RC Laser Christmas Gift Ideas

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Bill Blevins

Looking for one last Christmas gift for that special someone? Interested in a radio controlled RC Laser but don’t know what you need? We’re here to help!

Christmas Gift Ideas:

YOU STILL NEED A BOAT?

To order the basic RC Laser boat package, here are two simple steps:

STEP 2
Buy a transmitter and a receiver online or locally:

Radios and receivers are in stock locally at:
Dan’s Crafts and Things, 352 Empire Blvd., Rochester, NY 14609

Prices were current when this page was last updated.

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Erie Canal Sailing And Shopping Deemed Successful

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Bill Blevins

11 RC Lasers sailed on the Erie Canal at Perinton Park in Fairport on Sunday afternoon. (Photo by Walt Bankes)

On Sunday afternoon while the women of the RC Laser fleet were out on the town in Canandaigua touring houses decorated for Christmas, eating fancy crepes, tasting olive oils imported from around the world and of course, shopping, eleven other RC Laser sailors were racing their boats up and down the Erie Canal in Fairport.

The weather cooperated for both groups. There were many people out walking and biking the canal path and most stopped for a while to watch or ask questions as the fleet completed more than a half-dozen races. The sailors all started out with their standard sail but by the end of the day most had switched over to their A rigs as the wind started to drop.

It is about the time of year when things usually start to freeze up in western New York, however, if the forecast is for nice weather (ie: no lightning in the sky or ice on the water) on Sunday we’ll post another location here, so check back on Friday afternoon!

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Erie Canal Sailing at Perinton Park, Sunday at 2 p.m.

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Bill Blevins

Erie Canal, Fairport, NY

Even though it was just snowing a few minutes ago, the current forecast for Sunday afternoon is for sunny skies, temperatures in the upper 50’s with winds predicted at 13 knots from the south.

Let’s plan on sailing on the Erie Canal at Perinton Park in Fairport at 2 p.m. That area of the canal lies north to south. Perfect!

I drove by the park during my lunch break today and the canal has plenty of water even though it has been drained down about 10 feet. There is enough water in it still to set out marks and play around for a couple of hours. You can hand-launch easily after you navigate the rocks on the bank. If someone can’t launch their RC Laser themself, there will be plenty of help around.

We’ll have the canoe in the water to set out marks and to retrieve any wayward boats if necessary. We’ll sail downstream from the park (where this photo was shot) and not up by the building. The rocks close to shore upstream extend out fairly far. Park in the spaces just after you enter the gate. We’ll sail from that area to the left (towards Fairport).

It should be a nice afternoon. See you there!

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Blevins Starts Off 2012 Season By Winning Frostbite Series

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Bill Blevins

After 49 races and with 65 low points for a score, Bill Blevins (#254) won the Canandaigua RC Laser Fleet 2011 Frostbite Series on Sunday.

The 559 starts in this seven week series kicked off the 2012 racing season and the scores in this series contribute to the overall High Point trophy given out at Sailor’s Night in October.

Jonathan Gorbold (#62) earned second place for the series with 71 points, Jay Niggli (#81) finished in third with 91 points, Jack Bennett (#005) finished in fourth place and Nelson Habecker (#54) ended up in fifth. Tracy Blevins (#75) finished highest among the women and was also ninth overall. The results for the 20 sailors who participated in the series can be found on our results section of the site.

The Canandaigua group welcomed its 22nd RC Laser sailor as Leonard Redon of Rochester paid his $20 dues and joined Fleet 14 this week. (Hint, hint… some of you still need to pay your dues for 2012. See Nelson when you get a chance).

There is no official racing until next spring but if the weather is nice (and since all of the women are planning a shopping trip) some of the guys discussed getting a pick-up race going on the Erie Canal at Perinton Park in Fairport next Sunday afternoon at 2pm. Watch this site for details about this on Friday if you are interested.

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Holiday Harbor Is Venue for Final Two Frostbite Weeks

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Bill Blevins

This week was a bit better than last week in the broken gear department. Only three boats has debilitating problems. Jack Bennett’s boat (#005) broke a mast. Terry Schmidt (#71)  had a rudder go into the deep. Bill Schmidt’s boat (#88) turned turtle when the centerboard just fell off for no reason.

Despite the equipment failures (which seems to be quite a regular thing with the lastest batch of new boats), everyone agreed that the venue on the pump out dock at the north end of Canandaigua Lake was awesome!

A huge “thank you” goes out to Nelson Habecker (#54) for volunteering (and enduring) chase boat duty from his kayak for two hours!

Gary Schmidt (#59) had his RC Laser out for the first time on Sunday and quickly got back in the groove, scoring two bullets and a second in six races. The results through week #5 have been posted. Jay Niggli (#81), Jonathan Gorbold (#62) and Bill Blevins (#254) remain in the top three positions for the series despite several challenging races for each of them tonight in the chop and high “B” sail winds.

