The NSW/ACT Laser Sailing Association will hold its annual state championships at Double Bay Yacht Club on the weekend of November 18-19, with three sailors from Great Lakes Sailing Club set to compete.
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Great Lakes sailors Lilly Smith, Tom Farley and Scott Farley are planning to make the trip to Sydney to take on the competition.
Both Lilly and Tom are members of the Great Lakes Sailing Club juniors division and have sailed with the club for many years, more recently graduating to take on the senior sailors in club events.
This will be the duo’s first attempt at a state championship and the busy waters of Sydney Harbour.
With a fleet of several hundred other boats, it is sure to provide a challenge and an enormous opportunity to gain some valuable experience.
Scott has many years of competitive sailing under his belt and whilst this is not his first championship regatta, he is looking forward to the opportunity to compete against his son, albeit in different divisions, as he will be sailing a full rig standard sail.
Lilly will compete in the girls radial division, and it is expected Tom will sail the smaller 4.7 rig, which is more suited to his light weight.
She said she is looking forward to the opportunity.
“I am excited to be taking my sailing to such a great regatta,” she said.
“There are all types of skill levels from world champions to club sailors competing and I am just looking forward to getting as much experience as possible.”
Great Lakes Sailing Club commodore Bill Stokes was very pleased to see some juniors doing so well.
“They have sailed and trained with us for years,” he said.
“They are taking the next step into championship regattas, and of course it is great to see the father and son duo travelling together and enjoying time on the water in such a competitive environment.”
The event is expected to attract several hundred sailors across three divisions for the standard sail, radial sail and 4.7 sail, which are then further divided into women’s and men’s divisions and age groups.
The fleet attracts some of the worlds best sailors and is one of the most popular one design fleets, with well over 200,000 boats sailing worldwide and as an Olympic class its popularity continues to rise.
The laser is a single handed class with only one sail and is strictly one design, meaning all the boats are identical so sailors must rely on skill rather than expensive gear.