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Results & Reports
ILCA regatta reports and results.
If you have results or reports for this section please contact the webmaster@ilca.nz.
Results should be in HTML or spreadhseet format which programs like sailwave will output for you, or a reference to the reports on another site.
If you have results or reports for this section please contact the webmaster@ilca.nz.
Results should be in HTML or spreadhseet format which programs like sailwave will output for you, or a reference to the reports on another site.
2023 New Zealand ILCA Nationals, Murrays Bay - Results & Report
Thu 19 Jan 2023 7:06am
New Zealand ILCA (Laser) Nationals - Day 4
Photos on LiveSailDie
Champions Crowned
Two races today for all fleets completed a very successful contest, with all races completed on schedule. Today the fleet had the lightest breezes of the series, with a weak NE sea breeze which never really got much over 5 knots and consequently pretty flat water. The breeze just held in long enough for all fleets to complete the two races, with the final fleet having to have their course for the second race shortened before the breeze completely disappeared.
In the ILCA 6 Open fleet the women reigned supreme, with a women's trifecta at the head of the 60 boat fleet.
Annabel Rennie-Younger, who was tied for the lead going into todays races, had a consistent day to wrap up the title by 9 points. Greta Pilkington, who had a stellar day with two bullets, jump up to second overall in the rankings, while Olivia Christie, who was joint overnight leader, struggled a bit with the light conditions and had a couple of tougher races to end up third overall.
Continuing the strong women's showing in the large fleet, Naomi Ferrissey wrapped up the youth girls title with two solid races, ending up an extremely creditable 11th in the overall fleet. Manly's Maddie Rist was second youth girl ahead of Daniella Wooldridge. In the youth boys George Pilkington held on to take the title ahead of a fast finishing Louis Poletti, who's third and forth places today were the second best on aggregate in the fleet behind Greta. George finished forth overall and Louis sixth, split by leading male open sailor George Lane in fifth. Ethan Fong was third youth boy just a point behind Louie.
In the 40 boat ILCA 7 fleet the title was there for the taking for Luke Deegan after his exceptional day yesterday and he made no mistakes, with two top 4 placings seeing him finish 12 points clear at the top of the table to convincingly take the title. He was followed by a pair of U21 sailors, both showing real talent in their first season in the ILCA 7. Caleb Armit had two good races today to finish a clear second ahead of Dylan Forsyth in third. Forth overall and thus winner of the ILCA 7 Masters title was Scott Leith, who's first and third today was only bettered by fifth placed Luke Cashmore, who was first and second in todays races, but having to carry an OCS from earlier in the regatta prevented him having a chance of taking the title.
Dean Barker continued his impressive return to the ILCA fleet today, ending up second overall in the Masters to Scott, although only just as he finished tied on points with top GM and last years Masters title holder Andrew Dellabarca. Top AM was Tim Pitchaithly, just 4 points back from Dean and Andrew. He was closely followed by Cris Brodie who was second in the Grand Masters while Barry Cutfield was top GGM.
In the 25 strong Radial Masters fleet Phil Wild had the series wrapped up with a race to spare, winning todays first race and then having the luxury of sitting out the last race. Top AM Josh Edmonds was second overall ahead of Master's David Johnson and Ed Tam in third and forth overall. GM Werner Hennig finished the series on a high, winning the final race to lead the Grand Masters division and secure 5th overall ahead of fellow GM and Hamilton club mate Scott McDougall in 6th. GGM Pete Thomas was a creditable 8th overall while Georgina Wooldridge had a couple of solid races to wrap up the women' masters title from Helen Spencer and Kirsty MacDonald.
So another highly successful ILCA nationals has seen a record ILCA 6 youth turnout, new champions in almost every division, a really strong women fleet and most importantly lots of happy faces after 10 great races. Thanks to Murrays Bay for being a wonderful host for the contest and especially to race officer Dave West, who delivered us great races in spite of the often challenging conditions. We look forward to next years contest in Napier and a continuation of the 50 years of Laser/ILCA tradition of exceptional quality one design racing.