The after race party at Jack Bennett’s house along with great food and the”Tale of Several Cities” slideshow presentation from Blaise’s trip to Europe this summer was a great way to end a really good day of racing.

Next week racing will be at Nelson and Anne’s place in Holiday Harbor. To get to the race area, turn into Holiday Harbor off of West Lake Road and then make the first right hand turn and drive in to the end. Park on the right side of the lot.

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New Venue For Sunday RC Laser Races At Canandaigua Lake

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Bill Blevins

Frostbite week #5 will be held on the new docks just west of the Canandaigua Lady at the north end of Canandaigua Lake.

The brand new “pump-out” dock is directly behind the Steamboat Landing restaurant and there is plenty of parking on each side of the property.

Racing should be great because the weather forecast is again calling for moderate temperatures with breezy conditions and sunny skies. This venue is great because long race courses can be set for any wind direction and the sailors can see everything from a spacious T at the end of the pier. We should get in quite a few races on Sunday!

If you are spectating, bring a chair as there are only a couple of fixed benches on shore.

Due to all of the equipment failures last week (ie: multiple rudders inexplicably falling off of boats last week and the fact that the RC Laser distributor site still shows that rudders are out of stock) Nelson Habecker (#54) has agreed to be the race PRO for the afternoon.

A quick friendly reminder to skippers…

If you finish a race first, clear your RC Laser from the finish line area and immediately start looking for the results clipboard. Don’t try to remember numbers in your head. As the second boat crosses the line, that skipper should begin calling out the remaining finish numbers. It is the responsibility of the first place finisher, along with the second place finisher to accurately record all of the places unless you are relieved of the duty by someone else who is not sailing.

We’ll be out setting the course early so come on down and enjoy the afternoon with us!

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RC Laser Racing at Canandaigua’s Kershaw Park

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Bill Blevins

Steady winds from the south, “B” sails, a little chop on the water and temperatures in the 60’s made for a very enjoyable afternoon of RC Laser racing from the gazebo deck in Kershaw Park on Canandaigua Lake on Sunday. The 12 sailors who participated added another 9 races to the scores in the 2011 Frostbite Series.

At the end of the afternoon Jack Bennett (#005) lost the ability to control his RC Laser, sending Nelson Habecker (#54) over for the rescue while he was out gathering marks in his kayak. Earlier, Neil Atkins’ (#72) RC Laser had a rudder servo failure. Late in the day and on opposite sides of the course both Anne Lambert (#272) and Dick Hallagen’s (#74) new boats lost their rudders for no apparent reason. Much discussion ensued on these malfunctions during the after race gathering at Holiday Harbor.

When yesterday’s results were calculated, they show that Jonathan Gorbold (#62) has moved into first place for the series.

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Frostbite Series Week #4 Will Be Held At Kershaw Park

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Bill Blevins

On Sunday, November 6, RC Laser racing will begin at 2 p.m. at Kershaw Park on Canandaigua Lake. If the gazebo is available, we’ll race from the deck, otherwise, look for us just to the east of that location at the new city pump out dock next to the Canandaigua Lady.

Nelson Habecker and Bill Blevins will be out early getting marks set. The weather forecast at this point is for the temperatures to be in the upper 50’s with nice steady winds from the south all day. It should be a fun afternoon. See you then!

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2011 By The Numbers

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Bill Blevins

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Racing Picking Up in Frostbite Series

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Bill Blevins

The wind has cooperated with RC Laser racing for the past two weekends allowing the Canandaigua fleet to complete 13 races with 16 different boats on the starting line. The results have been updated and posted for both the series and the 2012 overall high point score.

For high point scoring this season we are using the Chipstead High Point Scoring (Chips3) formula.

This scoring formula (in the most simple terms) accounts for the number of boats in a race in all of the scores. The underlying premise behind the scoring formula is that it assumes that it is easier to beat other boats when there are fewer of them racing and it is more difficult to beat more boats when there are many of them in a race. Chips3 is one of the scoring methods in our scoring program SailWave.

To qualify for the 2012 Overall High Point award, a boat must start in at least 60% of our races. We will be throwing out the worst 40% of a boat’s scores across the whole season.

Dick Hallagan (#74), freshly back from the J/22 World Championship in New Orleans the previous week, was out with his new RC Laser for the first time last weekend. Dick is our nineteenth fleet member! After Nelson Habecker (#54) helped get him set up and on the water, he sailed his RC Laser to a 5th place in just his third race! We expect that after a few tune-up tweaks he’ll be a regular at the top of the score sheet.

After racing, the RC sailors filled two long tables inside the Carey Lake Bar & Grill and enjoyed good food, drinks and company. Carey Lake will again be our venue for Oct. 30th, with starts at 2pm.

The 2012 race calendar has been updated. Please take a look and send any comments to Nelson Habecker or Bill Blevins as soon as possible if you notice any problems.

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