Issue date
After four days of compelling racing on the Waitemata Harbour, 2014 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland has come to a close with winners crowned at prize-giving following racing today at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club.
Paralympics Classes: Sonar, SKUD 18, 2.4mR
Tim Dempsey and new SKUD18 partner Gemma Fletcher have secured victory in the Paralympic double-hander. The breeze across the Paralympic sailing course was consistent and so was Dempsey’s form clocking up another couple of race wins on the final day. Brendan Tourelle and anna Ankersmit finished 2nd with Netherlands sailors Akko Van Der Veen and Liza Elburg in 3rd.
Brett Willcock (Charteris Bay Yacht Club) wins the 2.4mR class from Matt Bugg of Australia with Paul Francis (Takapuna Boating Club) rounding out the podium after some excellent racing in the Paralympic single-hander.
Anticipating that this morning’s lack of wind would last throughout the day the two boat Sonar fleet weren’t on the water and results from yesterday stand as final.
470: Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie secured victory in the 470. Heading into the day with the overall lead the reigning women’s world champions, and winners of 2013 ISAF Rolex World Female Sailor of the Year sailed strongly on the final day of the regatta with a 2, 1, 1 from their three races to nail home the win.
Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox placed 2nd overall with James Turner and Luke Stevenson finishing up in 3rd overall making it a kiwi podium all round in this event.
After racing Polly Powrie says; “We did have good day, another solid day and that’s all we needed to do.”
The pair have enjoyed getting back in the boat after a break from competition through the Christmas period; “It’s been great for us its early on in our preparations for the year and it pointed out all our rusty spots so we’ve managed to take the kinks out throughout the week and its really nice to come away with a win.”
Powrie anticipates that the rivalry between them and Snow-Hansen and Willcox will resume soon; “We have National Champs in a couple of weeks up in Kerikeri so it’ll be all on for that no doubt!”
Hansa Liberty & Hansa 303
John Buchanan (Royal Akarana Yacht Club) has taken overall victory in the Hansa Liberty from Helena Horswell (Royal Akarana Yacht Club) with Australian visitor Russell Phillips finishing 3rd. Tan Wei Qiang and Yap Qian Yin from Singapore have won the Hansa 303 double-handed class.
49er: Looking hard to beat going into the final day 49er World Champs Peter Burling and Blair Tuke wrapped up the regatta with a clean string of wins today to take the 49er title here at Oceanbridge Sail Auckland by a convincing 17 point margin.
“It was pretty interesting racing, pretty shifty, but we managed to come out on the right side of it a fair few times so we’ve been happy with the week and the boat was going well.”
Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski – silver medallists at the 2013 World Championships were 2nd overall, while Benjamin Goodwin and Sam Bullock from the Napier Sailing Club snuck through for the bronze.
49erFX: In the 49erFX it was the World Champions showing their class as well – Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech fending off the international competition from Annemiek Bekkering of the Netherlands to take out the 49erFX class in front of the home audience.
Maloney and Meech clocked up eight race wins across the fourteen race series and finished six points clear of Bekkering. Australia’s Haylee Outteridge and Ella Clark came home in 3rd place.
Laser: Rutger Van Schaardenburg, visiting sailor from the Netherlands brought home victory in the Laser class after sailing consistently well throughout the four day regatta.
Ven Schaardenburg says; “I finished with first place and I’m really happy with that. I had a bit of a struggle on the first day with speed upwind but with good downwind speed it gave me the victories and good results here. And I am a little bit lucky with the wind circumstances – they suit me well.”
It was a multi-national podium in the class with NZL Sailing Team’s Andy Maloney comfortably in 2nd place and Colin Cheng from Singapore taking the bronze with a good final day on the water.
Van Schaardenburg says he came to Auckland for the quality competition; “New Zealand sailors like Andy Maloney, Sam Meech and Thomas Saunders, they are good sailors at a good level and it is cold at home right now.”
Laser Radial: With points tight on the leader-board among the top three going into today the Laser Radial leaders hit the water with all to play for. In the end Ryan Lo Jun Han takes the win despite not having his best day on the water with a 5th and a 3rd.
Just one point back was Sara Winther, Olympic campaigner in the female single-hander, while youth male sailor Trent Rippey from Tauranga sails home to 3rd overall in what was one of the largest fleets competing at 2014 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland.
Finn: There was a compelling finish in the Finn class with two-time Olympian in the Laser Andrew Murdoch going into the final day three points adrift of younger training partner Josh Junior (Worser Bay Boating Club) facing an uphill battle for victory. But after a win in today’s first race and Junior finishing 3rd it all came down to the final race, which went the way of Murdoch who is the overall winner by just one point.
NZL Sailing Team Finn Coach John Cutler says; “It’s been really close racing between the two of them and they’ve each had phases where one of them has been more dominant. You know it’s a pity in the end that one of them has to win and naturally one has to lose. It came down to the final mark of the final race and that’s as close as you are going to get!”
“It’s been tough racing we’ve had stronger winds at times and when you get this sea breeze and it bends around Rangitoto, and the current has been strong. So it’s been really tough conditions.”
“The whole fleet has been going really well, especially upwind, and if the top guys don’t get it right they don’t round in 1st in 2nd – they’ve had to work hard for the results this week and I think it sharpens them up and should stand them in good stead when they get to Europe.”
Nacra 17: Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders from the NZL Sailing Team took to the water today with a clean score-card, and while they didn’t maintain that until the end placing 2nd in today’s two races, they easily take out the victory in the Nacra 17 mixed multihull class.
Rachel Basevi and Tomer Simhony ended the regatta on a high note with a couple of wins on the final day, taking 2nd overall with Taylor Burn and Vicky Francis finishing 3rd overall.