Nick Page
ILCA.nz
New Zealand ILCA (Laser) Nationals - Day 3
Experience to the fore
Another really successful day, with all scheduled races completed. The weather for day 3 of the NZ ILCA Nationals pretty much followed the forecast, with the mornings 10 knot SW breeze shifting to the S soon after the start of racing and staying there for the afternoon, and unlike yesterday it never got much over 10 knots. The breeze was again patchy and fairly shifty all day, providing plenty of challenges for the fleets. The wind against the incoming tide made the starts tricky, and general recalls, black flags and OCS's featured quite frequently in todays results.
If day 3 is traditionally "moving day" then Luke Deegan from Pupuke sure took it to heart and moved. He simply dominated the ILCA 7 fleet today with 3 bullets, and takes a solid 10 point lead into tomorrows final two scheduled races. Overnight leader Luke Cashmore was one to suffer starting line blues, with 2 OCS's in the 3 races unfortunately dropping him out of title contention. It was a good day for the U21 sailors, with Caleb Armit and Dylan Forsyth having really solid days to lie second and third overall and Matthew Rist having top 4 results in races 7 and 8. Caleb and Dylan have opened up a good points gap over top Master Scott Leith, who is forth overall. Leading AM Tim Pitcaithly is eighth overall while leading GM Andrew Dellabarca and second placed master Dean Barkers also had solid days today, each with three consistent top performances to lie tenth and eleventh overall. Nick Page narrowly held onto the lead in the GGM's.
While holding onto a dominant lead in the ILCA 6 Masters Phil Wild finally showed he is not infallible, with second overall Josh Edmonds (A) taking the bullet in the last race today. Master David Johnson from Tauranga also has a great day to move to third overall, opening up a nice points margin on fourth placed Ed Tam. Werner Hennig remains the leading GM. In the Women's Masters Georgina Wooldridge continues to lead despite the efforts of second placed Helen Spencer from Tauranga, who reportedly lost focus in the last race while she focused on her key issue for the day, getting the correct beach trolley when she got back to the beach!
Starts proved a major challenge for the large 60 boats ILCA 6 Open fleet, with several general recalls and an unfortunate crop of OCS's and Black flags. Cool heads prevailed however and experienced Women Olivia Christie and Annabelle Rennie-Younger stamped their authority on the fleet, both recording 3 top results to be tied on point at the top of the fleet. They are followed in third overall by Open sailor George Lane, another to deliver consistently strong results in all todays races. After sailing exceptionally well on the first two days George Pilkington found todays condition more challenging and while he continue to be the leading Youth Boy he now sits 4th overall. It was a similar story for Ethan Fong, who remains second in the Youth Boys while Louie Poletti from Picton was able to move up to third Youth boy courtesy of 3 good results today. In the Youth Girls Naomi Ferrissey from host club Murray Bay nailed it again today and sits twelfth overall. She takes a big points advantage into the final day over Maddie Rist and Daniella Wooldridge.
The weather models disagree on what we might get tomorrow, but it look light and challenging from whatever direction we end up with. We will all be hoping to get the last 2 scheduled races in before the 3:30 cutoff to round out a highly successful event.
Nick Page
New Zealand ILCA (Laser) Nationals - Day 2
A BIG day on the water
Today was BIG. 3 races, big shifts, big gusts, big waves, big opportunities, big winners; it was a tough but rewarding day at Murrays Bay for day 2 of the ILCA Nationals.
Sailors arriving in the boat park were greeted with a light SW breeze and all looked set for a nice day on the water, and so it proved to be, although I suspect significantly more challenging that many expected as they headed out from the beach! By the 1pm start time for the first of todays 3 races the wind had freshened to about 8-10 knots, but it was shifting significantly from S to SW and there were big holes in the breeze. These conditions continued throughout the first race and into the second, but as the second race progressed the wind freshened significantly to around 15-18 knots, still very shifty and with occasional big gusts. The wind against tide sea built to a really difficult chop, regularly filling the cockpit of even the top sailors, and the conditions became quite challenging, particularly for the less experienced and older sailors.
With 5 races now completed the discard came into play today, allowing many sailors to get rid of various indiscretions on the start line etc.
