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The weather played a major role at the G.J. Gardner Homes Open Team Sailing National Championships but it couldn't deny Reuben Corbett a fourth-straight title.
Corbett and his Crossbred Kiwis team of Dylan Wichman, Emilie Jones, George Angus, Hugo McMullen and Andi Hawtin lost only one match over the two days when racing was possible.
The finals day was abandoned as strong gusts of close to 40 knots buffeted the race course off the Kerikeri Cruising Club, so results at the end of the second round robin stood.
The Favourites team of Frankie Dair, Maeve White, Jordan Stevenson, Harry McMullen, Jack Bunce and Sam Scott were second with Waimea College (Luis Schneider, Sophia Sidley, Macgregor Jones, Ruby Campbell, Alex Bentley and Sarah Charles) third.
The only match Crossbred Kiwis lost was to Five Chicks, One Dude, which was stacked with female talent and many of those who combined to win last year's NZ Women’s Match Racing Championships. Among those in the team was two-time Olympic medallist Polly Powrie, who called a wind shift perfectly on the finish line to deny Crossbred Kiwis the win.
"I haven't been teams racing since high school, which is similar to most of our team," Powrie said. "We were a little bit rusty but it's been good fun.
"I have known most of these guys [in the team] since our high school days and we now have 10 kids between us. We're just getting back out there and enjoying it and just thankful we have good partners who can take care of the kids."
Polly Powrie and Hana Hielkema going through a tack. Photos: Bruce Carter.
Five Chicks, One Dude, who were actually made up of four females and two males after a late change, finished fifth in the 10-team regatta but were starting to show some form and could have been a difficult proposition on finals day.
Crossbred Kiwis would have still been the team to beat, even though the team was vastly different to the Kiwis Team Racing outfit which won the title last year.
Spectators were treated to some exceptional 420 dinghy sailing on the opening two days as helms and their crews overcame the tricky conditions. Racing on the Sunday in particular was close, and some races took only six minutes to complete.
The weather conditions also made it challenging for race officials, boat masters, changeover drivers and sailors and the volunteers did a commendable job to make the regatta such a success.
Crossbred Kiwis claimed the trophy donated by Core Builders Composites, which is a mounted cap shroud sheave from USA 17, winner of the 2010 America’s Cup.
Teams will already be plotting on how to get their hands on it next year.
- Yachting New Zealand are putting together a highlights package from the team racing nationals which will show on Sky Sport Next and the Sky Sport Next YouTube channel.
Final standings from the 2021 G.J. Gardner Homes Open Team Sailing National Championships at the Kerikeri Cruising Club:
1st: Crossbred Kiwis
2nd: Favourites
3rd: Waimea
4th: Thievery
5th: 5 Chicks 1 Dude
6th: Boobs to the Back
7th: YTP
8th: Knot Very Fast
9th: Shack Tec Racing
10th: Rapunzel
