WA state champs, september 27-29

Time is marching on. The sandgropers are having a committee meeting at the end of the month. Will have a better idea who will be making our annual trip to Lefroy. My yachts are almost ready to go. Hope to spend a couple weekends up there this time.

how many laps

Big problem is as we found in the past not everyone has a GPS or like me does not have a clue how to use them. Great idea though. Maybe some very big markers would be the go. (not green drums) got lost looking for them last year.

Hi Folks,
By some miracle I've managed to wangle some time off so Di & I will be there.
Have tried for some years to make it & this is it.
Will be sailing blokart (many thanks to Brian) & Vindicator if lucky.
Looking forward to it, been a long time between drinks.
cheers!

Yachts are now ready for Lefroy.

if anybody is really keen Spirit of Stupidity is for sale with all her sails(4 i think) 3? masts including her Reallly good 3 piece ally mast.
i'm selling to partially make room for the next years mini. i thought id make a clean sweep of all the sails/masts etc and learn all over again.
before you start thinking that its well outdated. in her last race she was well leading until i slid out on BALD tyres. in the marathon it managed only 4th. Its worst pllacing ever in Australia. that was with 3 capsizes AND a stop for a rear wheel change!!!!!!!.
previously it had a record of 32 firsts out of 34 races
charlottes blue mini is also for sail to pay for her new wheelset or go towards her bigger 700c roadbike as she outgrows her current bike

mast goes with sails and yacht, definitely not breaking up that supercharged combination

Are the ponds dry, hope something is

Counting down the days now.

Look forward to catching up with all the gang again.

Hey Trav, it's my turn to bring the medicine this year.

I leave Esperance at 9.00am tomorrow (Thursday) and should be at Lefroy around lunch time.
Big Mick is travelling with me in his ute and trailer, with their 2 mini's.

Scotty and Greg (hope his wife is well enough to leave alone) should be there sometime on Friday and a couple of "social sailors" on Saturday.
6 from Esperance with a bit of luck.

Catch ya guys.

The vast salt lake of Lake Lefroy at Kambalda was the setting for the 2014 Land sailing state titles hosted by the Lake Lefroy Land Sailing club.The regatta at Lake Lefroy in September rates as one of the highlights on the land sailing calendar. The unique salt lake and friendly, laid back spirit created a sense of being on an adventure. Many pilots travelled far to camp and race at the iconic lake.

Class 5 and International Mini 5.6 fleets saw 25 pilots from Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Kambalda, Esperance, Perth, Adelaide and other parts of the country. This regatta had the current blokart production heavyweight world champion, Joe Juvjevick, and the designer and builder of Australia’s fastest land yacht, Bill Finch.

Racing was held over two days with many pilots setting up camp and practicing on the Thursday and Friday with racing held on Saturday and Sunday. Both fleets completed 7 series races and one marathon each which was a great achievement especially for the novice pilots considering the windy weather conditions on the Saturday.

On Saturday the forecast was for 15-25kn winds strengthening during the day as the cold front moved across. The strong wind, smooth salt and technical short course added and extra degree of difficulty. The first two International Mini 5.6 races resemble the speed skating of a winter Olympics with many pilots spinning out and some pilots attempting speed records sailing the yacht backwards.

Next was the class 5’s with two a fast paced and scary races with many just on the edge of control in the strengthening wind conditions. The last two races of the day were the mini’s again in some of the strongest winds I've ever sailed in. The wind was now a solid 25kn with 30kn gust. These two races made racing more a power slug than a sailing race. Racing was then called off for the remainder of Saturday as winds stayed a consistent 35kn with 45kn gust.

Most pilots retreated back to their camps to stop them blowing away and to keep sand out. However two Boulder pilots, Bryan Cook (Kalgoorlie Blokarts) and myself made the most of the windy conditions and continuing to sail with the ultimate goal of top speed. We both went out for several runs in the Bryan's Blow/mini with custom 1.8m sail. Bryans’ top speed posted on his Garmin GPS was 101km/h and my best effort was 108km/h.

The conditions on Sunday had improved for racing to start.The first race was the class 5 90min marathon. The conditions started well but the dying wind made the finish a struggle. Vic Bermingham sailed a solid race with his fast class 5 followed by Paul Day (AUS 3) and third was Mark Fauntley in his Club88.

Next was the mini marathon shortened to 40min in the dying wind conditions. The start was really slow with only a few yachts rolling across the start of the flying start and several pilots wheel chairing their yachts to get rolling and get some breeze. Greg Smallman (Esperance) sailed his LLM had an excellent race and found the wind to power him to an amazing victory lapping several yachts. Second was myself in my Blow/Mini and third was Chook Henderson sailing "Fowl Play".

The afternoon finished the circuit racing series. By now the wind had filled in and winds were 8-15kn. Vic’s Class 3 was found later in the afternoon with minor damage after disappearing Saturday night and sailing off by itself. Hat’s off to all those that made their State Titles debut including Andrew Bowler from Kambalda who had this year finished building a Class 5 and finishing 3rd overall. He started and finished every race. It was great to see the other novice pilots out their sailing and have a go.

The sportsmanship and encouragement of all the pilots was excellent and was fantastic to witness. It was good clean racing with zero protests lodged. I would like to thank Goldfields St Ives for the loan of their exploration buggy that helped a lot with the smooth running of the event. I would like to thank all those involved with organising, registration, scoring, starting, and planning the 2014 Land Sailing Titles a success. Now it’s time to start preparing for January 2015, where the next state titles are the be hosted by the Sandgropers and Perth Blokart Club at Lake Walyungup.


Results

Class 5 Marathon 1st- Vic Bermingham (AUS230) , 2nd – Paul Day (AUS 3) , 3rd Mark Fauntley (AUS 32)

International Mini 5.6 Marathon1st – Greg Smallman (241) , 2nd- Ben Ashby (AUS 233), 3rd- Chook Henderson (240)

Class 5 Circuit racing 1st Chook Henderson (AUS 240) , 2nd Barry Mason (AUS 16) , 3rd Andrew Bowler (235)

International Mini 5.6 Circuit racing 1st Joe Juvjevick, 2nd Greg Smallman (241) , 3rd Will Cuperus (77)

Class 5 State Titles 1st Barry Mason (AUS 16) , 2nd Chook Henderson( AUS 240), 3rd Andrew Bowler (235)

International Mini 5.6 State Titles 1st Joe Juvjevick (AUS 3/White Sail), 2nd Greg Smallman(241) , 3rd Will Cuperus (77)

Not shore which runs were fastest but you get the general idea, well done boys.

Just a quick hello to say how much Di & I appreciated all the support from Paul & Sue, as well as all the effort you did in bringing Vindi out Paul.
Thanks also to Bryan for the loan of the kart, hope I managed to do it a bit of justice.
Saturday race 1 was my first race in a blokart.

Loved the whole weekend, sorry I didn't get to connect with as many of you as I would have liked, but hopefully I'll see you over time.
Cheers.
Look forward to video Chook! (when you get a chance).

This lovely "lady of the salt"
A novel way to pilot her Bill. (Check out his legs.)