While many found today challenging a few excelled. In the 60 boat ILCA 6 Open fleet youth sailor George Pilkington found the lighter conditions in todays first race difficult, but then did a horizon job on the fleet in race 4 and also won race 5 to lead convincingly overall at the halfway stage go the regatta. He is followed overall by a trio of our top women sailors, all of whom had a consistent day. Annabelle Rennie-Younger is second with Greta Pilkington and Olivia Christie tied on points 3 back from Annabelle. Ethan Fong (Y) from Wakatere also had a really strong day, taking second in two races to be second youth boy, 3 points ahead of Zach Stibbe from Otago . Naomi Ferrissey had a tough first race but was strong in races 4 and 5 with top 10 results to continue to be the leading youth girl, ahead of Maddie Rist and Daniella Wooldridge.
In the 40 boat combined ILCA 7 fleet the racing was extremely close all day, with 3 different winners for the 3 races meaning that so far every race has had a different winner. In race 3 it was overnight leader Luke Cashmore who got the bullet, and a second and third in the other two races see him continue to lead overall.
After a tough reintroduction to the ILCA fleet in the first 3 races Americas Cup skipper Dean Barker (M) showed his true mettle, winning race 4 today and then holding off many of the young guns again to be 6th in todays last race and move up the standings overall. The third race of the day was won by Luke Deegan, who is second overall, closely followed by top U21 sailors Caleb Armit and Dylan Forsyth in 3rd and 4th. 5th overall and convincingly leading the masters is Scott Leith. Tim Pitcaithly is the leading AM in 9th overall while Grand Masters Andrew Dellabarca and Cris Brodie are having a really close battle for the GM crown, lying 10th and 11th overall. Nick Page is the leading GGM in 19th overall, having managed to stay upright all day.
In the ILCA 6 Masters fleet Master Phil Wild continued his domination, winning all 3 races to lead convincingly overall. Ed Tam (M) and Josh Edmund (AM) continued their close battle for second, with Ed winning the day to lie 2nd overall just a point ahead of Josh, with Tauranga's David Johnson (M) close on their heels. Werner Hennig leads the GM's while GGM Pete Thomas is keeping all the young bucks in sight in 8th overall and Georgina Woldridge leads the Master women.
Tomorrow we again have 3 races scheduled and similar SW winds are again forecast, although many will be hoping for slightly more forgiving conditions!
Nick Page
Glorious Sunny Auckland delivers on Day 1
After a bit of a wait the forecast westerly managed to push the light easterly breeze out and we enjoyed the scheduled 2 races in a typically challenging 10 knot off shore breeze under sunny skies and with lovely warm temperatures.
Race officer Dave West set great courses for the fleet of 124 for todays 2 races. The ILCA 7's raced as a single fleet of 40 while the ILCA 6 were split with the ILCA 6 Masters starting separately from the large Youth, Women and Open fleet.
The ILCA 7 combined Open and Masters fleet led off. A light patch on the starting gun caught out many of the favourites at the boat end of the line, allowing Bluff Yacht Club's Darryl Park to lead at the first mark. The cream however soon rose to the top on the downwind legs and it was U21 sailor Dylan Forsyth who eventually claimed the race ahead of Luke Cashmore and Luke Deegan, both of whom had fairly miraculous recoveries after getting caught out on the first beat. In the second race Master Scott Leith flew the flag for the host club, taking the race ahead of Luke Cashmore and Christchurch sailor Charles Corston. Two seconds has given Luke Cashmore a tidy overall lead after day 1, 5 points clear of a close bunch of 3; Luke Deegan, Caleb Armit and Dylan Forsyth. Scott Leith is the Leading Master. Defending Masters champion Andrew Dellabarca is 2nd master overall and is the leading GM, Tim Pitcaithly the leading AM while Barry Cutfield from Ohope leads the GGM.
In the ILCA 6 Masters Phil Wild (M) from Manly took out both races but it was close racing with Josh Edmonds (AM), Ed Tam (GM) from Worser Bay and Tauranga's David Johnson (M) all getting top 3 places. Leading the Masters women is Georgina Wooldridge, just a few points clear of Helen Spencer and Bridget Gordon, both from Tauranga.
