Issue date
Unseasonably warm conditions greeted the 168 sailors who attended the 2013 Toyota Opti Nationals in Timaru over Easter, and although some of the sailors would have wished for more breeze, the local race committee, headed by Les Baker did a fine job of getting away eight good races in the breeze that was available.
It was great to see the Australia National Opti Champion, Annabelle Davies in attendance, who was no doubt keen to try to win the New Zealand Nationals after Nick Egnot-Johnson swooped the Aussie Nationals from her grasp in January this year. There were also 18 other Australian sailors here, as well as three sailors from Noumea.
The facilities were superbly set up at Timaru with the locals putting in a huge effort to set the club up for the Optis, with Ray Smith, Jon Olds, and Bruce Lund showing that a small town club can host a great Opti Nats whilst adding its own style and character to the event at the same time. They were supported by Yachting New Zealand Regional Support Officer Kate Spackman.
The fleet was split into two flights of around 60 sailors, with reseeding taking place during the regatta, before the finals stage of Gold and Silver fleets, whilst the Green fleet had a fleet of 51 sailors.
Day one saw one race completed for one flight, won by Sam Morgan from KYC, then the second day it was the other flights turn to complete one race, with Leonard Takahashi-Fry from MBSC taking that one. Both days were sailed in light thermal Easterly breezes, which moved towards the North as the day wore on.
The next day saw more light thermal breezes and flat water. The sailors familiar with these type of conditions, Hamish Clark from Queen Charlotte and Sean Bowden from Lake Taupo showed their skills in reading the conditions to win a race each.
The following day saw the breeze lift to 8-12 knots from the East, with some swells and chop, so PRO Les took the chance to get in four races, which made a series, a discard, and allowed the fleet to switch to finals racing for the next and last day of racing. Max Quirk (AUS) showed some real skills during this day of racing with a 1, 13, 1, 1, however, Henry Haslett (WBC/GBC) and Nick Egnot-Johnson (MBSC) were stringing together a list of steady results with Henry remaining inside the top 9 in every race, whilst Annabelle Davies (AUS) won a race, as did Leonard Takahashi-Fry (MBSC) and Alistair Gifford (QCYC).
So it was down to finals day, with the fleet now split into Gold and Silver flights. The day started off light again, testing the resolve of the sailors on and off the water. Then the breeze filled in lightly but gently from the East again around noon, and after the obligatory General Recall first start, the black flag came out again and the fleets were on their way.
Max Werner, a German exchange student sailing out of Napier SC, who had been sailing steadily all week, took out race one, with Henry Haslett in 2nd, with Lewis Anderson (KYC) in 3rd. Tom Fyfe (MBSC), stepped up to a 6th which brought him closer into contention for the top bunch. As did a 9th from Annabelle Davies. Max Quirk (AUS) was continuing on his good form from the day before and was looking strong overall, however a black flag in this race counted him out of contention for a top spot, so that put Henry Haslett in the box seat with a string of steady results to almost take out the series with a race to spare.
With race one only finishing around 20 minutes before the 3pm cut off for racing, it looked like the series was over, however with two minutes to spare PRO Les Baker took the opportunity to get another race away.
The silver fleet didn’t make the 3pm cut off, which made it a one race finals series. A win by Greta Stewart (WBC) gave her an overall win in the silver fleet, with Jack Tripe (QCYC) and Zachary Scheiwe (Charteris Bay) in 2nd and 3rd.
Max Quirk had nothing to lose and was no doubt keen finish off on a good note despite his (now) two Black flag’s. He went out and won the last race, leaving four wins on his scorecard for the regatta and sending a signal to the Kiwis about how to race well in light conditions and who we should be watching out for next year!
Meanwhile 13 year old Tom Fyfe, followed on from his good form in the first race of the day to take 2nd to lock away 6th overall whilst Airi Kawana (WBC) took 3rd, but the real story was happening further back. Henry Haslett elected to keep a watch on his closer competitors to ensure his win was secure, but they got stuck in the bunch on the first beat and never recovered sufficiently to challenge his winning position.
So it was 14 year old Henry Haslett that took the win in the 2013 Toyota Opti Nationals - following on from a great few months for him which have included a win in the 2013 NZ Opti Teams racing regatta with his Wakatere team and a win in the Pre Nats/South Island Champs in Timaru. Henry had two top ten places in the previous two ranking regattas at Wakatere and Picton and came into this regatta ranked 7th.
Annabelle Davies (AUS) kept a consistent score card to finish 2nd overall, with Alistair Gifford (QCYC) in 3rd and Nick Egnot Johnson finishing as third Kiwi. After a consistent ranking series which included the North Island Champs, Auckland Champs, Interislander in Picton and now the Nationals, that result allowed Nick to seal a win for the 2013 Opti Ranking Series.
The Green fleet regatta, for sailors new to the class and keen to learn, managed to get their way through 10 races, with the overall winner being Elliot Bacon from Worser Bay followed by Burty Meffan from Nelson YC and Emily Overend from QCYC.
New Zealander sailors tend to struggle internationally in light air regattas, so it was good to see a junior regatta sailed in such light airs, in the hope that these young sailors benefit from this experience in the future and during their sailing careers.
The team to compete in the 2013 Opti Worlds in Lake Garda in Italy were the top 5 kiwi finishers at this event, being:
Henry Haslett (Wakatere/Glendowie)
Alistair Gifford (Queen Charlotte)
Nick Egnot-Johnson (MBSC)
Tom Fyfe ( MBSC) and
Leonard Takahashi-Fry (MBSC)
Based off the 2013 National Rankings, the following teams have been selected, subject to their availability to attend:
North Americans in Bermuda:
Jackson Keon (MBSC/Sandspit)
Hamish Clark (QCYC)
Scott McKenzie (Kohi)
Ava Mannering (Napier)
James Wilson (MBSC)
Jordan Stevenson (WBC/Sandspit)
Europeans in Hungary:
Sam Bacon (Worser Bay)
Kate Stewart (Wakatere)
Jonathon Weston (Wakatere)
Craig Keenan (Glendowie)
Asians in Japan:
Airi Kawana (Wakatere)
Daniel Wilks (Taupo)
Brooke Wedgewood (Napier)
Trent McGregor (Torbay)
Aris Shearer (Timaru)
Xanthe Copeland (Wakatere)
Lewis Anderson ( Kohi)
With the 2014 Nationals in Manly next year, it will no doubt be a large regatta, so if you are involved in junior sailing, mark your diaries now and encourage as many sailors as possible to make it along to the event in the Green or Open series.
