Sailing at Lake Pupuke is a unique experience and the 2024 combined North Harbour Masters / J14 Auckland Champs were proof of that.

Results

Even lake experts were tested by a puffy unstable Northerly. We had rare moments almost beclamed on the runs, and times fully hiked and reaching for the cunningham. It was a good test and we only had to contend with rain and a real fade in the breeze for the last of the five races.

9 ILCA 7's and 7 ILCA 6's was a pretty light turnout. But 20 elegant J14's fill the start line and were spectacular across the lake.

Kris Decke dominated the ILCA 7's winning all 4 races he started, leaving the last light race for Mark Hursthouse and Nik Kelis to sort out 2nd and 3rd.

Phil Wild mastered the ILCA 6's with 4 (he thinks maybe 3) bullets. Pete Thomas was 2nd and Roger Winton returned from a sailing break for 3rd.

David Giles and Trent Justice had more of a battle for the top J14 spot. David just came out on top to defend the title he won last year. Bill Hewitt and Mark Shaw in 3rd and 4th were close on points. First 2-handed crew were Rob and Mika Neely were 5th overall.

A Pupuke BC prize-giving is a cultural experience. Generous spot prizes, dodgy sausages (that don't need chilling for some alarming reason) and J.D. uniformly offending everyone. No one feels left out.

Huge thanks again to Garth, J.D. and Dave who put this event on each year with zero fuss. Super relaxed and super fun.

With Auckland under big high pressure for the weekend beautiful blue skies but a distinct lack of breeze were the feature of both days for the 2024 NS ILCA Freshwater Champs at Pupuke.

A decent fleet of 30, pretty evenly split between ILCA 7 and 6, turned up on Saturday morning, but others who were expected were clearly put off by the very light, and unfortunately accurate, forecast for the weekend.

On Saturday race officer Garth Briden managed to get a couple of short races for both fleets completed in a very light SE breeze, what we could generously call gusting 5 knots, before the breeze collapsed almost completely just after the start of the third race for the ILCA 7. They struggled around to complete a shortened third race but that was the end of the breeze and the racing on Saturday.

Sunday was if anything even tougher, with little puffs of an E'ish whisper that never got to much more that 3 knots. Everyone was keen to give it a try and 2 drifters were completed for both fleets to give a series result.

In the ILCA 7 rising U21 star George Pilkington ended up dominating the weekend with 4 wins, assisted by his expertise with roll tacking and gybing. He was followed by open sailors Max Faulkner from Tauranga, who cleaned up the first race on Saturday and a consistent Eroni Leilua, who will be representing Samoa in this years Olympics. Leading Master in 4th overall was Kris Decke from Whangarei while Mike Keeton took out the GGM's in spite of all his GGM ailments.

The ILCA 6 fleet was certainly one of high calibre, with numerous national champions and representatives competing as well as the next batch of up and coming talent. The racing was fierce and there were four different race winners for the four races completed. Conditions required a combination of patience, resilience and good eye-sight to spot the puffs on the glassy lake…which clearly Greta Pilkington displayed an abundance of.

Race one saw Beau Utting from RAYC recover from a difficult start to hook into a wonderful left hander and take the lead through the finish with Greta Pilkington, fresh off the plane from Europe, coming in hot in second place with NZ Youth Rep Zach Stibbe in third. In race two Fiji Olympian Sofia Morgan bolted out of the gate, leading through to a third of the way up the last beat when a left hand shift was picked up by Greta who won the race with aging battler Phil Wild in second and up and coming youth Sam Clarke sneaking in to round out the top 3.

The first race on Sunday was started in negligible, gusting not much more and provided a great demonstration on how to roll tack…at which this years youth rep Zach Stibbe proved to be best in the ILCA 6's and took out the race with ever consistent Greta in second and Sofia in for a well-deserved third. Race four got away in a blustery maybe 4 knots in which Sofia got away to a lead however a combination of lulls and puffs saw the fleet congeal at the bottom mark after which Phil Wild tacked out into a new "breeze" (read more than 1 knot), that came down the left of the course and lead through to the finish holding off the highly determined Greta with Sam Clark stealing his way into third.

So overall Greta Pilkington made it a quinella for the Pilkington family for the weekend. Phil Wild was 2nd overall and dominated the masters, with youth Sam Clarke an excellent 3rd overall. Leading youth girl was Kate Rasmussen by just a single point from Chloe Turner.

Plenty of sausages and prizes kept everyone happy after racing thanks to principal sponsors Burnsco and NZ Sailing.

