Sail Auckland Regatta Overall

Weather plays havoc on final day of Royal & SunAlliance Regatta

Auckland: Winds gusting up to 30 knots kept the Royal & SunAlliance regatta fleet on the beach for most of the morning on the final day of the four day regatta. The 470s were the only class to sail 3 races to make it a 12 race series. On the same course, the 49ers were only able to sail 2 races today, while further round the Waitemata Harbour, the Lasers, Europes and Finns were only able to squeeze in one race. By lunchtime the winds had reached class limits and organisers called it a day.

With the Tornado fleet not leaving the beach today, Chris Dickson and Jeremy Stephenson finished with a 3 point lead over Wellington’s Simon Manning and Andy Robertson and eventual winners of the ding-doing battle over the last three days.

With New Zealand’s recent qualification in the Tornado class for the Sydney Olympics, all eyes are on this class to see whether Chris Dickson can clinch a place on the Olympic startline in September. This result makes next week’s National Championships a must-see, with the winner enjoying a psychological edge going into the all-important Olympic trial next month.

Laser World champion Ben Ainslie (Great Britain) was looking for a good result in Auckland to set him on the road to success at this year’s world champs in Mexico next month after a disappointing result at the Sydney International Regatta in December.

Ainslie is cheered by a convincing win this week, including four firsts (28pts), putting him comfortably ahead of Poland’s Maciej Grabowkski (34pts) and Australian Olympic rep Michael Blackburn (45pts). A finish in the top 3 at the worlds will get Ainslie the nod for the UK Olympic spot, and this regatta was one his last opportunities to get in some serious training before making the long trip to Mexico.

Says Ainslie, “I’m very happy this event’s gone well. SIRS was at the end of a very long year and I didn’t sail well at all. I was far more determined to do well at this regatta, and can I feel the old fire coming back.”

Top placed New Zealander was Nik Burfoot (9th overall) with Peter Fox close behind in 11th , and Simon Small 12th. Many of the international sailors are staying in Auckland for the Laser National Champs at Tamaki Yacht Club next weekend.

In the only race of the day, Sarah Macky led the Europe fleet right from the start, clearly in control in a testing day on the water, with many competitors capsizing in the heavy chop and winds gusting up to 30 knots. Melanie Dennision had her Australian Olympic nomination confirmed this morning, and was rewarded with a 2nd overall, with NZ’s Abby Mason 3rd.

It’s all gone Sarah’s way this week, with today’s result giving her 5 wins out of the 10 races sailed. “It all went according to plan” says Macky, “the win was good for me psychologically, especially with the Olympic Trials next month.”

There is a tremendous depth in the Europe fleet in New Zealand observes YNZ High Performance Manager Peter Lester with Abby Mason, Shelly Hesson and Sharon Ferris all pushing for the Olympic spot. “With such a strong fleet, New Zealand is assured of a strong selection in the Europe class” he says.

Daniel Slater and Nathan Handley from Auckland’s North Shore set out to win this regatta, which they did in fine style, setting them up for the best chance of success at this weekend’s 49er Olympic Trial at Murrays Bay.

Another win and a 2nd today secured their place at the top of the fleet (17pts), ahead of Great Britain’s Andy and Ian Budgen (21pts) and fellow Kiwis and Olympic hopefuls Phil Airey and Grant Griffiths breathing down their necks with 22pts.

Despite being apparently relaxed about this week’s result, Olympic champion Mateusz Kusznierewicz obviously was not going to let Britain’s Iain Percy off the hook, assisted by an expensive 10th placing in yesterday’s last race for the Englishman. Neck and neck on points at the end of today’s only race, a countback meant that Kusznierewicz was declared the eventual winner.

A torn sail caused problems midway through the regatta for Timaru’s Ian Baker, with Joe Spooner leading the Kiwi contingent for most of the racing. A first yesterday for Baker and the opportunity to drop two scores gave him a valuable boost, and first amongst the New Zealanders in 7th place overall. Joe Spooner finished 9th overall.

Simon Cooke sailing with Peter Nicholas powered their way through the small 470 fleet this week, notching up 5 wins out of 12 starts and a handful of 2nd and 3rd places (16pts), putting them 9 points ahead of Wellington’s Rhys Johnston and Jamie Hunt (25pts). Auckland’s nick taylor and Reece Brailey took 3rd.

The women’s 470s sailed with them men this week, and top placed women’s crew Melinda Henshaw & Jenny Egnot only just missed out on a podium finish, eventually 4th overall with 36pts. Next best were Rebecca Murdoch and Alesha Thorpe on 68pts and 8th overall. The 470s were the only class to sail all 12 races, with plenty of capsizes, and sailors struggling to control their boats in the heavy conditions.

The high winds at Howick's Eastern Beach meant the Mistrals did not venture off the beach today, leaving overnight leader Jon Paul Tobin the easy winner of the men’s contest, 10 points ahead of Shayne Bright (18pts) and Scott Radley (32pts).

With this event specifically raced at Eastern Beach this is Tobin’s last real competition before next month’s crucial trial being sailed at the same place. While Tobin’s near-perfect scorecard of 8 wins from 9 races may appear convincing, it can’t be forgotten that his closest competition (three time world champ Aaron McIntosh and former Olympic gold medallist Bruce Kendall) was missing.

For full results see www.saildownunder.org.nz