Results Day 1

Day 1 photo's - thanks Suellen and livesailedie.com

A challenging sea breeze to open

A pretty much capacity field of 104 ILCA sailors lined up for first 2 races of the 2025 Scott Construction NZ ILCA Championships at Nelson Yacht Club today. After the regatta was officially opened by Nelson mayor Nick Smith, racing got underway in classic Nelson sunshine, with blues skies and a building sea breeze. Race 1 started after a bit of a delay for the sea breeze to properly establish and for the first race of the day all 3 fleets; 38 in the ILCA 7,  35 in the ILCA 6 and 31 the combined ILCA 6 Master and ILCA 4's, enjoyed an 7 to 10 knots sea breeze with a nice chop, although it was quite shifty and there were plenty of holes and tidal sets to trap the unwary. The breeze had faded a little by the start of the second race, and got really tricky as it continued to drop as the race went on. This, combined with with the significant tidal flow across the course area caused by big spring tides, made conditions for all fleets pretty testing. All 3 fleets however completed the planned 2 races and generally the favourites were to the fore in spite of the tricky conditions.

 

In the ILCA 7 race 1 was dominated by Dylan Forsyth and Caleb Armit, who distanced the fleet in a great battle throughout the race with Dylan eventually triumphing. George Pilkington, fresh from the Aussie Nationals, was third with the leading two masters, Tim Pitcaithly (A) and Andrew Dellabarca (GM) also in the top bunch in 4th and 6th respectively, split by Zach Stibbe in 5th. The top bunch was similar for the second race, but with Caleb getting the better of Dylan and George being one of a number of OCS recipients. It was again Tim and Andrew in the top bunch to finish the day as the leading AM and GM with Kris Deck the leading Master in 7th and David Giles the leading GGM in 13th.

 

In the ILCA 6 it was a bit of a Pilkington family reunion at the front of the fleet, with our 2024 Womens Olympic rep Greta second in both races just leading younger brother Tom (YB) by a point, with Arran Begic (YB) also having an outstanding day to be tied on points with Tom. Chloe Turner was another to have an excellent day, with a 5th and a 6th placing her 5th overall and leading the Youth girl. As with the ILCA 7's there were a bunch of OCS's in the second race which included ex ILCA 6 Mens world champ George Lane, who had been 3rd in race 1. Many others in the fleet found putting together two consistent results on the day tough and they will be looking to put together a more consistent day in tomorrows scheduled 3 races to climb up the standings.

 

The ILCA 6 Masters continued the story of OCS challenges and struggles for consistency. Race 1 winner, and defending champion, Phil Wild seemed to show the effects of the pressure of recently having taken over as ILCA.nz secretary, and did it tough in race 2 with an 11th, while Werner Henig, who was OCS in race 1, triumphed in race 2. Josh Edmonds (AM) from Tamaki rose above all the adversity to lead the ILCA 6 Masters fleet after day 1 with a 2nd and a 3rd. He sits a point ahead of Dunedins Dragos Blaga (M), who is making amends for missing last years event when he contract Covid just before the regatta, with GM Hamish Atkinson returning to the ILCA fleet and sitting 3rd overall. Hamiltons wonder GM Helen Spencer leads the women in 8th overall from local Nelson sailors Sandra Williams (GM), the power house behind organising the regatta. Graeme Tee from Whakatane is the leading GGM in 6th overall

 

In the ILCA 4 Lucy Luxford, showing the benefits of being fresh from the solidarity program at the Australian and Oceania champs in Brisbane, dominated to win both races. It is a close battle for the rest of the fleet, with all 4 sailors recording a top 3 placing in one race. Madisson Smith from Wanaka ended up second overall on the day on 6 points, one clear of Louis Yang and Brooke Mundy with Ellie Tapper is just one point adrift in 5th.

 

So a challenging day to open the championships. Tomorrow's forecast is similar, with light to moderate sea breezes. We have 3 races scheduled so PRO Geoff Pitcaithly will be hoping to get away on time and for a slightly more consistent breeze to fit in all the scheduled races.

 

Nick Page 

ILCA.nz