ILCA 6 Results
 

ILCA 7 Results

2024 Auckland ILCA Champs - Open, Youth and Masters at Tamaki YC.

• 2-day Open & Youth regatta Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th March 2024
• 1-day Masters regatta Saturday 23rd March

Overall results

• ILCA 7 Results
• ILCA 6 Results
• Photos on Facebook - thanks Phillip

On Saturday we had the scheduled 4 races in N to NE conditions. It was a good test. Moderate breeze most of the time, but up in the later teens at moments. There were some decent shifts that mixed up the places on occasion. And some waves to work on the run into Mission Bay. Funnily enough the best of the sailors seemed to do well in most races.

Sunday morning started with a light but steady easterly that encourgaed us out onto the course. But it started to fade to less than 5 knots after the first ILCA7 race started. They did get one 1-lap race in. But the ILCA 6s were not so lucky, and after a couple of goes trying to get them away we paused for an hour, before giving it away in favour of watching the Black Foils win the dolphin-free day of the Christchurch SailGP.

ILCA 7 2-day leaders Open & Youth

• 1st Eroni Leilua
• 2nd George Pilkington (1st Youth)
• 3rd Kris Decke

ILCA 6 2-day Open & Youth leaders

• 1st Phil Wild
• 2nd Zach Stibbe (1st Youth)
• 3rd George Lane
• 4th Winton Liesebach (2nd Youth)
• 5th Sophia Morgan (1st Female)
• 6th Jack Hollands (3rd Youth)
• 11th Vaimo'oi'a Ripley (2nd Female)
• 15th Chloe Turner (1st Youth Female)
• 19th Rose Dickey (2nd Youth Female)
• 20th Kate Rasmussen (3rd Youth Female)

ILCA 7 1-day Masters leaders 

• 1st Kris Decke
• 2nd Ken Atchison
• 3rd Nick Page

ILCA 7 1-day Masters leaders 

• 1st Phil Wild
• 2nd Dave Johnson
• 3rd Roger Winton 

The weekend, 9th – 10th March 24, Lake Taupo Yacht Club (LTYC) again hosted the ILCA North Island Freshwater Champs integrated into their annual centreboard regatta. It was a timely opportunity for ILCA sailors to gather from around the North Island to catch up, share some sunshine and great vibes. The wind might not have been as generous in making its appearance, but the race organisers managed to pull off 6 races over the two days. There were 29 ILCA6s and 16 ILCA 7s from as far as Wellington, Gisborne, Ohope, Raglan, North Shore.

Day 1
The wind tempted enough to launch on time and head out towards Two Mile Bay. A light south breeze provided enough for the RO to get racing underway with a T2 (Triangle, W-L, then beat back to finish line just beyond top mark). There was enough local lake knowledge shift to favour those that went left. As the 7s got round their T2 and were beating up to finish the wind was dropping out. The 6s limped up their second beat, and struggled to keep their sails filled drifting down to bottom mark. To the relief of the front pack, the race was shortened to finish at bottom. A long wait occurred while the wind swung round more easterly, and the course was reset. With risk of the new wind possibly dropping out again, the RO settled for swift T1s, which included a second beat back to top mark and finish line. The favoured left was now replaced for those that could chose the puffs and get clear air. Four races were completed.

In the ILCA 7s young Max Falkner (Tauranga) dominated with three bullets and a second. He has been training at times with Nic Burfoot, and it’s showing. Chris Raynes (Cambridge) hunted down two seconds, and the familiar masters of Mike Knowsley, Andrew Dellabarca, and Simon Beck closely vying for those spots. Mike’s Tamaki chop experience wasn’t needed, but looking for Tamaki wind bouncing around was useful. Andrew and Simon proved they are able to adapt from Worser Bay winds to light shifty lake stuff. The Ohope pair of Mark Macintosh and Barry Cutfield were also in there hunting. Barry claiming a 2nd in race 3.

In the ILCA 6s Winston Liesebach (Napier) showed his dominance with three bullets; and a relaxed 3rd in final race. A close pack of young and masters were hot on his tail. Josh Edmonds (Tamaki) claimed the final bullet of the day. Fijian Olypian Sophia Morgan provided a strong female presence in the front pack claiming one of the 2nds. The pack included familiar faces in Zach Zibbe (Otago, now residing in Auckland), Dave Johnson (Raglan) and Werner Hennig (Hamilton). But it wasn’t that clear cut. Exchanging places occurred each upwind as wind puffs arrives and dropped out all over the course. Second female Rose Dickey (Napier) hunted a 3rd in one race.

By end of Saturday sailors were ready to be towed in, or drift back tired. The highlight of a Lake Taupo regatta has to be their spot prizes evening. Master of ceremonies Phil Clark knows how to pull out prizes and let random names be pulled out. Masters with boom boxes, youth longing for skateboards, plenty of chocolate to win.

