Five different race winners at latest Elliott 5.9 Traveller Series held at Napier SC
by Gareth Howard 7 Jul 2021 01:32 BST
Slam Dung leads Zoot Allures and Boat 1 - Elliott 5.9 Traveler Series 2021 © Alan Muir
Napier turned on fine weather and light winds for the third regatta of the Elliott E5.9 Traveller Series.
Saturday opened with the race committee getting two races away in light 5 knot southerlies. The breeze then moved to a potentially strengthening easterly. Once the easterly settled in, two more races were completed before the breeze died completely and the fleet headed home for the day. Sunday produced similar conditions to Saturday with three races completed in light westerlies before again switching to the east for the final three races.
The tight one design racing was again a feature of the racing with multiple lead changes in any given race. As well, there were five different race winners across the ten races completed.
Despite this tight racing, R+R with Craig Satherwaite joined by his regular mainsheet hand Richard ‘Bart’ Bearda and foredeck crew Gen Richardson again proved to be the most consistent and led after day one and well into day two. However, R+R did not start the last three races and this provided the opportunity for other boats to claim the overall result.
The consistent Slam Dunk, Stu Clarke, Stu Malloy and Cam Horne, eventually took the overall win with Napier boat Bloodline, Gavin Earle, Gareth Howard and Mike Fenwick, showing improved form to slot into second ahead of R+R.
Other race winners included Carla Bennett who has recently taken over ownership of Retro. Retro followed their win in race eight with a strong second in race nine to clearly mark their potential as they settled into the new boat. The ever present Dave Cochran sailing Zoot Allures picked up two race wins to slot into fourth place overall.
Sailing four up as part of the crew weight trial, the Napier Youth Team on Magpie were themselves unlucky to miss out on a race win. Having led at every mark, they only relinquished the lead on the final leg. This young crew clearly benefited from the tight racing provided by the one design fleet and it is pleasing to see that plans are underway to see if they can partake in the next Traveller Series event.
Napier Sailing Club provided outstanding facilities and the race team was well led by PRO Andrew Kearney. Andrew’s team did a great job getting all 10 races away in what was potentially marginal conditions.
The whole fleet also enjoyed the social side of these fun regattas with a great meal at the club restaurant on Friday night and a BBQ burger night on Saturday while watching the rugby on the big screen. As always, it was good to see supporters and family joining crews for these off water social gatherings.
There is currently very strong interest in the Elliott 5.9 class with a total of 19 boats competing in this year's Traveller Series. As well, any boats on the market are selling well and the class has welcomed a number of new crew into the fleet. With 15 plus boats expected at Bucklands Beach for the next Traveller Series event, this should be one of the strongest and competitive Traveller Series events for some time.
Next Events:
Traveller Series # 4 - Bucklands Beach - 14/15 August
Traveller Series # 5 - Sandspit Yacht Club - 25/26 September
Full results online and pictures online.
For more information on the Elliott 5.9 Class Association visit www.e59.org.nz
A full list of previous Champions can be
found online here.