Murrays Bay sailor Nick Egnot-Johnson kept his nerve on the last day of the Mr Apple Optimist North Island Championships to claim the title.
Light breezes with current meant the second race of the final day in the 109-strong fleet was not finished within the time limit. The series ended with seven races sailed and Nick collected two race wins, and a worst placing of seventh to comfortably take out the title.
The 2012 Interislander Optimist Challenge combined with the two day South Island Optimist Champs was the biggest single fleet regatta outside of the Optimist Nationals held in the South Island.
91 entries in the Open fleet and 33 in the Green fleet, three days of great racing on the sparkling waters of Queen Charlotte Sound. Breeze of up to 18 knots on the first day, up to 15 knots on the 2nd and the last day was one for the light wind specialists, 5-7 knots. Most sailors agreed that there was a good balance of conditions for everyone.
Congratulations to Tim Adair for winning the 2012 Auckland Champs held at Howick Sailing Club, March 3,4. Tim showed the rest of the 110 boat fleet how to deal with tricky shifty conditions by scoring incredibly consistent results of (2),1,1,1. Cameron Moss finished 6 points behind in second with George Gautrey in third.
Regatta Report:
The following teams have been selected to represent NZ at overseas championships:
National Ranking Name Club
WORLDS Coach Chris Steele
1 Leonard Takahashi MBSC
2 Tim Adair Wakatere/MBSC
3 Isaac McHardie Hamilton/Kohi
4 William McKenzie Kohi
5 Cameron Moss MBSC
NZL Yachting Trust Optimist Dinghy Worlds Team 2012:
It’s hot and humid in the Dominican Republic and Day 2 of the Championship is over. Hopefully they will all be tucked up in bed having a good rest for tomorrows racing! If you are mad keen to watch the racing live, tune into the tracking from 4.30am ….that’s 12.30pm the day before in Dom Rep! They are 16 hours behind NZ.
European Optimist Team – Lignano Sabiadoro (Northern Adriatic, Italy)
1-8 July 2012
Six sailors and coach Aaron Hume-Merry (with manager Kimberly Rees) were recently on a twelve day trip in China where they attended the ‘Double Star Cup’ 2012 Qingdao International Optimist Training Camp & Regatta.
Sailors are Charlotte Porter, Chelsea Rees, (coach Aaron Hume-Merry) Kate Stewart, Oscar Gunn, Daniel Wilks, and Emma French.
Noumea Optimist Clinic 3rd to 7th September 2012
The Noumea optimist training squad of Guy van der Wilt, Greta Stewart, Max Gibbs, William Shapland, Tom Hyde, Logan Beckman, Rose McKenzie, Crystal Sun and Matt Wylie arrived in Noumea unsure of what was ahead of them, and with a little trepidation of being billeted by a local Noumean sailing family (ok, there was lots of trepidation!). What unfolded over the course of the week was a fantastic cultural and sailing experience which the young sailors will never forget.
NZIODA is sad to learn that David Gautrey of Wellington’s Muritai Yacht Club passed away on September 20th at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK, aged 52 years. David, an accomplished sailor himself, instilled the love of sailing into his family, but it did not stop there. Many young sailors throughout New Zealand benefited from David's kindness and gentle wisdom that never failed to leave an impression. Whether on the land or on the sea support was never very far away.
The Optimist North Islands were recently hosted by Lake Taupo Yacht Club, Nov 16-18, and were held in very challenging conditions including a wide range of wind strengths and cold temperatures throughout.