Day 2
The gusty night blew out any wind we might have dreamed of; and Sunday arrived with a beautiful calm lake ready for water skiing, wakeboarding or fishing; but not sailing. Folks remained on shore enjoying banter, breakfast, coffee, and spending money with Mike Pasco. Women and girls of all ages shared a Red Diamond Celebration upstairs, in lieu of International Women’s Day on Friday, and as a networking strategy. Young opti and starling girls were privileged to hear from ILCA females that were pursuing various pathways … an Olympian, a national teams racing judge, an international exchange coach, and lots of stories of women teaching women how to back trailers, run girls events, and navigate club politics.

After an hour delay the light wind tempted us back out to a fickle sou-easterly again. Two drift races were painstakingly achieved as T1s. It was a matter of who could sniff out a whiff of wind, pull off effective roll tacks, and sit patiently in their boats daring not to lose the precious little wind out of their sails. Again the same names came to the top.

In the ILCA 7s, Max again nailed a bullet, but decided to give away the next by over roll tacking for a swim. Chris hung onto second, claiming that bullet. And so the familiar names held onto their positions. In the ILCA6s Sophia, inspired by red diamonds cheering for her, claimed the first bullet, with Winston having to work to claim the last of the day. Sunday finished with prize giving, and excitedly hoping for the ILCA.nz sail spot prize, won by Taupo local Rob Kent.

Helen Spencer
 

ILCA 6 Results

ILCA 7 Results

• Final Results

Thanks to Nick and Suellen;

• Live Sail Die - Day 1 report and photos
• Live Sail Die - Day 2 report and photos
• Live Sail Die - Day 3 report and photos
• Final day report

Full Results - 2024 NZ ILCA National Champs

The final day of the 2024 NZ ILCA Nationals in Napier was hot, humid and in the end sunny, but got off to a slow start, with a delay to launching for the 100 boat fleet while the easterly breeze got established. Once on the water we again enjoyed lovely conditions for the final 2 races of the contest. The breeze was lighter than the first 3 days, varying from about 5 to 8 knots during the races, with a very small chop. The tide was quite strong across the course, making lay lines tricky and seeing even some of the top sailors parked against the top mark for a quick, unintended, break. The lighter breeze saw some different faces at the front of the pack, and resulted in some changes in the final results from the placing going into the day.

We have a new ILCA 6 overall champion, with Naomi Ferrissey from Murrays Bay holding her nerve to close out the overall ILCA 6 crown and the Women's division after a very close fought contest. The big mover of the day was local star Winston Liesebach, who scored a 1st and 2nd today to leap up to second in the overall standings. It secured him the youth boys crown but it was not quite enough to take the overall title, ending up two points behind Naomi, who's second in the days first race proved enough to secure the title for her. A single point back in third was Greta Pilkington (W), who in turn was just one point ahead of todays second race winner, World ILCA 6 Mens champion George Lane. Louie Poletti had another solid day to finish 5th overall and second youth while Australia's Frances Beebe (W) and Zach Stibbe (YB), who were both in contention going into the last day, found the light conditions tricky, ending up 6th and 7th overall. In 8th was Fiji's Sophia Morgan, who was very happy with her day after winning a new sail as a spot prize at prize giving! The top 10 was rounded out by yesterdays race winner Miro Luxford (YB), who definitely found the light conditions challenging, but just held out Sam Clarke from Murrays Bay, who capped off a great series with a 3rd in the last race, with Napier local Will Muir also finishing on a high with a 4th in the last race.

Leading Youth Girl was Chloe Turner from Murrays Bay, who had enough points in hand to stay ahead of Napier local Rose Dickey, in spite of Rose having a great day with two top 10 results. Pupuke's Daniella Wooldridge rounded out the top 3 for the youth girls.

In the ILCA 7 the lighter conditions broke overnight leaders Master Nik Burfoot's run of bullets, but a second and third in the two races was enough for him wrap up the overall title and leave prize giving with a raft of trophies, for overall ILCA 7 2024 champion, overall Masters Champion and divisional winner. Scott Leith (M), one of those who had a top mark rest, won the days second race, which was just enough to hold off the fast finishing George Pilkington, the under 21 trophy winner, by a single point. George had the best day of the fleet, convincingly winning the first race and then finishing 2nd to Scott in the second. While the top three pretty much dominated the results all series there was a fantastic contest behind them between the top two GM's, Andrew Dellabarca and Rohan Lord and Master Kris Decke for 4th, 5th and 6th. In the end it was Andrew who had the most consistent day to hold onto 4th and the leading GM spot. Two to really make the most of the lighter conditions were Irish GGM visitor Bill O'Hara, who's 3rd and 4th on the day well and truely secured the GGM cube and simply had the balance of the GGM's watching in awe, and Mike Knowsley, who's 5th in both races saw him lock in a top 10 finish.