RS:X Windsurfing: Jon-Paul Tobin and Natalia Kosinska have won the RS:X windsurfing, Tobin with a clean sweep of wins across the entire regatta in the Men’s RS:X 9.5 division. His closest rival was Korean international Su Whan Lee. Tony Mackenzie rounded out the podium placings in 3rd.
It was a different story for Kosinska however who has had a tough battle with youth rider from Murrays Bay Sailing Club Patrick Haybittle for overall victory in the RS:X 8.5 division. Kosinska, an NZL Sailing Team Olympic campaigner, was lying 2nd to Haybittle over the first half of the series, but edged in front with a string of wins on the penultimate day setting the scene for a grand finale on day four.
Today, in light wind pumping conditions, Haybittle won both races sailed, Kosinska placing 3rd in both and just hanging on to take a narrow one point overall victory.
Kite-board Racing: Torrin Bright, the inaugural National Champion in kite-board racing, has been dominant at Oceanbridge Sail Auckland not missing a beat with 14 wins from 14 races. Brad Walker and Ben Turner were consistently finishing behind Bright and take 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Invited:
29er & 420
Equal points at the top of the 29er leader-board required a count-back to determine Micah Wilkinson and Jack Rogers (Murrays Bay Sailing Club) as the overall winners from Markus Somerville and Isaac McHardie. Both pairs had four wins across the regatta after extremely tight racing in the youth skiff class featuring ten boats. William McKenzie and Sam Simpson secured 3rd place.
In the 420 Sam Barnett and Zac Merton (Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club) who won out, with three female crews following on the leader-board. Napier sailors Olivia Mackay and Abby Goodwin were 2nd overall with Eliza Wilkinson and Kate Stewart in 3rd place.
2014 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland
Final top three (full results here)
Hansa Liberty
1st John Buchanan
2nd Helena Horswell
3rd Russell Phillips (AUS)
2.4mR
1st Brett Willcock
2nd Matt Bugg (AUS)
3rd Paul Francis
Skud 18
1st Tim Dempsey and Gemma Fletcher
2nd Brendan Tourelle and Anna Ankersmit
3rd Akko Van Der Veen and Liza Elburg
Sonar
1st Rick Dodson, John Weston and David Allerton
2nd Callum Conroy, Pauline Eitjes and crew
303 Double-handed
1st Tan Wei Qiang and Yap Qian Yin
2nd Lim Kok Liang and Aaron Per Yong Quan
3rd Sulaiman Bin Pungot and Low Mun Chong
49er
1st Peter Burling and Blair Tuke
2nd Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski
3rd Benjamin Goodwin and Sam Bullock
49erFX
1st Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech
2nd Annemiek Bekkering and crew
3rd Haylee Outteridge and Ella Clark
470
1st Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie
2nd Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox
3rd James Turner and Luke Stevenson
Laser
1st Rutger van Schaardenburg (NED)
2nd Andy Maloney
3rd Colin Cheng (SIN)
Laser Radial
1st Ryan Lo Jun Han
2nd Sara Winther
3rd Trent Rippey
Nacra 17
1st Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders
2nd Rachel Basevi and Tomer Simhony
3rd Taylor Burn and Vicky Francis
Finn
1st Andrew Murdoch
2nd Josh Junior
3rd Karl Purdie
RS:X 9.5
1st Jon-Paul Tobin
2nd Kyounghwan Lee
3rd Tony Mackenzie
RS:X 8.5
1st Natalia Kosinska
2nd Patrick Haybittle
3rd Nicolas Goyard (FRA)
420
1st Sam Barnett and Zak Merton
2nd Olivia Mackay Abby Goodwin
3rd Eliza Wilkinson and Kate Stewart
29er
1st Micah Wilkinson and Jack Rogers
2nd Markus Somerville and Isaac McHardie
3rd William MacKenzie and Sam Simpson
Kite-board
1st Torrin Bright
2nd Brad Walker
3rd Ben Turner
To follow the action head to sailauckland.org.nz - the up-to-the-minute website features a social media feed where competitors, supporters and volunteers posts using #sailakl on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will paint a real-time picture of what’s happening on the water.
About 2014 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland
Oceanbridge Sail Auckland 2014 will take place at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club from the 1st – 4th February 2014.
The NZL Sailing Team are anticipated to feature strongly in what is the biggest Olympic and Paralympic class regatta in New Zealand, and alongside them will be New Zealand’s top developing youth sailors and keen competitors in a range of invited classes such as the OK Dinghy and A-Class catamaran.
All Olympic and Paralympic class boats are invited to take part: The Laser, Laser Radial, Finn, 470 Men, 470 Women, 49er, 49er FX, RS:X 8.5, RS:X 9.5, Nacra 17, Skud 18, 2.4mR and also other classes are encouraged: the OK Dinghy, 29er, 420, Liberty, Hansa 303, Kiteboards, F18 and A Class Catamaran.
Over four days of racing 11-15 races will take place for each fleet, and the format for all classes will be fleet racing with no medal race. All racing will take place in the Waitemata Harbour, in the surrounds of Rangitoto Island, North Head, Mechanics Bay and Browns Island.
Oceanbridge Sail Auckland is made possible only thanks to the contributions from principle sponsor Oceanbridge, and supporters: Sport New Zealand, Yachting New Zealand, Royal Akarana Yacht Club, Danske Mobler, The Landing and Orakei Marina. Equally important is a team of more than 50 volunteers that are behind the success of this regatta every year.
Media enquiries:
Jodie Bakewell-White
Jodie@yachtingnz.org.nz
021 709 065
Sailor enquiries:
Suellen Hurling
suellen@rayc.org.nz
021 892 004
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