In the 60 boat ILCA 6 fleet it was a great battle between the leading Youths, Women and Open sailors. Many sailors found the size of the fleet and the conditions challenging and consistency hard to find. The first race was won by Akarana's Stefano Santella (Y) from Annabelle Rennie-Younger, recently returned to the ILCA after stint in the 470, with youth George Pilkington 3rd. Both Stefano and Annabelle had problems in the second race however, while George took it out to lead overall. Second in the second race was George Lane from Hamilton, who also sits second overall, one point clear of a consistent Zach Stibbe from Dunedin. Greta Pilkington leads the Women and is 4th overall, with Naiomi Ferrissey from host club Murrays Bay the leading female Youth.
Tomorrows forecast is for pretty much more of the same, with a fresher offshore breeze, so we can can hopefully look forward to getting tomorrows 3 scheduled races completed and to plenty of opportunities for everyone in what is again likely to be a shifty and challenging day.
Nick Page
2022 South Island ILCA/Laser Champs Results & Report
Sun 18 Dec 2022 3:48am
The 2022 TMC South Island ILCA (Laser) Champs were held in the south of the South Island in Dunedin. They were hosted by the Vauxhall Yacht Club on the Saturday and Sunday 10th, 11th December.
There were 26 entries, 8 Full and 18 Radials, with each fleet having their own start. It was good to see sailors coming from all over the South Island and even an entry from Auckland (guess who). There was a good mix of ages, with the Youth well represented in the Radials and the master’s dominating the Full Rigs. Racing was out in front of Vauxhall Yacht Club in the upper harbour, in the middle of the city making for good viewing. 7 races were scheduled and duly completed, 4 Saturday and 3 Sunday.
Racing on Saturday was in light and shifty winds after a short delay. The wind conditions meant that a good start was important, and the shifts had their winners and losers. Though as usual a group in each fleet mastered the conditions better than the rest. The day ended with only 3 points separating the top 3 in both fleets. With Darryl and Peter leading their respective fleets. Local sailors dominated the Radials, but the out-of-towners did better in the Full Rigs. It was then back to the club rooms for a post-race BBQ and catch up.
The forecast for Sunday was no wind until midday, so the fleet was kept ashore until the wind swung round to the northeast and filled in for a pleasant 10 to 12 knots. It was then just a quick sail out to the course for 3 more back-to-back races that produced some close racing as the conditions suited most people. The slightly stronger winds created a few changes in the Radials standing with plenty of close racing. It was then back to Vauxhall Yacht Club for a post-race meal catch up and prize giving.
In both fleets we had new names for the trophies this year. In the Full Rig fleet it was Daryl Parkes (Bluff Yacht Club) year, followed by James McAlister (Otago Yacht Club) and Nick Page (Pupuke Yacht Club).
In the Radials the second day resulted in a change in the top 2 places. Jenny Armstrong (Otago Yacht Club) had a good second day to lead Peter Graham (Vauxhall Yacht Club), and son Zach Stibbe (Otago Yacht Club). This also gave Jenny the clean sweep with first Master and first Women.
A great weekend was had by all in the deep south. Vauxhall Yacht Club were their usual great hosts and made sure everyone was well feed and watered. The weather played its part providing 2 days of mixed racing and giving the race officer (Martin Balch) a few challenges. The sailing was a good warm-up for those going to nationals in January. Those staying local there are still 3 more rounds of the Southern Traveler series to go. Next Years South Islands will be in the Christchurch area.
Thank you again to all those that made the effort to attend, those that gave time to run the event and the sponsors who help make it all possible.
Rob English
2022 ILCA North Islands Results and Reports
Sun 27 Nov 2022 6:42pmAfter missing a year due to Covid we were happy to be back in Napier for our ILCA North Island champs on the November 26th and 27th.
In recent years Napier Sailing Club has hosted us as part of their Summer Regatta which has become a signficant fixture on the national sailing calendar. The clubs volunteers do a fantastic job on and off the water. This year there were more than 160 boats across 9 classes. ILCA 6 & 7, Paper Tigers, OK's. together on the outer course. Zephyers, Europes, Optimists, O'Skiff and Starlings on the inner course. NSC now have to host the trailer boat classes on a different weekend.
