A typical Pupuke gusty and very shifty SW breeze, averaging around 10 knots, greeted the fleet for the 2022 North Harbour Masters. The conditions for the 5 race series tested everyone, and consistency proved extremely difficult for most of the fleet of 21 Masters, 13 in the ILCA 7 and 8 in the ILCA 6.

 

The exception was Phil Wild (M), who managed to take out every race in the ILCA 6, some by a close margin but some pretty comprehensively! The battle for second was however close, with GGM Kevin Welsh just pipping GM Don McGlashan by a point, while Legend Barry Knott was 4th. Georgina Wooldridge was the leading women's master in 5th overall.

 

In the ILCA 7's the final result was determined on count back, with both Rohan Lord (GM) and Cris Brodie (GM) scoring two bullets, but the title coming down to Rohan's third best result being a 2nd while Cris' was a 3rd! The best of the rest were GGM's Mark Hursthouse and David Giles, who ended with a nice margin over the rest of the fleet. David took the bullet in race 2, but a UFD in race 3 and a difficult 4th race left him unable to match Mark overall. Everyone in the rest of the fleet really struggled for consistency, with the next half dozen only separated by a couple of points, led by top Master Greg Wilshire.

 

As usual the fleets enjoyed top class race management from PRO Garth Briden and an entertaining prize giving from Commodore John Dowsett. 

 

This was the first regatta of the season for many, and with the North Islands in a couple of weeks and then the Nationals at Murrays Bay coming up in January it provided a good way to clear out the cobwebs and a very enjoyable days racing.

 

 

Nick Page