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A handful of sailors treated last weekend's second annual Forward Sailing New Zealand Winter O’pen Bic Cup as a warm-up for the upcoming O’pen Bic world championships in Garda, Italy.
The New Zealand contingent will depart in a fortnight and last weekend came up against sailors from all over New Zealand, Australia and Rarotonga at the Manly Sailing Club on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
A one-design junior regatta sailed in the modern O’pen Bic sailing skiff, the Winter O’pen Bic Cup was conceived by Sir Russell Coutts. This year's event saw more than double the number of entries for last year's inaugural regatta.
Thursday’s planned coaching day was cancelled to allow the sailors and families to check out the parade for Team New Zealand, meaning the three fleets (gold, silver and bronze) got straight into sailing on the Friday, the bronze fleet under the watchful coaching eye of former Australian Olympic coach Erik Stibbe.
By the end of the day, four-point score races were completed for the gold and silver sleets with a massive seven races completed for the bronze. Day two saw another three races for the gold and silver fleets with one of those including a one hour-long race. It meant they completed 10 races over the weekend, with the bronze fleet completing 18 races, in conditions ranging from 3-20 knots.
Sunday finished with the uniquely Open Bic non-point-scoring 2-up adventure race, which matches the bronze-fleet sailors (generally new to racing) with the experienced gold fleet. This encourages them to mix with sailors they probably don’t know and for the experienced sailors to share their skills with newcomers to the sport.
It's not the only difference from more traditional classes; the most noted being that protesting is not allowed, meaning all altercations are dealt with on the water by on-water judges. This is generally well received by sailors and keeps the sailing on the water and not in the protest room at the end of a day’s sailing.
For more information about the O’pen Bic class, see www.openbic.org.nz.
Results from the Forward Sailing New Zealand Winter O’pen Bic Cup at the Manly Sailing Club last weekend:
Gold Fleet
Sean Herbert (Torbay Sailing Club)
Jake Pye (Kerikeri Cruising Club)
Mattias Coutts (Manly Sailing Club)
Silver Fleet
Luke Squire (Sailing Wanganui)
Jack White (Marakura Yacht Club)
Caleb Squire (Sailing Wanagnui)
Bronze Fleet
Finn Pye (Kerikeri Cruising Club)
Henry Miller (Nelson Yacht Club)
Renee Mullins (Ravensbourne Boating Club)
For complete results, go to http://ems.gs/nhl1jiyAEq
