All that glitters IS gold
Guest User
On Sunday the club hosted the ILCA Laser 50th anniversary spectacular. The day was a success for the class and the club with 219 registrations and close to 150 boats participating despite the latest COVID cases and the temperamental weather. The enjoyment of all was palpable both on the water and the deck after sailing.
Participants mustered in Farm Cove until 10am with the media helicopter capturing footage overhead. Brett Beyer sailed the gold commemorative hull and performed some showmanship OCS during the starting sequence. The gusty southerly made for a fast reach to Point Piper, followed by an exciting downwind in waves to Watson’s Bay. Amongst the fleet were multiple Laser Masters champions including Brett Beyer and Vanessa Dudley, plenty of our youth squad and some extra special hulls including the 2000 Olympic boat raced by 2000 bronze medal winner and current Australian Olympic Coach, Michael Blackburn and the oldest boat in the fleet from 1973 sailed by Frant Bucek, who made the trip from Victoria.
Prize winners were grinners. Owen Kenny (DBSC) had the best luck on the day, winning the gold hull upgrade sponsored by PSA while the sails donated by NB Sailsports were won by Daniel Costandi (DBSC/GRSC), Bevis Field (MYC), and Sandy Kiernan (NSC).
Thank you, thank you, thank you…
Running the event took a lot of time and effort behind the scenes with many club members pitching in over the weeks and months leading up to the event. Special mentions however go to Andrew Cox whose perseverance and determination to put on a show for the class paid off, Diana Chen, who is an extraordinary event manager and Ian Alexander, who stepped in at the last minute as the Principal Event Officer.
We are grateful for the sponsors on the day including the NSW & ACT Laser Class Association, PSA and NB Sailsports. We are also thankful for the on-water assistance provided by other clubs around the harbour – Greenwich, Hunters Hill, Northbridge, Royal Prince Edward, Royal Sydney, and Vaucluse. Thank you also to Luke Parker, who provided an extra RIB to the club for the event and last but not least, Paul, Shirley and Peter who prepared and cooked the barbeque.
Never has the humble Laser received so much media attention (aside from the odd gold medal at the Olympics), with slots on the channel nine and seven news on Sunday night and features in newspapers across Australia the following day.
Ps. If you have any GoPro footage of the day, can you please send it to Diana for inclusion in the final edit?
