Elliott 5.9: Five race winners across ten race series at Sandspit
by Gareth Howard 14 Oct 23:28 BST
Youth Development Boat - Class Act - Elliott 5.9 One Design Racing at Sandspit - October 5-6 2024 © Elliott 5.9 Assoc
The Burnsco Elliott 5.9 Traveller Series final regatta at Sandspit over the weekend of 5th and 6th October was a great success and a fitting end to another successful series.
A good turnout of boats ensured that there was good racing throughout. The top ten boats were extremely close with every boat picking up a sixth place or worse. With three different race winners in the first three races, the scene was set for a well contested regatta. Overall, there were five different race winners across the ten races and this has now become a common theme in the close one design racing that is the Elliott 5.9 fleet.
All ten races were able to be completed and Sandspit again provided great sailing conditions. Saturday saw a good consistent 15kts with puffs and patches of breeze that rewarded good heads up sailing. Sunday was similar. While the breeze had tracked more to the west, the sun was out and it was great sailing. Again, puffs and shifts kept everyone on their toes and provided the passing opportunities that ensured the racing was tight and competitive.
There were a number of standout performances. Shapeshifter showed a marked return to form, after recent regattas have found them back in the fleet, to be the only boat to consistently score top three placings and eventually take a well deserved regatta win.
R+R had a difficult first day and Slam Dunk stayed relatively consistent to close up to only a few points adrift in the battle for the overall Burnsco Traveller series title. However, R+R responded with a couple of race wins on the final day, and while this was not enough to haul in the impressive Shapeshifter for the regatta title, it was enough to hold off Slam Dunk for the overall title.
Nevis was another to impress. After some low regatta performances by their standards, ongoing adjustments to boat set up helped produce a performance that allowed Nevis to consistently challenge toward the head of the fleet, including a standout race win in race one. This result meant Nevis won the Sandspit Regatta Ranking Trophy for most improved.
The Youth Development Boat, Class Act, also featured strongly. Picking up a third, a fourth and a fifth, they were always in a position to challenge toward the front of the fleet. To see the youth development achieved across the series is a credit to this program. It has proved to be a very successful formula. With such success, the Elliott 5.9 Association will again be making the boat available to new youth development teams for next year. Expression and interest and application information can be found here under the Development Boat tab.
The overall Burnso Traveller Series Ranking Trophy for most improved went to Usian Boat. While the tight racing at Sandspit meant they only achieved an eighth place at this regatta, this will still be enough to hold onto to fourth in the overall series standings.This allowed them to jump above Nyx, who lead the ranking going into Sandspit and take a well deserved result based on their overall series performances.
The next major event for the Elliott 5.9 fleet will be the national championships to be held in Napier 3 - 5 April 2025. The Napier location will provide great sailing conditions at this time of year and is also quite accessible for the Elliott 5.9s based in the South Island. With some 16 North Island boats to attend, and the inclusion of the South Island Fleet, a national fleet of 20 boats or more is expected. With the racing tighter than ever and multiple boats capable of race wins, it's shaping up to be one of the most hotly contested one design national events in New Zealand sailing.
In the meantime, the South Island Elliott 5.9 Fleet will be commencing their Nautilus Braids Southern Circuit. They will start in Lake Aviemore with another two events at Pigeon Bay and Nelson.
Results can be found here elliott59.weebly.com/results.html
Follow results and pictures online www.facebook.com/elliott5.9 and for more information on the Elliott 5.9 Class Association visit www.e59.org.nz
About The Elliott 5.9
The Elliott 5.9 emerged in the early 1980’s as a high performing trailer yacht and continues to deliver competitive one design racing in a welcoming fleet of world-class sailors and novices alike. The boats started a revolution with their well-balanced and cost effective design, and quickly become the boat of choice for top club training schemes and a breeding ground for NZ’s America’s Cup, Ocean Race and Olympic champions.
Sailed by a crew of three, the Elliott 5.9 remains a low maintenance sailboat with an efficient single spreader fractional rig, a well-balanced sail plan and practical deck layout. Whether sailing among mixed trailer yachts, sport boat fleets or in a one design setting, the 5.9 is celebrated for its responsiveness and outstanding value.