13 April 2012

Day 5

Final day of racing for the 2012 Toyota Optimist National Championships here in New Plymouth. Stills loads of smiling kids. The New Plymouth Yacht Club has gone all out to make this regatta such a success. The likes of Les Wheeler, Commodore and local legend who cracks us up with his large personality and renowned “Pink Crocs.” There are loads of hard working folk here – hugely committed is Wayne Holdt, in charge of race management and a go-to man for the whole regatta.

Everyone mentions the reliable Judy Julian who is so passionate about the sport she has come out of retirement for to do the results. She managed to keep it all together despite both computer and printer malfunctions as well as dealing with issues with the recording software. And huge thank-you to all the volunteers.

Not as much swell today but a very strong sou’ westerly that saw the Green Fleet only get one race away. After a 9 race series, William Martel from Paremata just held on to 1st place with 29 points on a count back with Alice Overend from Queen Charlotte also on 29. Third was Oliver Cowley from Queen Charlotte on 33. Grierson Fox from Worser Bay came through with 4th place on 41 followed by Albert Stanley, Wakatere 47points.

The Open Fleet also had a difficult sailing day for each flight before sailing was abandoned. The Gold flight managed 5 races over the two final days, whilst the Silver did 4 and Bronze 2. The Bronze winner was Adam Buckley of Torbay and the Silver winner Thomas Morton of Kohimarama.

The Toyota National Championship title was won by Leonard Takahashi-Fry (Murrays Bay) with a net 24 points. 2nd was William McKenzie (Kohimarama) on 30, followed by Timothy Adair (Murrays Bay) on 38. The 1st international competitor Alistair Young (Fremantle) came 4th in the Open on 40 points.

And so it’s off home for the 212 sailors for a well -earned rest and a time to let sore hands heal. It’s farewell to the little penguins, seals and visiting marlin.

For those of you coming to next year’s regatta in Timaru, work hard and “Believe if you can dream it, you can do it”. (The slogan from the sponsor Toyota). Just ask Leonard.

PS: For those of you following the adventures of Dr Geoff Tvrdeich, He had a flatty on his boat trailer today! Black Friday! 

Report prepared by Ginger Rogers – Edited by Barry Upson

12 April 2012

Day 4

Another happy day dawns and its manic at the Ozone Coffee Roasters keeping the black gold flowing, even making the odd thermos and loads of yummy hot chocolates for the kids and mums.

Day 4 of the Regatta sees the Open Fleet split into 3 groups, Gold, Silver and Bronze. The cut-offs for these fleets was obviously based on DNA with Emma Hyde from Murrays Bay at 55th making the cut-off for Gold and her younger brother Tom being at the Silver cut-off at 110th.

The Roving reporter caught up with James Grogan’s mum Mandy from Black Rock Yacht Club Melbourne early this morning, and speaking on behalf of the sailors from over the ditch, Mandy says what a fantastic Regatta this is and how thrilled they are with everyone doing so well in such a range of conditions. Special mention to Alistair Young from Perth who has had 5 bullets and now lays 7th overall.

The sailors set out in light winds from everywhere accompanied by a 1m swell that grew considerably over the day.

In the Green Fleet, Alice Overend (Queen Charlotte) took out the first race and William Martel (Paremata) the second but Oliver Cowley (Queen Charlotte) maintains the overall lead. The Green Fleet have two races tomorrow to complete their regatta.

The Open Fleet had to contend with liquid Himalayas by late afternoon with a south westerly on one flank and a south easterly on the other until they merged. Not only did Amelia Masters from Kohimarama take flying lessons out the front of her opti, but Judges Hana Maquire and Jamie Sutherland also got a ducking right before the start of the last race. Jamie would like to point out that Dri-bags do not work when completely submerged – yes, that was the end of his iPhone.

As a consequence of the above incidents and many capsizes, Race Officer Gerald Martin says that the breeze limit for sailors will be set at 25knots but for judges it will be 18knots!

The results for today’s Open Gold Fleet with three races today saw Murrays Bay’s Leonard Takahashi-Fry on 14 points maintain his strong grip on the title with one day to go. He is followed by William McKenzie, (Kohimarama) on 22, Isaac McHardie (Hamilton) 27, Timothy Adair (Murrays Bay) 30, and Kim Buchanan (Charteris Bay) 5th on 33 points.

The Open Silver Fleet only managed two races with Thomas Morton (Kohimarama) 1st overall on 29, Xanthe Copeland (Worser Bay) on 35, Scott McKenzie (Kohimarama) 40, Sam Bacon (Wakatere) 43, and Harry Milne (Worser Bay) 5th on 48.

The strong afternoon winds were tough on the Open Bronze Fleet who only had one race today. Thomas Fyfe (Murrays Bay) is 1st overall on 30 points, Josh van Bergen (New Plymouth) 2nd on 34, Zac Littlewood (South Perth) 39 points, Finley Gordon (Napier) 42, and Will Lightbody (New Plymouth) 5th on 44.

The Toyota film crew will be present tomorrow so girls remember your lippy and waterproof mascara!

Report prepared by Ginger Rogers

11 April 2012

Day 3

Wednesday morning dawns and the Australians have been welcomed to Taranaki weather. Overcast and a littler cooler after rain during the night. A steady northerly made the day look promising – although clouds building to the south were a black as the inside of a Great White Shark. Weather sites such as Metview, Windguru, Predictwind, Victoria University, and Yachting Weather plus phone apps were getting a hammering from Mums. Dads, and coaches on the beach.

The locals tell me it’s unusual not to have a swell rolling in from the Mighty Tasman Sea. New Plymouth port is busy and once the tugs had manoeuvred yet another ship in, the bunching of the Open Fleet and support boats got underway. Sailors had to zigzag their way out of the harbour with the Northerly.

