2022 New Zealand ILCA National Champs, Queen Charlotte YC
Final day 4 - Icing on the cake
The final day of the 2022 ILCA (Laser) Nationals at Queen Charlotte Yacht Club was another cracker, with the scheduled final two races completed to wrap up an extremely successful contest. Today the breeze was back in the SE, so the racing was again on the far side of the sound, as it was on day 1. When the D flag was raised to release the fleet onto the water the race officer described the conditions on course as "a steady 15 knots". However, as we have all learnt over the last 4 days, steady is not a word applicable to wind in Queen Charlotte Sound! We got wind ranging from not much more than 5 knots up to well over 15 knots with some big shifts and oscillations, but race officer Peter Henderson again set excellent courses for the conditions and gave us two great races for all the fleets.
Favourite Tom Saunders continued to dominate the 41 boat ILCA 7 fleet, adding the 2022 New Zealand ILCA 7 championship to his recent ILCA World Championship win. He did not have it all his own way however, with George Gautrey taking out the first race of the day to finish just 4 points behind Tom in second overall. After getting a bit buried in the days first race Luke Cashmore's second in the final race was enough for him to secure 3rd place overall, just ahead of Luke Deegan with Eroni Leilua 5th. Eroni however left looking very happy after he picked up a new sail as a spot prize at the prize giving! Thomas Mulcahy in 6th overall was the winner of the U21 trophy.
Top Grand Master Andrew Dellabarca won the Masters overall, closely followed by leading Master Kris Decke and leading Apprentice Tim Pitcaithly. These three achieved consistently strong results all weekend, which gave them a significant lead on the rest of the masters fleet, several of whom achieved excellent individual race results but lacked the consistency of the leading three. Nick Page was the leading GGM in 18th overall.
Standout performance of the regatta was Caleb Armit's (Y) perfect 9 point score to win the ILCA 6 overall. He took todays variable conditions in his stride to add wins in both todays races to his scoresheet. George Lane (O) secured second overall with two top 3 races today, matched on the day by Dylan Forsyth (Y) who finished 3rd overall and second Youth. The women's title was closely fought right to the final finish, with Great Pilkington's two 4th places today securing her the woman's title, in her first year out of the youth ranks, and 4th overall ahead of Annabelle Rennie-Younger and Olivia Christie in 5th and 6th overall. Teaghan Denny was the leading Youth Girl ahead of Anna Martin and Gabriella Kenton-Smith.
Apprentice Phil Wild secured the ILCA 6 Masters title with a race to spare by winning the days first race. Ed Tam continued his usual super consistent regatta to secure 2nd overall and the Masters division victory ahead of top GM Werner Hennig in 3rd overall. GGM Pete Thomas bookended the regatta with a win in the last race to match his win in the opening race, securing 4th overall and the GGM trophy. Leading Masters woman was GM Helen Spencer with GGM Gill Waiting and GM Lucia Chagas second and 3rd of the women's masters.
Overall the 2022 nationals will be remembered as an outstanding success. A fantastic venue, enthusiastic club, large fleets, excellent but variable conditions, extremely close racing and fully deserving champions in every division make this one to remember. So thanks to QCYC for hosting the championship, all the volunteers for making it possible and of course Omicron for waiting until after the last race to require the move to Red from tonight! Next year will be at Murrays Bay Sailing Club so we look forward to a resumption of the excellent competition there.
Day 3 - Another beautiful day on the sound
Patience was the name of the game for the beginning of day 3. The fleet was on course for a 1pm start as scheduled, with a light easterly blowing. The first race started, only to be abandoned a few minutes later when the breeze completely died. After a bit of a wait a good NW breeze developed and allowed all 3 scheduled races to be completed. Blowing directly off the northern shore of the sound the breeze was rather fickle, varying in strength from around 8 to 15 knots, always gusty and shifty, making for another physically testing day for all the sailors. It was again warm with clear blue skies, attracting a few extra spectators onto the course. We again enjoyed very close racing in all the fleets, with places changing frequently as the shifts and pressure lines came through. It was certainly not a lottery though and the leaders generally consolidated their positions in all fleets.
In the ILCA 7's it was again a two out of three bullet day for reigning World Champ Tom Saunders, but he did prove human, slipping to third in the second race of the day after misjudging the tide and hitting the top mark. This race was led for a long time by Luke Deegan but it was finally George Gautrey that got the gun from Luke and Tom. So with only tomorrows two scheduled races remaining Tom is in a strong position at the head of the fleet with George a clear second. Behind them it is a tight battle between Luke Cashmore and Luke Deegan for the final podium spot, with Samoan Olympic rep Eroni Leilua still in with a shot as well from 5th overall. In the Masters the top 3 are close and have a significant points advantage over the rest of the Masters field. Andrew Dellabarca (GM) again had a strong and consistent day to hold a narrow lead in the Masters fleet from Chris Decke (M), with leading Apprentice Master Tim Pitcaithly close behind.
In the ILCA 6's Caleb Armit (YB) enjoyed a stellar day, taking out all 3 races to build a really strong lead on the fleet. Second placed George Lane (O) had a tougher day with a few errors creeping in (he shared the pesky mark problem with Tom). Dylan Forsyth (YB) just held onto third overall but Zach Stibbe (YB) moved strongly up the leaderboard with a great 2/3/2 record today to sit 4th overall. The leading 4 women all has slightly up and down days but Olivia Christie (OW) did enough to lie 5th overall and lead the women with Annabelle Rennie-Younger (OW) and Greta Pilkington (YG) tied on points only 2 behind Olivia, while Emily Overend (OW) is very much still in contention only a couple of points further back.
