Issue date
A fleet of fourteen boats turned out for the North Sails Hartley 16 North Islands at Lake Ngaroto in Te Awamutu. Good breeze on both days saw some extremely close racing and even closer finishes.
Above photo: Top 3 place getters - Bizzare, Simply Red and Panache.
Congratulations to the crew of ‘Bizzare’ Gareth Insley and Tim Lynch-Blosse from the Manukau club, on winning the regatta which is also the first leg of this seasons travellers series.
Second place went to ‘Simply Red’ Jason Holdt and Todd Birrell with ‘Panache’ Wayne Holdt and Dave Allerton third; both of these boats from New Plymouth Yacht Club.
The Handicap Ranking was won by ‘Toi Toi’ Brian Neil and John Burns from Napier who were sailing in their first Hartley regatta, and second was ‘Splash’ Sam and John Street from NPYC.
Above photo: Handicap Ranking winners Toi Toi - Brian Neal and John Burns
Thanks to the Ngaroto Sailing club for running the regatta and making us very welcome. As usual the Hartley fleet socialised well and continued the tradition of helping keep the fleet close with tips and advice to each other.
The second leg of the North Sails sponsored travellers series will be held in Napier from 26-27 November. There are a few boats from Auckland and New Plymouth attending and with a good base fleet now growing in Napier there should be a good fleet.
The 51st Hartley 16 Nationals and third leg of the travellers series is coming up fast and will be hosted by the Manukau Yacht & Motor Boat Club from 11-14 January 2017. We would like to be able to set a new record, bettering the 30 boats we had at last year’s Nationals in New Plymouth. It can be done - Just Do It.
The fourth and final regatta of the Hartley 16 Travellers Series will be at New Plymouth from 4-5 February 2017, where the boats that have competed in all four regattas will be in the draw for a new North Sails jib.
