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The enticement of sailing at a world championships ensured a big fleet took part at the mid-winter championships at the Manly Sailing Club over the weekend.
The Mid-Winter Championships at Manly attracted 92 O'pen Bics. Photo: Linda Ross.
Manly are hosting the 2019 O'pen Bic world championships over the New Year and used the mid-winter champs as something of a qualifying regatta for youngsters to prove they were good enough to enter.
As many as 92 Bics competed across the gold, silver and bronze fleets, with some coming from as far afield as Wanaka, Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch as well as others from across the North Island. There were also a number of Lasers, Laser Radials and RS Fevas for the three-day regatta.
The weather co-operated better than what had been forecast - strong winds were predicted for a couple of the days - and only the silver, bronze and RS Feva fleets were held on shore yesterday as gusts up to 40 knots ripped down the bay.
"I thought it was a great event," Manly Sailing Club commodore Russell Coutts said. "To be running an event in the middle of the winter, to get this number of kids out was great. We got lucky with the weather. It was better than I thought it would be, that's for sure.
"We had 92 Bics here this weekend so it was a good fleet, particularly in the silver and bronze fleets. That bodes well for the future. The kids in the gold fleet handled the conditions today really well because there was plenty of breeze out there. It was a good standard of racing."
World under-13 champion Mattias Coutts cleaned up in the gold fleet, winning all nine races to finish 10 points ahead of Jake Pye (Kerikeri Cruising Club). Reigning under-17 world champion Sean Herbert (Torbay Sailing Club) was a further point behind in third.
Sam Clarke (Royal Akarana/Murrays Bay) won the silver fleet and Ella Parker (Bay of Islands Yacht Club) took out the bronze fleet.
Harrison Baker (Torbay Sailing Club) won the Laser Radial youth division ahead of Jack Lee Rush (Wakatere Boating Club) and Thomas Mulcahy (Murrays Bay Sailing Club) with Samantha Stock (Murrays Bay), who next week will compete in the youth sailing world championships, first female. Blake Hinsley and Nicolas Drummond (Buckland Beach Yacht Club) were the top RS Feva combination.
About 160-180 competitors are expected for the O'pen Bic world championships from December 30 to January 4, with half likely to come from overseas.
"It will be good competition but there will still be a pretty big emphasis on fun," Coutts said. "On one of the legs they will make them do a freestyle leg like standing up in the boat so it won't all be just about the racing."
Coutts has had a massive influence on the rising popularity of the O'pen Bic class in this country, helping clubs to grow their fleets and conducting a series of coaching clinics around the country, and it's also seen huge growth at Manly.
The club have increased the number of members by 74 percent over the past 12 months but Coutts said they've really only scratched the surface.
"It's been great but we have ambitions to grow it more than that," he said. "I don't think we've really even started yet because it's just been word of mouth that has got it to this point. I think we are ready to take it to the next stage and start to make contact with some of the schools in the local area. I expect our numbers will be hopefully double in another couple of years."
Results from the Mid-Winter Championships at the Manly Sailing Club:
Gold (28 boats)
1st: Mattias Coutts (Manly Sailing Club) (1) (1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 7 points
2nd: Jake Pye (Kerikeri Cruising Club) (3) (4) 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 - 17 pts
3rd: Sean Herbert (Torbay Sailing Club) 2 2 2 3 3 4 2 (5) (29 DNC) - 18 pts
Girls
1st: Imogen Herbert (Manly Sailing Club) 16 9 8 7 12 16 7 (18) (29 DNC) - 75 pts
2nd: Tsugumi Parks Watanabe (Ravensbourne Boating Club) (18) 14 12 17 (18) 14 14 15 14 - 100 pts
3rd: Aimee Bright (Manly Sailing Club) 11 20 17 16 9 (21) 21 (22) 15 - 109 pts
Silver (32 boats)
1st: Sam Clarke (RAYC/MBSC) 2 1 1 (3) 2 1 2 - 9 pts
2nd: Jack Hollands (Manly Sailing Club) 5 (10) 3 5 1 2 4 - 20 pts
3rd: Finn Pye (Kerikeri Cruising Club) (8) 2 7 2 6 4 1 - 22 pts
Girls
1st: Phoebe Andrew (Manly Sailing Club) 7 5 (8) 7 4 3 3 - 29 pts
2nd: Kelly McKinnon (Royal Akarana Yacht Club) 3 3 6 6 14 (17) 13 - 45 pts
3rd: Bonnie McGregor (Wanaka Yacht Club) 6 14 10 4 3 12 (19) - 49 pts
Bronze (32 boats)
1st: Ella Parker (Bay of Islands Yacht Club) 3 4 3 2 1 4 5 (10) 7 (8) 6 - 35 pts
2nd: Aran Niccolls (Sandspit Yacht Club) (11) 1 5 (13) 5 10 10 2 5 1 3 - 42 pts
3rd: Kosta Gladiadis (Manly Sailing Club) 1 8 1 6 (9) (18) 1 8 8 7 4 - 44 pts
Feva (13 boats)
1st: Blake Hinsley / Nicolas Drummond (Bucklands Beach Yacht Club) 3 1 1 1 1 1 (11) 2 - 10 pts
2nd: Ben Brighouse / Cam McGlashan (Milford Cruising Club) (2) 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 - 13 pts
3rd: Cody Coughlan / Josh Redmond (Milford Cruising Club) 1 3 3 3 (7) 6 6 6 - 28 pts
Girls
1st: Maddie Rist / Holly Gray (Manly Sailing Club) 4 4 5 5 4 7 (8) 3 - 32 pts
2nd: Lexi Harrison / Leo Jeffery (Milford Cruising Club) 5 7 7 4 5 (10) 4 4 - 36 pts
3rd: Kelly Su / Cate Tipler Female (Royal Akarana Yacht Club) 9 (10) 10 8 10 5 3 5 - 50 pts
Laser (8 boats)
1st: Andrew Dellabarca (Worser Bay Boating Club) (7) (2) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 7 pts
2nd: Cris Brodie (Pupuke Boating Club) 6 1 3 2 (9 DNC) (9 DNC) 9 DNC 9 DNC 9 DNC - 39 pts
3rd: Garry Lock 2 3 4 7 (9 DNC) (9 DNC) 9 DNC 9 DNC 9 DNC - 43 pts
Laser Radial Youth (24 boats)
1st: Harrison Baker (Torbay Sailing Club) 1 1 1 (25 UFD) 1 (5) 3 1 2 - 10 pts
2nd: Jack Lee Rush (Wakatere Boating Club) 3 3 2 3 4 2 (6) (6) 5 - 22 pts
3rd: Thomas Mulcahy (Murrays Bay Sailing Club) 2 2 4 1 6 (9) 5 (7) 6 - 26 pts
Girls
1st: Samantha Stock (MBSC) 11 8 3 (25 UFD) 2 6 12 (25 DNC) 25 DNC - 67 pts
2nd: Anna Walrond (Ravensbourne Boating Club) (21) 17 14 (25 DNC) 18 13 17 13 14 - 106 pts
3rd: Alex Wood (Manly Sailing Club) (18) (18) 17 12 16 17 18 16 13 - 109 pts
Laser 4.7 (6 boats)
1st: Burty Meffa (Nelson Yacht Club) 1 (2) (2) 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 7 pts
2nd: Kahurangi Nepia (Wanaka Yacht Club) 3 (4) (4) 2 2 2 2 3 4 - 18 pts
3rd: Kaya Reese (RYYT / Macandrew Bay) 2 (3) (3) 3 3 3 3 2 2 - 18 pts
Full results here