In the ILCA 6 Masters Phil Wild (AM) again dominated, winning 2 races, but allowed Werner Hennig (GM) through to win the first race of the day. So going into the final day Phil has a good lead from Master Ed Tam with Werner in 3rd. Pete Thomas in 6th overall is the leading GGM while Helen Spencer continues to be the leading Master Woman ahead of Hamilton teammate Lucia Chagas.
Two races are scheduled for the final day tomorrow, hopefully with an earlier midday start if the wind gods cooperate.
Day 2
The start was delayed an hour while the breeze built but we were then treated to 3 epic races in glorious conditions. The 10 to 15 knot easterly that developed blew straight down the sound and there were plenty of shifts to play and a nice seaway for the downwind legs. After yesterdays chilly blast today gave us blue skies and warm temperatures. The wind was ideal for close racing and there was incredible competition right through all the fleets. Every race was different, with no side paying consistently and wind strength, wave and tide changing enough to make every race unique and challenging.
At the front of the 41 boat ILCA 7 fleet the extremely close contest between reigning World Champion Tom Saunders and George Gautrey continued, with Tom scoring two bullets to Georges one on the day, extending Toms overall lead. Luke Cashmore and Luke Deegan continued to keep the two leaders on their toes with consistent top placings. Several masters were also right on the heels of the leaders, with GM Andrew Dellabarca the standout, finishing the day 5th overall. Kris Decke (M) was also right in the mix in two of the races, but got lost in the pack in the second race of the day, allowing Andrew to open up a gap at the front of the Masters fleet. Apprentice Tim Pitcaithly from Nelson continued his consistent form to be the leading Apprentice and leading South Island sailor.
Just as Tom let one get away in the 7's Caleb Armit let one slip in the ILCA 6's, with second overall George Lane triumphant in the last race of the day, although Caleb continues to lead convincingly overall. Two strong second placings saw Dylan Forsyth move to third overall. The close contest between the women continued. Olivia Christie moved up the leaderboard to be the leading woman in 4th overall, closely followed by standout youth Greta Pilkington. Local Picton sailor Emily Overend was all smiles after a solid day, capped off with a 3rd in the last race which moved her up to 6th overall.
Phil Wild (AM) was another to score 2 bullets today in the ILCA 6 masters,. His performance in the second race was one of the most dominant of the day, winning by a large margin after being beaten into second by Ed Tam (M) in the first race. Ed remains second overall and is followed by an improving Werner Hennig (GM) from Hamilton, who is tied on points with another GM, Roger Winton in forth. Helen Spencer is the leading womens master, although she let husband Rick slip ahead of her on the points table today, which I am sure she will be working to correct tomorrow.
So with half the series races now completed the favourites continue to dominate. With another fine day but slightly lighter winds forecast for tomorrow we can hopefully look forward to more close, high quality racing, with 3 races again scheduled.
Day 1
livesaildie.com day 1 report and photos
A great opening day with an excellent fleet of 92 divided into 3 divisions; ILCA 7 (including Masters), ILCA 6 Open & Youth and ILCA 6 Masters for the 2022 ILCA Nationals at Queen Charlotte Yacht Club in Picton.
Two races were completed today as scheduled in a fresh SE breeze. PRO Peter Henderson set a great start line and course, seeing all races completed without a general recall, with just a couple of over eager souls picking up OCS's on the day.
After basking in 30 degree temperatures for the last few days in Picton an overnight southerly change certainly chilled things down quite a bit today and caught out more than a few rather underdressed sailors. The club was very sheltered, with light puffy breezes in the bay. This made for a bit of a hike out to the racecourse area in the main sound, but once out in the channel we had solid breeze all day. It was a typically fairly shifty and gusty and certainly offered plenty of opportunity for those alert enough to make the most of the conditions, while causing quite a few swims for those who lost concentration.
In the ILCA 7 fleet the heavyweights had good days as expected, with reigning World Champion Tom Saunders leading after duelling it out the whole way with George Gautrey, who was on the podium at the 2019 worlds, closely followed by previous National Champion Luke Cashmore (U21). Samoan Olympic rep Eroni Leilua had a good third in the second race, recovering from a challenging first race. In the Masters, who raced in a combined fleet with the Open 7's, there was very close racing with Kris Decke (M), Andrew Dellabarca (GM), Tim Pitcaithly (AM) and Rob Woodward (M) all having consistently good days and mixing it with the open fleet sailors, with Kris leading the Masters by a single point after day 1.
In the ILCA 6 Open and Youth fleet reigning champion Caleb Armit (Y) again showed his class with 2 bullets, closely followed by George Lane (O) with two seconds. Annabelle Rennie Younger leads the Women, in 3rd place overall, just one point ahead of leading Youth girl Greta Pilkington.
In the ILCA 6 masters GGM Pete Thomas showed the cunning that comes with old age, finding the magic shift to take out the first race and deny defending champ Phil Wild (AM) a clean sweep for the day. Phil was as usual in a close tussle with leading Master Ed Tam all day and got so engrossed in that battle that they let Pete through for the win. So Phil leads from Ed with GM Roger Winton also having a solid day to sit 3rd overall, just ahead of Pete Thomas.
So a good solid start to the championships with the favourites generally to the fore. The weather forecast for tomorrow is for lighter winds, so we may see some shuffling of the standings with a different set of conditions.