Issue date
Four classes 3.7, 12ft Skiff, A Class Cats and Starlings attended the annual Spring Freshwater Sprint Championships hosted by the Rotorua Yacht Club before labour weekend and endured a weekend of wild weather.
The ‘Spring Sprints’ as they are affectionately known are an annual event hosted by the Rotorua Yacht Club and are flagship regatta for the club. It has a long tradition of being well supported by a number of the non-Olympic classes and the grass- roots sailing fraternity and this theme continues with good fleets of eight to ten boats in each of the senior classes, and a friendly social atmosphere.
Racing on Saturday was eventually abandoned due to high winds gusting over 25 knots with one squall in the afternoon coming through at 60knots. Earlier in the day one 12foot skiff tried to venture out with the tiny 4th rig on, but the combination of the strong onshore breeze and shallow water depth made launching difficult and after 20 minutes of providing entertainment for those in the club house the crew of ‘Nice Action’ finally relented. Ten Pin bowling and ‘socialising’ then became top of the agenda of the rest of the day.
The breeze eased overnight and swung to the west for Sunday and enabled a total of five races to be sailed in typical quick fire fashion putting the crews through their paces in gusty conditions of 12-25knots.
For the 12’s it was a split rig fleet of 2nd and 3rd rigs. C-Tech sailed by Chris Reid and Ben de Fluter from the Auckland Sailing Club opted for their 2nd rig and showed some outstanding boat handling in the fresh squalls to sail away to four wins and a 3rd. The Wellington crew of Glen Armstrong and Roger Barnes in ‘As Good As it Gets’ placed second in every race to be clear 2nd overall, with Jason and Mel Parkin coming home 3rd.
Honours in the A-Class cat went to ‘Wet Nuts’ sailed by Bruce Curson winning four of the five heats. He was followed by Thomas Block with a string of 2nd and 3rd placings ahead of ‘The Rigging Shop’ sailed by Steve Ashley.
Results were much tighter in the 3.7’s with ‘Outahair’ sailed by Lance O’Connell and ‘Emergensea’ sailed by Phil Ash tied on points and separated on a count back with Ash winning overall by virtue of winning the last race of the series. Class stalwart, Hamilton’s John Elliot came home in third overall with s string of minor placings in most of the heats.
The battle of the Starlings was an all local affair with Liam Wallbridge edging out Monte Sharp for overall honours with Ethan Butler coming home 3rd.
