LASER 5000 Autumn Newsletter 2011

As the 2011 sailing season comes to a close, it is perhaps time to reflect on the future of the Laser 5000 and the Association.  Once again, the 5 tonner has shown that it remains demanding and competitive and continues to deliver the thrills and spills that keeps the ‘5 tonnes of adrenalin’ flowing.  The numbers of boats being found throughout the country and on the continent continues to increase.

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

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.

 

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

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

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!

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)

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

INLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS – RUTLAND WATER SC

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

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