Issue date
Four Flying Dutchman yachts have just returned to New Zealand from the World Flying Dutchman Championship held in Santa Cruz, California.
Andy McKee and Mathew Bismark were 5th overall, ahead of the Australian and USA competitors. They also received the trophy for the fastest Flying Dutchman over 20 years old. This is one of the best results ever achieved in this class by a New Zealand team.
Weather conditions were very challenging and it was extremely cold on the water explains Peter Bailey.
“When we left the shore, the temperatures were from 20 to 23 degrees but we then sailed into sea fogs where the temperature dropped to 5 degrees. The fog was so bad that one race was sailed with only 30 metres of visibility.”
The last day of racing was the only one actually sailed in the forecast conditions for the regatta (wind speeds rising to 18 – 23 knots). These conditions provided Andy and Matt their best race finish - a second place, beaten by just a bow length on the line by the World Champion Hungarian crew.
“All the New Zealand yachts did better in the races with the higher wind speeds,” continues Peter, “the New Zealand fleet showed that despite our small size we are sailing at a top international standard.”
Five New Zealand yachts competed in the 46 strong fleet. Behind Andy and Matt, the next New Zealand team was Paul Scoffin and Pavel Ruzicka who were 14th overall. (Paul is a Florida based New Zealander.)
Alisdair Daines and Dave Gibb came 21st overall but had to drop the last race when they broke their mast. Hideo Tayama and Tony Saunders were 28th overall but were unable to finish the last two races because of gear failure. Joseph and Peter Bailey finished 36th overall after having poor results in the first day of racing.
The Race Officer commented that the Flying Dutchman sailors in this regatta were very competitive and driven compared to other international regattas that he had run.
Image: NZL 111 sailed by Andy Mckee and Matt Bismark