Andrew, our race officer, gave us a Triangle/Windward-Leeward course finishing at the top. He cleverly balanced T1 and T2 wing and bottom mark variations to try to separate the fleets. On Saturday the sunny Noreaster setlled in before our 11:30am start, giving us a stable 5 to 8 knots all day for 4 races. Despite a forecast for showers on Sunday we had similar light sunny NE conditions for 2 of 3 races. Only the final race had a stronger 15 knot breeze and full hiking.
'Managing the fleet' was the big tactical challenge for the weekend. Especially when the 17 downwind ICLA7's met 49 reaching ILCA 6's at the bottom mark in the light conditions
In the ILCA6 the conditions suited the Fiji Olympic rep Sophia Morgan on Saturday. But she was sharing bullets with Greta Pilkington who managed to sneak past on the Sunday to win the overall regatta by one point. George Lane stayed consistent to come 3rd overall, pipping Ed Tam in 5th for the masters trohpy. George Pilkington had a bullet in the breezier final race to get 4th overall and the male youth trophy.
The ILCA7 result was more cut and dried, as Caleb Armit won every race. But it wasn't as one sided on the course where Dylan Forsyth and Matthew Rist pushed Caleb quite hard. Tim Pitcaithly was the eventual masters winner, after he and Andrew Dellabaca traded blows with the leading group. The rest of the masters were a step back to fill out the fleet.
Thanks again to Napier Sailing Club for a great weekend.
Mike Knowsley
2022 North Harbour Masters Report - Lake Pupuke
Sun 13 Nov 2022 8:14am
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
2022 Stack Winter Champs - Report and Results
Wed 19 Oct 2022 1:21am
Murrays Bay held the long running Stack Winter Champs over the weekend 15/16 October and turned on a wide range of conditions at what will be the venue for the upcoming ILCA 2023 Nationals. The event was run very well with RO, Nick Olson and team dealing with some tricky conditions not to mention a cold snap that really made it feel like it was still winter.
While full rigs weren’t able to compete the radial fleet was strong with an excellent turn out from competitors from all over the country as far north as the Bay of Islands/Taipa and as far South as Dunedin with Queen Charlotte, Tauranga, Napier, Hamilton as well as Auckland all well represented.
Day one was Easterly, lightish and got lighter through the day. Reigning female National Champ, Greta Pilkington, leveraged her recent European experience to be the stand out performer with two wins: gliding past some old hack to take the lead and extend in the first race. Zach Stibbe snuck into second on the line with Phil Wild in 3rd. Race two softened even more and saw a lot of place changes throughout the race – most notably was Greta who worked her way up into the lead with George Lane second and George Pilkington in 3rd. Racing was then abandoned for the day.
Day two was 15-20knots from the SW and garnered a great deal of excitement on shore from those keen to smash the beats and send it on the reaches. Interestingly enough, it was the older hands who had the legs over the course of the day. Race one saw a lot of place changes with initial race leader opting to sail another course, a couple of capsizes here and there and shifts typical of a puffy south wester. Lane showed consistency and was quite happy to watch numerous boats around him mess things up and found himself in the lead with a couple of legs to go. George Pilkington repeated his previous solid top 3 place with second and Wild getting back to 3rd. Race four was certainly the one for the old boys of the fleet with Wild, Lane and Dunedin sailor Peter Graham rounding out the top three. By now, most of the fleet were hurting but only half way through the day. Lane sailed sensibly and consistently to take race 5, George Pilkington in 2nd and Zach Stribbe powered into 3rd on the last beat. The last race saw Lane again sail well to take another gun with Graham in second and Greta storming through into 3rd. To top things off after four breezy races, everyone then got to enjoy the relaxing 40min slog back to the beach – gotta love the southwester!
Overall, consistency was crucial as the score card showed that between the top three overall place getters, there was only one race between them outside of the top 5 over the entire event (when Greta capsized????).
