ULO 2012 for Al Bush

With another show of superior sailing, Al Bush (DYC) won the Uganda Laser Open 2012 edition 8 points ahead of runner up Reint Bakema (VNSC). In excellent sailing conditions with winds between 8 and 18 knots, Al scored 5 first places, 3 second and 1 OCS, to end up with 9 points in total (2 discards). Gordon Bell managed to squeeze in 2 firsts in lighter conditions but still had to concede 6 points to Reint Bakema, who consistently scored 4 twos, 4 threes, and one 9th place, giving him a total of 17 points. Last year winner Tom Vanneste came 4th after a few unfortunate mishaps, including an OCS and a late arrival at the startline.

Annabel Bowerman recaptured her 1st Lady's position from last year winner Maaike Joenje.

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Stephen Luswata 10th in All African Games

VNSC's Stephen Luswata finished in 10th position out of 17 boats in the10th All African Games Sailing Regatta in Maputo in the Laser Standard category. While Stephen made a good performance on the first sailing day with a 9th and a 7th, strong winds on day two pushed him a bit back in the fleet. During the last 3 races on Saturday, he maintained his position, behind Kenya's Alfred Okoth, Angola's Wassim Zian

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VNSC sailors go international

2010 has been an active international year for VNSC. Currently, Gordon Bell, Phillip Betts and Kim Bowerman are competing in the Worlds Master in UK, where Gordon managed to score an impressive 6th! on Friday in the GGM category. Click here to follow their exploits.

Earlier this year, VNSC sailors have competed in the Naivasha Laser Open and the Tanzania Laser Open.  In the Naivasha Laser Open, known for its fluky wind conditions, Gordon Bell scored an impressive second overall position, just behind Don White, while Reint Bakema scored a 7th place and 1st Master. In the Tanzania Laser Open, Reint Bakema came 4th and 1st Master, while Gordon Bell scored a 7th position and 1st Great Grand Master. 

Uganda new ILCA District!

In Macrh 2010, Uganda was registered as a District of the International Laser Class Association (ILCA). ILCA is the international body that promotes Laser sailing by coordinating and organising international Laser sailing events, stimulate laser sailing worldwide under uniform rules, and act as a communication medium for exchange of information about Laser sailing. ILCA's organisation structure is based on District Laser Associations, which are usually defined by country boundaries. A DLA can be run by a country sailing federation, a sailing club or even an individual, representing the Laser fleet in a country. In the case of Uganda the Victoria Nyanza Sailing Club fullfills that requirement and by filling a few forms and paying our regisration fee we have been registered. You can become a registered member of the Uganda District by paying Ush 20,000 to George. In that case you are in principle entitled to participate in ILCA events, like the numerous Laser championships organised annually. For example, for the upcoming Laser Master Worlds in the UK in September this year, we have been able to register three of our members, although all three are still on the waiting list. 

In a related development, Uganda will feature in the June Laser World Magazine, that you can view online at
http://www.laserinternational.org/laserworld.htm