Issue date
Craig Satterthwaite and his crew were anything but rough and ready as they secured their seventh consecutive Elliott 5.9 National Championship title in Whitianga at the weekend.
Satterthwaite, along with Tom Maidment and Chris Maddock, won eight of the 11 races on Rough + Reddy to finish 15 points ahead of their nearest rivals on Slam Dunk (Stu Clark, Cam Horne and Stu Molloy), with the North Sails team on Retro (Derek Scott, Richard Bicknell and Ben Costello) a further two points behind in third.
Whitianga and the host club, Mercury Bay Boating Club, turned on a stunning three days of racing.
The first two days produced light winds but, with a large low developing off the North Island, the race committee opted for an early start on the final day which allowed them to hold five races in a steadily building breeze. The final race was completed in a gusty 18 knots but the fleet got home before the full impact of the low arrived.
While an obvious feature of the event was Rough + Reddy's domination, particularly on the first two days, there was some intense and close racing taking place throughout the rest of the fleet.
The one design Elliott 5.9 and depth of sailing experience the class attracts meant many boats with title intentions had to battle to be in the top 10 and remain in touch with the leaderboard.
With Rough + Reddy effectively taking control of the title after day two, day three proved to be a moving day for the rest. Retro picked up two wins to move up the rankings into third place overall, however, they weren't able to knock over the ever-consistent team on Slam Dunk, who only once finished outside the top four in the 16-boat fleet.
It meant class stalwart Dave Cochrane sailing Zoot Allures was pushed back to fourth after being on course to take a podium place after day two.
Cochrane’s performance and relentless dedication to the class did not go unrewarded and he was presented with the Elliott 5.9 Class life membership at prizegiving. He has been involved with class for 30 years, is a three-time Elliott 5.9 national champion and has also fulfilled a number of roles in the successful running and promotion of the class over these years.
Mercury Bay Boating Club was an amazing organising club with a full range of social activities, great support boats and a well run race committee. Thanks must also go to Paul Davies who travelled up from Wellington to oversee the race committee and make sure the Elliott 5.9s had another great contest.
Another strong fleet of Elliott 5.9s is expected at the next regatta, which is the Traveller Series event hosted by the Napier Sailing Club on July 3-4.
Results and standings from the Elliott 5.9 National Championships at the Mercury Bay Boating Club:
1st: Rough + Reddy 1 1 1 1 (3) 1 1 1 3 2 1 - 13 points
2nd: Slam Dunk (7) 4 2 4 1 4 2 2 2 3 4 - 28 pts
3rd: Retro 4 3 3 (8) 4 3 6 3 1 1 2 - 30 pts
See here for pictures from the national championships and here for more information on the Elliott 5.9 Class Association visit www.e59.org.nz
