A number of new combinations made an impact at the recent Elliott 5.9 national championships in Russell but Craig Satterthwaite and his crew again showed their class to win their eighth consecutive title.
The trio on R+R won five of the 12 races but what ultimately bagged them the title was their consistency, and their 11 counting scores were all top-three results. The remainder of the 17-boat fleet all had a drop of at least 11, which illustrated the depth in the one-design class.
R+R (Craig Satterthwaite, Richard (Bart) Breada, Ben Patterson) finished 13 points ahead of Slam Dunk (Stu Clark, Cam Horne, Stu Malloy), with Shapeshifter (Brett Elliott, Nick Bastow, Matthew Stuart) another six points behind in third.
Shapeshifter and Nevis/Blurr (Brian Kent, Bruce Goodchap, Keith Hogan), who were fourth, both made their mark after extended absences from the fleet.
Another eye-catching result came from local Northland boat Usaian Boat (Matt O’Maigh, Evan DeSilva, Elliot Bexon) who placed fifth overall. With this being only their second regatta in the fleet, they must be one to watch out for in the future.
In total, there were five different race winners and many boats will go away thinking about what might have been. Most will be competing in the next Traveller Series to be held in Whitianga on June 18-19, which could potentially be the largest fleet for a Traveller Series regatta.
The Russell Boating Club proved to be a great location for the national championships and the race committee, led by Megan Kensington, did well to run 12 races across the three days in sometimes very challenging conditions.
Only two races were possible on day two, with the fleet sent home before the forecast winds of close to 40 knots kicked in, but five were raced on the final day despite blustery and shifty conditions that saw gusts in excess of 25 knots and 30-degree shifts.
This was a great test of sailing skill and there was the occasional wipeout.
Despite this, the Elliott 5.9 design once again proved it can cope with a range of sailing conditions and still produce good-quality, close racing right throughout the fleet.
A big thanks to the Russell Boating Club as well as race day sponsors North Sails, Harken and Mount Gay Rum.
Results and standings from the Elliott 5.9 National Championships at the Russell Boating Club recently:
1st: Rough + Reddy 1 1 3 1 2 2 1`3 (6) 2 2 1 - 16 points
2nd: Slam Dunk 2 2 2 5 3 2 (12) 2 8 3 2 - 29 pts
3rd: Shapeshifter 9 (12) 1 3 1 6 3 2 3 7 1 5 - 35 pts