Issue date
Royal Akarana Yacht Club sailors Eli Liefting and Rose Dickson have secured back-to-back RS Feva national championships.
(Photo: Suellen Hurling)
Liefting and Dickson, who placed fourth at the most recent RS Feva world championships in Spain, were the standout performaners in the 22-boat field, winning six of the eight races and finishing no worse than second.
"It feels pretty to good to have won for a second year in a row," said Liefting when presented the perpetual trophy at prizegiving.
Hamish McLaren and Henry McLachlan, also from RAYC, finished second overall with Optimist national champion Seb Menzies and crewmate Robbie Wooldrige finishing third. This was Menzies’ first experience in the RS Feva class and he was happy with his result.
"It was so much fun," he enthused.
The fleet of 22 boats and 44 sailors had to contend with difficult conditions for the two-day regatta. With strong westerlies and torrential rain, the RAYC race management team opted to race the fleet in the more protected area of Mechanics Bay as opposed to the exposed area of Northern Leading. But the protected area came with it's own challenges with the fleet forced to deal with more tidal influences racing closer to shore.
Four races were completed on the first day, but it wasn't a enough to secure a national championship - fives races are required for the regatta to count. Race management were determined to get a series in and racing away on time on the final day and, with breaks in the weather, all of the planned races were completed.
The 2017 national championships were the third major event for the RS Feva class in New Zealand and was supported by The Water Shed Takapuna.
Top 5
1st - Eli Liefing & Rose Dickson (RAYC) - 8pts
2nd - Hamish McLaren & Henry McLachlan (RAYC) - 15pts
3rd - Seb Menzies & Robbie Wooldridge (MBSC/WBC) - 22.5pts
4th - Harry Butler & Harry Firman (RAYC) - 28pts
5th - Cameron Todd & Danny Su (RAYC) - 37.5pts
First all-girl crew and most improved: Maddie Couwenberg & Mia Horton (RAYC)
Full results can be found here
(Photo: Suellen Hurling)
