2017 North Harbour Laser Masters Results

A fine but chilly day with a gusty 8 to 12 knot southerly greeted the Masters for the 20th running of the North Harbour Masters at Lake Pupuke.

PRO Garth Briden was able to set a windward leeward course with just a very short offset reach at the top and the start finish line off the carpark. The course remained unchanged for the days 5 races. While this may imply that the breeze remained steady this was far from the case, with many large shifts and pressure lines offering plenty of opportunities up and down wind to those able to figure it out and leading to some dramatic place changes in many races.

Consistency, as is so often the case, was the key and those able to limit their day to at most a single discarded disaster were in the end at the top of the pile.  Local knowledge seemed to help some, although Phil Wild (A) from Manly was an exception to this, winning the Radials overall after overcoming Pete Thomas (GM) who had led after 3 races at the lunch break. Pete ended up third with Georgi Yankov (M) snatching second on a tie break. Both ended with identical scores, placings and discard with the tie only being broken on who beat who in the last race. Hamilton visitors Werner Hennig (GM) and Scott McDougall (GM) rounded out the top 5.

In the Standards Tony Nicholson (M) sailed super well all day, recovering from a couple of tricky mid race positions to count 2 bullets a 2nd and a 4th to win overall from Masters Rohan Lord in second and Dean Drummond third. The chasing pack of GM's was eventually led by John Showell, who took 4th overall after creating a mission for himself by getting an OCS in race 1. Gary Lock was 5th, convincingly winning race 4 after finding the shift of the day on the right hand side of the beat. GM Chris Brodie was 6th and Club stalwart (and secretary) Dave Lowe raised himself above the chasing pack with a well executed win in the last race, which he will no doubt use as justification  to delay getting a new boat for at least another 25 years!

The prize giving under the control of Commodore John Dowsett was as usual a highlight of the day. The next major regatta for many in the fleet will be the North Islands in Napier, which is sure to offer different conditions and a whole new set of challenges.

Nick Page