Skipjack Rebecca T. Ruark's passengers get a close look at  RC Lasers finishing in the Tilghman on Chesapeake Invitational Regatta, May 23rd 2010. photo by Beth Lippincott  

Summer has begun and the RC Laser NA sailing and administrative pace has quickened. On the administrative side I want to cover a few topics that are underway here in North America and have involved others in the class from around the world.

Class Rules:

Currently the correct legal version of the rules are dated August 1, 2006 and are available for viewing for class members under Documents on the left menu.

I have been working with both Steve Lang, NA Distributor, and Jon Elmaleh, manufacturer, for a couple of iterations on changes and have now expanded that group to an additional 10 active individuals located in NA and around the world. The task is to shape a workable document and bring the rules into the 21^st century. We have 15,000 boats out there and there are a few items that need tightning up as skippers wander off the one design page and try new things. The feedback so far has been terrific and the effort from the participants has been lively and focused.  It takes time and several passes and when the group can agree on what is manageable and controllable now, we can then gain approval from Jon Elmaleh on a new rule version. Understand that in order to make a rule change or addition on certain measurable specifications, we must have good widely gathered data. Some aspects of the rules such as mast height, minimum boat weight, goose neck location are still under analysis and will probably not be in this next revision.

Boat Weight:

At the Marco Island Midwinter’s in Marco Island, FL in March we weighed all 38 boats all up (as they would put the boat in the water) with B sails. The mean weight (the 19^th boat) was 8lb 11oz and the average weight was also 8lb 11oz. The range of weights were slightly over ½ pound, 8lb 5oz to 8lb 15oz. The winning boat was 8lb 11oz. We are asking other regatta chairmen, especially for championships around the world, to perform the same task with the same boat configuration and record the results. The more we know the more we can establish a minimum weight in grams and pounds.

Sail Numbers:

Currently the font for sail numbers that was instituted by the builder is a hard to find custom font. The supply of these is dwindling from the distributor and the RC Class NA has agreed to publish a new approved (by the manufacturer) readily available font and supply choices for those who choose to race their RC Laser. This font is being considered as an entry in the new class rules. The new font is Aerial Rounded MT Bold. You now can secure sail numbers from other sources and the new document of explanation is on the RC Laser NA site for anyone to view and print off the website from below link or the menu on the left: Sail Number Specs and Sources.

https://rclaserna.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=198101&module_id=78881

Web Activity:

The web site is becoming increasingly important to members and public alike. In fact monthly visitors to the site have increased up to 400% since October 2009. We are trying to continue to add results, pictures and Where We Sail content as soon as we receive it. The highly active and growing West Jersey RC Laser Fleet is showcased this month.

Racing:

As more fleets become summer-active,  regattas and events are brought to our attention we continue to add the Notice of Race (NOR) and Entry Forms as soon as Race Directors prepare them. The good news is we have more events and the documents are coming to us sooner to post. On the docket this summer are two top level events in August and September at Lake Naomi in the Pennsylvania Poconos. The September event is the 3-day North American Championship and we hope to draw skippers from the Northeast and Midwest as well as the traditionally active racers from overseas, Canada, New Jersey, Maryland and further south. All class members are welcome, so go to the Event Calendar on the left menu and find the events and documents.

So let’s see more summer activity, the days are longer and we are sailing after work in many locations around North America. Let me know when you hit the countdown timer and I’ll try and join you. Have a great sailing season.