The sun was out by the time the Open Fleet made it to open waters well off the Breakwater, and the Green Fleet had racing underway shortly after 11am.

After Day 3 the Green Fleet had completed 7 races and could drop their worst result which again has seen a change on the leader board. Oliver Cowley from Queen Charlotte has raced through to take the lead on 14 points, followed by Alice Overend, Queen Charlotte on 20 points and William Martel, Paremata on 25.

The Open Fleet had 1.5m swells with a confused chop – but Jono Western from Wakatere summed it up with the comment, “That’s what I came to Taranaki for!” However, on our on the water Dr, Geoff Tvrdeich may disagree as he was spotted “feeding the fish” today. That’s a slightly better day for Geoff than yesterday when both his cameras received an unexpected dunking. Geoff is hoping that’s his lot for now – he hasn’t been busy with on the water patients except for Day 1 when he was called over to look at a tap on the head from a boom – only to discover it was his son George!

The Open Fleet have now completed their qualifying rounds with the top 55 boats now competing in the Gold Fleet, the next 55 in the Silver and the bottom 54 in the Bronze. Top of the Gold after the 7 best scores from 8 races is Leonard Takahashi-Fry (Murrays Bay) on 11, followed by William McKenzie (Kohimarama) 13, Isaac McHardie (Hamilton) 14, Alistair Young (Freemantle WA) 17, and Kim Buchanan (Charteris Bay) 24.

The day ended with spot prizes- many thanks to the generosity of the sponsors. And a heartfelt thanks to the lovely ladies in the kitchen making lunches and providing every sailor with a hot end of day snack. Very much appreciated by the cold wet sailors. The Taranaki visitors also enjoyed the Ranfurly Shield, “the log of wood” being on display and being told that this will be the closest that they will get to it.

Report prepared by Ginger Rogers

10th April 2012

Day 2

Yet another day in paradise finds everyone waiting for the breeze to kick in. Suspicion falls on the coffee guys, Dennis & Glennis, keeping us all on-shore for coffees and hot chocolates till the budget met!

Finally around 11am the Open Fleet launched with the Green Fleet to follow. The Greenies got three races away today – and although the conditions were light, a very cool Tara Handa from Murrays Bay Sailing Club found the favoured side of the course and found herself in first place after 5 races on Day 2.

The Open Fleet also struggled in light winds. The first race (Race 4) saw all flights get away with Josh Handa winning the Blue Flight, Emma French the Yellow and Jim Colley the Red.

The second race today (Race 5) was a bit of a disappointment as the Blue Flight got away before a major wind shift to the right meant the race was abandoned. This saw the course reset and re-sailed.

The Yellow flight resulted in 17 sailors being black flagged but William McKenzie came through to win. The Blue Flight was won by Leonard Takahashi-Fry which would place him in a leading position on the overall results. Hamish Clark won the Red Flight. Second overall is Isaac McHardie from Hamilton/KYC on the provisional results.

The third race today was postponed due to a dying wind.

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Melanie Kirkman from Kohi – 11 today.

Report prepared by Ginger Rogers

9th April 2012

Day 1

Yet another superb sunrise greeted the 212 Opti sailors this morning at Ngamotu Beach, New Plymouth. The sailors were a calm lot in the morning sun with a hum of anticipation for the first day of the fleet sailing. The off the beach departure was delayed due to a lack of wind with the Green Fleet finally heading out into an incoming tide.

Freddie Dossor #4046 from Worser Bay was lining up for his first Green Regatta and hoping that 2 poached eggs for breakfast would see him through.

The Open Fleet were met with good off-shore conditions at a steady 18-22 knots after their mass exodus from the beach just before 11am.

Although there were a few nerves most sailors were just bursting to get out there and “Do It”. Even gutsy Kate Stewart #4473 from Wakatere sailed out with her broken arm – that’s true single handed sailing!

The racing was entertaining to watch with many capsizes, rapid bailing, epic wave surfing, lost hats, major mark collisions resulting in lots of 360° penalty turns. It was remarkable how many sailors stuck it out with almost all of them getting through 3 races each with no off-the –water protests.

Defending champion Leonard Takahashi-Fry had 3 bullets in his flight to finish 1st equal with Australian Alistair Young from Fremantle both on three points. In third place was Isaac McHardie from Hamilton/KYC on 7 points. William McKenzie KYC was 4th on 8 points and James Grogan Blackrock/SYC fifth on 9 points.

Mike Judd, Chief Measurer, predicts that if the weather doesn’t stay the same, it will change! You can’t fault that.

Report prepared by Ginger Rogers

7th April 2012

Team Racing

Taranaki has really turned it on for the 2012 Toyota Optimist National Championships.

The New Plymouth Yacht Club has organised a great location and glorious weather – only the coffee cart appears to be missing.

Of the 207 competitors, 161 are Open Fleet and 46 Green Fleet. Joining us from over the ditch are 19 sailors from various yacht clubs around Australia. Of particular mention are Findlay Dickinson sailing in the Green Fleet from Great Britain and Open Fleet sailor Mael Le Pen from Noumea.

Day one saw 21 teams competing in light winds from the SE and 1-1.5m swell. Of notable scalp was Murrays Bay 3 taken out Charteris Bay (Christchurch) early on.

The Lee Breakwater provided exceptional viewing of the course. The final three teams were Wakatere, Kohimarama and Murrays Bay 1.

After Wakatere was eliminated, Kohi met Murrays Bay in the final which Murrays Bay won 2 – 0.

The annual trans-Tasman team racing challenge then took place with Murrays Bay versing Team Australia. Murrays continued with their winning form and in the afternoon late sea breeze defeated Australia.

The Championship racing commences on Monday.

Report prepared by Ginger Rogers