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New Zealand had a convincing victory at the College Teams Inter-Dominions hosted by the Sandspit Yacht Club (Algies Bay) over the first three days of the October school holiday break.
Three open entries each from New Zealand and Australia competed for trans-Tasman supremacy. Following the trend in recent years a girls division was also contested with three teams from New Zealand and two from Australia.
Fresh easterly conditions and a high tide made conditions on day one very difficult for launching and, despite the breeze backing off in the mid afternoon and preparations being made for a start to racing, no races were completed.
Day two dawned with a more moderate breeze that fluctuated between 10 and 15 knots throughout the day.
In the Open Division Kerikeri High School started round one in dominant fashion not dropping a heat. Auckland Grammar School only dropped a race to Kerikeri, leaving the rest battling each other on two wins apiece.
In round two the honours were shared by Grammar and Kerikeri with four wins each, St Joseph’s (AUS) scoring three wins, Friends two wins and Macleans College (NZ) one.
The final round of day two turned the results on their head. Macleans finally found some rhythm and topped the points table with Scotts College (AUS), each with four wins a piece and Kerikeri and Grammar stumbling to only two each and bottom of the round.
The points table at the end of the day was a New Zealand trifecta with Kerikeri leading from Grammar and Macleans. The Kiwi team points table looked formidable for the Australians.
For day three the breeze was down to 6-10 knots giving the lighter teams an edge, but again allowing for an even contest and some excellent teams racing.
Kerikeri were back in the groove with five wins in round four. Grammar and Friends College (AUS) tied on three wins and Scotts and Macleans two apiece. In the last round, Kerikeri were at their clinical best winning all five heats, mastering the starts and having the race in complete control by mark one. The Tasmanians (Friends) found the conditions to their liking and finished the round in second place with four wins.
Overall Kerikeri’s consistency shone through, clear winners overall on 18.5 points. Auckland Grammar in second place, were justly rewarded for their solid effort with consistent starts and good boat speed on 13 points ahead of Friends (3rd) on 12 points. Macleans and Scotts College (Sydney) were tied fourth on 9 points and St Josephs on 6 points.
In the Girls Division competition between the top New Zealand teams was fierce, with Auckland Diocessan School for Girls edging out Napier Girls College by a mere half point - 16 points to 15.5. New Plymouth Girls College failed to take a race off either of the top teams but finished clear of the two Australian Schools in third on 8 points. Asham School (4 points) and Canberra Girls Grammar (1.5 points) struggled in the mainly fresher conditions or to adjust their sailing technique from the Australian to the 420 used for teams racing here in New Zealand.
Overall for the New Zealanders as a team, it was a total rout, amassing 27 points to Australia’s 13.5 points.
Photos by Ryan Parkin and Julia Hamilton