In the ILCA 6 Masters fleet Phil Wild (M) easily took the title but saw his monopoly on race wins broken, with Hamilton's GM Werner Hennig taking the first race of the day and second overall. Ed Tam (M) held on for third, just ahead of fast finishing Dave Johnson (M) and Roger Winton(GM). GGM Graeme Tee continued his strong regatta to win his division from Pete Thomas while in the Women's Hamilton fleet mother Helen Spencer's 10th in the first race was enough for her to secure the Women's trophy from Georgina Wooldridge.

In the ILCA 4's Tom Pilkington continued to dominate, winning both races and the overall series. The close contest between Lucy Millar, Hermione Arsis and Lucy Yang for the minor placings continued, with Lucy holding on to take the girls prize and second overall. So after what everyone agreed was an exceptional contest in all respects; weather, venue, quality of racing, race management, everything, we have lots of satisfied sailors and our 2024 champions. We are all looking forward to doing it again next year in Nelson, January 15th to 19th 2025.

Nick Page

Day 1 Results

Napier turned on a lovely warm day with a light sea breeze for the opening day of the 2024 ILCA (Laser) NZ Nationals. A bit of high cloud made it very humid and prevented the sea breeze ever getting much over 8 knots for the first two scheduled races of the contest. Th breeze was quite patchy with a small chop, but it provided great conditions for close racing right through the 100 strong fleet.

In the 47 boat ILCA 6 fleet it was a fantastic day for the Napier locals, with Finn Balchin taking out race 1, Winston Liesebach race 2 and Rose Dickey leading the youth girls at the end of the day. Both Finn and Winston had good results in the days other race, to sit second and third overall, but neither were quite good enough to prevent Louie Poletti from Murrays Bay leading overall, as well as being the leading youth boy, after scoring a 2nd place in both races. The first 3 are followed closely by an extremely close contest for the leading woman's spot. Naiomi Ferrissey ended the day a single point ahead of Fiji's Sophia Morgan and Greta Pilkington, who recently qualified NZ for the Olympics. Both Sophia and Greta are on 12 points and as both are freshly returned from the World ILCA 6 Champs in Argentina there is sure to be some close racing in that group over the balance of the contest. Reigning World ILCA 6 men's champion George Lane was heard to comment that he did "not find the conditions easy", and sits 7th overall.

There are many familiar names at the head of the ILCA 6 Masters, with Murrays Bays Master Phil Wild using his great downwind speed to ensure two bullets. He leads fellow Masters Ed Tam and Dave Johnson at the top of the table. The leading GM, in 4th place overall, is Hamiltons Werner Hennig, while the leading GGM is Graeme Tee from Ohope in 6th overall. Helen Spencer is the leading Women's Masters. A great 6th in the first race set her up for the day, although consistency eluded her, with her race 2 somewhat less successful!\

The small but high quality ILCA 4 fleet shared the starting line with the ILCA 6 Masters. Tom Pilkington looks to be carrying on the family dynasty of success in ILCA racing winning both races and lead overall. Hermione Aris sits second and is the leading women.

In the ILCA 7 fleet the 26  Masters and Open sailors are sailing together as a single fleet. With our top 6 Olympic sailors all in Adelaide for the Open worlds the title will go to someone new this year. After 2 races leading Master Scott Leith, and leading Open sailor George Pilkington are tied at the top of the table with a win and a second each after 2 very tightly fought races. Third overall, and being welcomed back to the ILCA nationals after an absence of quite a few years, is ex Open World Champion, now Master, Nik Burfoot. Open sailor Max Faulkner sits in a solid 4th overall followed by a group of past masters winners; GM's Andrew Dellabarca and Rohan Lord and Onerahi Master Kris Decke. We are welcoming 2 Irish Masters visitors this year, who are having a stop off on their way to the Masters World in Adelaide. Having spun us a good Irish yarn, telling us its way too cold at home  and that they had done no preparation and have "hardly sailed", Bill O'Hara had really solid days to be leading the GGM's in 10th overall, while I suspect Conrad is looking for a wee bit more breeze to stamp his authority on the contest.

So a great first day to kick off the 2024 nationals. The weather forecast for the next 3 days looks promising, with moderate breezes predicted, so we hope to see tomorrows 3 races completed on scheduled.

Nick Page