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Final Day 4 - Tricky to the End

Well we certainly could not complain about lack of variety on the final day of the 2020 Mitre 10 Mega NZ Laser Nationals. In 4 hours we had everything from 20+ knot gusty easterlies through to an abandoned race due to a complete lack of wind, with some racing in between! Racing was scheduled to start an hour earlier today at midday, and the fleet sailed out in a pretty strong, gusty, shifty, easterly blowing off the nearby shore with a nasty steep wind against tide chop, although the forecast would have had us believe that it should have been a light southerly. The Standards battened down the hatches and strapped on the cunninghams and started in full pressure, which held for their first circuit. On the second beat the pressure started to easy and by the bottom of the run had disappeared almost completely. Much to the relief of the leaders PRO Jamie Sutherland made the call to finish the Standards at the bottom gate before it became a lottery. The Open and Masters Radials following after the standards encountered the change in conditions earlier in their races, with the Masters being finished at the top of their second beat. We then waited an hour or so before a weak SW sea breeze came in. The Standards started but sailed into a massive hole, causing their race to be abandoned and with the 3pm deadline on the last day that was it for them. The breeze did sort itself out a little and time allowed the  Radials and Radial Masters to complete their 8 race series with races in a very light and tricky seas breeze to complete a really successful contest, if not one in the "normal" New Plymouth conditions.

In the Standards the stronger winds caused a bit of a shake up in the fleet and many "what might have been" comments through the fleet in the after race musings but it was Luke Cashmore (U21), who managed a solid 5th in the final race, although this ended up as his discard, who in the end came out the convincing victor after a really impressively series in the difficult conditions. Second overall was U21 Harrison Baker, who also had a discard in his final race result but had done enough to hold off Apprentice Masters World Champ Dave Ridley, who won the final race for a well deserved podium finish. Visitors Yvan Beaufils and Jin Hwan Lee rounded out the top 5. Andrew Dellabarca was the top Master and Rohan Lord the top GM after 2nd in the breeze. John Pitman, who was leading the entire fleet prior to the final race being abandoned, not only did a fantastic job as contest organiser but also cleaned up the GGM prize.

In the Radials Courtney Reynolds-Smith (Open Women) completed a dream run by taking the title barely a year after moving into the Laser Radial after successful stints in the 420 and 470. She was the model of consistency in a strong fleet and held her nerve for the final day in spite of the range and difficulty of the conditions to top the table from multi World Masters Champion Scott Leith. Third and top Youth was Thomas Mulcahy, who got the better of Caleb Armit for the Youth title in spite of Caleb winning the first race yesterday. Sara Winther was happy with her 4th overall after only deciding at the last minute to enter but was swearing to be back all guns firing next year to give Courtney a run for her money. Top Youth Girl was Emily Overend from Queen Charlotte although in the end Josefine Siemann (YG) closed the gap with a bullet in the last race, although the sometimes 4.7 sailor had found the windy condition of race 7 a challenge.

In the Master Radial Phil Wild (AM) continued his impressive domination to take out race 7 and did not need to sail race 8. Neither Ed Tam (M) nor Roger Winton (GM), second and third going into the final day, had a great day but both did enough to hold onto their overall spots and to take home the cubes for their respective age groups. The honour of winning the last race went to Charlie Grey (GM) who cleaned up in the the light to end up 6th overall behind Hamilton duo Werner Hennig and Scott McDougall.

So its all over for another year and a huge thanks to NPYC for hosting us and delivering a great contest, blue skies and enough variety to keep everyone on their toes until the end. New champions have been crowned in almost every division, showing a pleasing depth to the fleet. Many of the Masters are heading for the World in Geelong in March so this will have provided them with a good warm up. So congratulations to Luke, Courtney and Phil for their fleet victories and to thanks to everyone involved in organising, running and competing and of course to our main sponsor Mitre 10 Mega.

Standard Fleet Mitre 10 Mega NZ Laser Nationals

Two more races were completed in a tricky breeze today to keep the contest bang on schedule. The sea breeze took a long time to get established today, with the breeze initially coming in from the NW before finally shifting to the SW later in the afternoon. It barely made 8 knots during the racing and was very patchy, only getting some oomph for the sail in after racing. The water was pretty flat all day, with a small chop and very little swell. Results generally followed the pattern of the last 2 days, unsurprising given the similar conditions, with the leaders in all fleets continuing their consistent form.

In the Standards Luke Cashmore and Harrison Baker shared the honours today with a 1st and 2nd each, putting Luke in a strong position overall with a 9 point lead, a 2nd as his current discard and only 2 races to go. Harrison lies is second. 5 points back French visitor Ivan Beaufils is third, tied on points with Albert Stanley fourth. Dave Ridley (AM) got among the young guns again in race 6 with a 4th place and is in sixth place overall to lead the masters from past champion Andrew Dellabarca (M). After his stellar race win in the breeze yesterday Rohan Lord held onto the top Grand Master spot but had a forgettable day with a UFD in race 5, along with a few friends, followed by an unfortunate downwind swim in race 6 when he got excited in an 8 knot puff. John Pitman again had a solid day to lead the GGM division, although going to the wrong top mark in race 6 hardly helped his cause.

In the Radials Courtney Reynolds-Smith continued her super impressive form with a 2nd and 3rd to consolidate her overall lead. Scott Leith scored a bullet in race 6 to keep the pressure on Courtney while Thomas Mulcahy (Y) was again pretty consistent to hold onto the leading Youth spot and 3rd overall. Sara Winther scored the other race win today and is 4th overall with Caleb Armit (Y) 5th after struggling to find his best form in todays tricky conditions. Other notable performances today were Matthew Rist with two top 5 placings to be the second best Radial sailor on the day and and Josephine Siemann, who's 2nd in race 5 keeps the pressure on Queen Charlottes Emily Overend for the top Youth Girls slot.

In the Masters Radial Phil Wild (AM) continued to steamroller the fleet with another two bullets to leave the opposition little chance of overhauling him on the last day. Behind Phil defending champ Ed Tam (M)  and semi professional GM Roger Winton, fresh from competing in the Aussie Nationals, again slugged it out with Ed continuing to hold second spot overall ahead of Roger. The whole Radial Masters fleet were given a lesson by the GGM's in race 6, with Garth Cheyne and octogenarian Sandy Grigg leading for much of the race, with Garth pipped at the post by Phil but holding on to second to catapult him up the leader board. Showing true GGM form Sandy had however forgotten to sign on so copped the penalty for that to give his younger opponents a sporting chance!

So with the final day tomorrow again forecast to again have fairly light breezes it is sure to again tax the race management team and provide challenges for all.  The leaders will be looking to hold their nerve and lock in a keeper to take the titles home and we will all be looking at another interesting day on the water to wrap up the 2020 Mitre 10 Mega NZ Laser Nationals. 

Radial Fleet Mitre 10 Mega NZ Laser Nationals

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Day 2 - A bit more breeze

Another blue sky day with a sea breeze again provided great racing for all fleets on day 2 of the Mitre 10 NZ Laser Nationals in New Plymouth. The sea breeze came in earlier and built more that yesterday, so while it was only around a 8 knots for race 3 it freshened to a great hiking breeze for race 4 and nice lumpy seas which provided good downwind surfing conditions for those skilled enough to take advantage, although a few also managed a quick dip after misjudging the waves.  The course was positioned a bit further to the East today and the tide did not cause the same problems for the starts so racing progressed on schedule all day. Results in the first race pretty much followed yesterdays form but the extra breeze for race 4 saw some new faces at or near the front of some fleets and a bit of a shake up of placing throughout.