P Class: Blake Hinsley leads after Day 1 of Tanner Cup
by Rowdy Leatham EBYMBC 3 Jan 2019 22:04 GMT
4 January 2019
The opening day for the 2019 Tanner Cup got underway on Thursday morning with the first race sailed in a "gentle" Wellington Northerly breeze of 18kts at the start before building to a bit more towards the end.
Race 1 was taken out by Mason Mulcahy representing North Harbour, ahead of Blake Hinsley and Charlie Morton (both Auckland).
In conditions that tested the fleet it was fantastic to see all 18 boats complete the course and record a finish time. An especially fine effort for those sailors weighing in under 40kg.
The end of race 1 saw the breeze increase slightly and the fleet was sent ashore for a well-deserved lunch break to await the forecast drop in wind.
Race two got under way at 1645hrs in a still strong northerly of 20-25kts. There were some exciting rides downhill and Hinsley won by a significant margin ahead of Mulcahy, McGlashan (North Harbour) and Rowan Kensington (Auckland) who all finished within 10 seconds.
Race three started in a 15-18kts and continued to drop during the race (much to the relief of many sailors). The change in breeze didn't seem to impact the results too much with Hinsley stepping clear on the first lap, leaving Mulcahy and Morton to have a great battle for second place with only 1 second between them on the finish line.
Overall racing is tight with one point between Blake Hinsley in first overall and Mason Mulcahy in second overall, while 10th to 13th overall is separated by three points.
S-W NZ: The Tanner Cup is an interprovincial/port competition restricted to representatives from those regions - hence the letters on the sails. The Tauranga Cup will follow which is open to all, but was originally an interclub contest.
Full results can be found on the EBYMBC website at www.ebymbc.org.nz/tanner-tauranga-cup