little article about the experiences that people have had in these boats whilst learning to get to grips with them. If you have any funny or useful stories of your experiences sailing through the air until your trapeze line runs out or bashing your crew’s head with a boom whilst trying to flick the battens across, then please, once again, get them to Tom to compile. (By the way, have you read the Alternative Guide to Sailing the 5000 on this site? Well worth a read and be prepared to hold your ribs while you fall off the chair laughing).

To the perennial problem of subscriptions; I bang on about this quite a lot because it’s important if we want to survive as a Class. We have to pay for public liability insurance and RYA affiliation as well as paying for prizes etc for our events. If we don’t have money in the bank, then the prices for entrance fees will increase significantly or we just won’t be able to hold events. We put a lot of free advice on the forum and we also liaise with various organisations, including our equipment suppliers on your behalf. I don’t think 20 quid is a great deal of money to ask to become a member and to get all of these great deals. We could go down the line of restricting access to the website to members only, but I think this would disenfranchise a lot of people and I don’t want to go down that line just yet, so please pay up or you’ll lose out. We need to build up our reserves again before the beginning of next year’s season. Come to the AGM at Rutland to find out exactly how your money is being spent your behalf.

Our relationship with Northampton Sailboats is going from strength to strength. They now have a pretty comprehensive list of parts for the boat on their website and although there still appears to be quite a lead time for many of the parts to be sent to individual when they need them, this is still a massive step forward. Due to the length of time it currently takes for parts, we are developing a plan that will allow people to stay on the water while they wait for their new parts to be delivered by Sailboats – wait out for more information. In the meantime, thanks to Tony and all the team at Sailboats for your support and help to the Association.

All of this is pretty good news for the 5000 Association. I now have a warm feeling about where the class is going once again, but we cannot be complacent. It is important to keep the momentum going. Please, please try your very best to support our events and do try to turn up where at all possible. It is YOUR class, please try and support it and we will once again be at the forefront of skiff sailing while not being in the ‘cheque book’ sailing gang. The Laser 5000 is a great boat, it’d be a massive shame to see it disappear due to apathy or a fear of embarrassment.

Finally, on a personal note, thank you for all of your support (and money!) for Help for Heroes, we still have a little more money to come in and we’ll let you know the total that we will forward to their organisers shortly. In addition, thanks to all of you who support the Class and for the great efforts and laughs that we have to keep the boat going. I hope to see you all at Rutland, and for those who are going to Broadstairs, have a great time.

Taff

Chairman