Kristin School wins Harken School Regatta

The Kristin School team of Leonard Takahashi, Sam Hassall, Rory McCutcheon and Oscar Gunn have won the 2014 Harken Schools Regatta.  15 year old Takahashi improved his results on the water today winning the Gold Fleet with a total of 16 points, after qualifying yesterday in 5^th place overall.  “We had a difficult day yesterday but today the whole team improved and everything just went our way.  All the competitors were really good and the racing was very close.”

Second overall, just one point behind was William McKenzie and his team from Glendowie College of Greg Hunter, Lisa Dartnall and Noam Whiteside.  Rounding off the top three was young Henry Haslett and his crew from Kings College with 21 points overall.  “We bounced back from yesterday’s tough day on the water and were very happy with how we ended up” commented bowman Angus McKenzie. 

When ask how he enjoyed the regatta Haslett commented “It was heaps of fun, really tricky conditions but very rewarding when you do well.”  The King College team had a fantastic day on the water with 3 thirds and 1 first but after a bad drop in race three where they trawled the spinnaker and were unable to finish the race so the maximum 11 points or DNF was added to their score.

Fourth overall were last year’s winning team Hutt International Boys School.  George Gautrey and his crew of Callum Pritchard, Dan McDowall and Jono Francis ended the day very well with 2 first and 1 third but an OCS in race two meant they too would carry the maximum 11 point score.

The three day regatta was plagued by light airs and the Race Committee had the unenviable task of trying to complete 6 races on Friday & Saturday before the potential 8 races on Sunday.  The Race Committee persevered and on all three days took the fleet straight into the Big Shoal Bay area where they could hide from the large tidal flow of Auckland Harbour.  “We were lucky that the tides were suitable this weekend so that Big Shoal Bay was an option” commented Race Officer Gerald Flynn. “It was great to complete the regatta and get all the scheduled races in and on time.”

This year’s event was originally a weekend regatta open to ten teams, but when more teams requested entries the Squadron Youth Committee extended it to include an additional 4 teams with racing held on Friday as well.  This meant two groups would race, a Qualifying A group of 4 schools on Friday of which the top 2 would go through to the Gold fleet and a Qualifying B group of 10 schools on Saturday of which the top 8 would go through to Gold fleet. This left 4 in the Silver Fleet to race up to 3 races on Sunday morning and the Gold Fleet with up to 5 races on Sunday afternoon.

Final Results

1^st         Kristin School A                        Leonard Takahashi

2^nd        Glendowie College                 William McKenzie

3^rd        Kings College                          Henry Haslett

4^th        Hutt International Boys School George Gautrey

5^th        KeriKeri High School                Patrick Harris

6^th        St. Kentigern College               Stephanie Kirkman

7^th        Auckland Grammar                Sam Simpson

8^th        Rangitoto College                   Matt Kelly

9^th        Westlake Boys High School      Josh Handa

10^th       Canterbury Combined            Holly Harris

11^th       Takapuna Grammar                Aidan Nicholas

12^th       Mahurangi College                 Jordan Stevenson

13^th       Long Bay College                   Joe Buckley

14^th       Kristin School B                                    Hamish McGill

Qualifying A - Friday

The first group to race on Friday were the Qualifying A group of four schools; KeriKeri High School, Canterbury Combined Schools, Mahurangi College and Long Bay College.

Their scheduled six races were completed with the Kerikeri team helmed by Patrick Harris winning the first 3 races then added 2 seconds and 1 third to be the first qualifier for the Gold Fleet.  Next on 12 points was the Canterbury Combined Schools all female crew helmed by Holly Harris.  

This put Jordan Stevenson of Mahurangi college and Joe Buckley of Long Bay College into the Silver Fleet.

Qualifying B - Saturday

Saturdays Qualifying B group of ten schools were; Glendowie College, Auckland Grammar, Hutt International Boys School, Rangitoto College, Kirsitin School A, St. Kentigern College, Kings College, Westlake Boys High School, Takpauna Grammar and Kristin School B.

The Qualifying B group again completed their six scheduled races in light conditions in the Big Shoal Bay area with William McKenzie of Glendowie College taking the first 3 wins, 2 thirds and a ninth and 1^st place in the group.  Also on 18points but second on countback was Sam Simpson of Auckland Grammar.  Last years winner George Gautrey and team from Hutt International Boys School were 3^rd overall and current Youth Training Programme member Matt Kelly from Rangitoto College was 4^th.

The Harken Schools Regatta was an initiate established by the Youth Training Committee to promote the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme to schools in the wider Auckland Region.  Since it’s beginnings in 2007 when the event was sailing in Elliott 6’s and only four schools entered it has grown not only in size but is now attracting schools from all over New Zealand. The event has been sailed in the Youth Training Programme Elliott 7’s since 2011.

For further information on the Harken Schools Regatta or the RNZYS Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme please contact Sara Tucker stucker@rnzys.org.nz 021 271 9286 or Coach Guy Pilkington gpilkington@rnzys.org.nz 0274 918 962.