- 1st George Lane 7pts 1st
- 2nd Greta Pilkington 15pts 2nd , 1st Female
- 3rd Phil Wild 15pts 3rd
- 4th Zach Stibbe 20pts 4th, 1st Male Youth
- 10th Maddy Rist 48pts 10th, 1st Female Youth
It was great to have a strong fleet represented by so many parts of the country and sets a great scene for the upcoming national champs in January 23.
Phil Wild
Murrays Bay held the long running Stack Winter Champs over the weekend 15/16 October and turned on a wide range of conditions at what will be the venue for the upcoming ILCA 2023 Nationals. The event was run very well with RO, Nick Olson and team dealing with some tricky conditions not to mention a cold snap that really made it feel like it was still winter.
While full rigs weren’t able to compete the radial fleet was strong with an excellent turn out from competitors from all over the country as far north as the Bay of Islands/Taipa and as far South as Dunedin with Queen Charlotte, Tauranga, Napier, Hamilton as well as Auckland all well represented.
Day one was Easterly, lightish and got lighter through the day. Reigning female National Champ, Greta Pilkington, leveraged her recent European experience to be the stand out performer with two wins: gliding past some old hack to take the lead and extend in the first race. Zach Stibbe snuck into second on the line with Phil Wild in 3rd. Race two softened even more and saw a lot of place changes throughout the race – most notably was Greta who worked her way up into the lead with George Lane second and George Pilkington in 3rd. Racing was then abandoned for the day.
Day two was 15-20knots from the SW and garnered a great deal of excitement on shore from those keen to smash the beats and send it on the reaches. Interestingly enough, it was the older hands who had the legs over the course of the day. Race one saw a lot of place changes with initial race leader opting to sail another course, a couple of capsizes here and there and shifts typical of a puffy south wester. Lane showed consistency and was quite happy to watch numerous boats around him mess things up and found himself in the lead with a couple of legs to go. George Pilkington repeated his previous solid top 3 place with second and Wild getting back to 3rd. Race four was certainly the one for the old boys of the fleet with Wild, Lane and Dunedin sailor Peter Graham rounding out the top three. By now, most of the fleet were hurting but only half way through the day. Lane sailed sensibly and consistently to take race 5, George Pilkington in 2nd and Zach Stribbe powered into 3rd on the last beat. The last race saw Lane again sail well to take another gun with Graham in second and Greta storming through into 3rd. To top things off after four breezy races, everyone then got to enjoy the relaxing 40min slog back to the beach – gotta love the southwester!
Overall, consistency was crucial as the score card showed that between the top three overall place getters, there was only one race between them outside of the top 5 over the entire event (when Greta capsized????).
- 1st George Lane 7pts 1st
- 2nd Greta Pilkington 15pts 2nd , 1st Female
- 3rd Phil Wild 15pts 3rd
- 4th Zach Stibbe 20pts 4th, 1st Male Youth
- 10th Maddy Rist 48pts 10th, 1st Female Youth
It was great to have a strong fleet represented by so many parts of the country and sets a great scene for the upcoming national champs in January 23.
Phil Wild
2022 Northshore Freshwater Laser Champs
Thu 12 May 2022 2:38amWinter Arrives for the Freshwater Champs
As forecast, a fresh, gusty, wet, shifty and COLD breeze greeted the competitors on both days of the Freshwater Champs at Lake Pupuke. This contributed to a smaller than usual fleet, with 23 hardy souls taking to the water over the weekend. In spite of the cold many found the gusty conditions interesting, most adding one or more dips in the lake at some stage for good measure. There was a good youth turnout in the ILCA 6 fleet while the majority of the ILCA 7's were Masters.
There were dominant performances in both the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 fleets.
In the ILCA 6 Caleb Armit, who leave for the World Youth Champs shortly, won 6 out of 7, although in several races the margins at the finish were extremely close. There was a very close battle for second, with ex Olympic Women's rep, now super coach, Sara Winther having a great second day to just get the better of Matthew Rist (Y) from Manly. Third Youth and 4th overall Dylan Forsyth was extremely consistent and right on the heels of the leading bunch, as was second placed Woman, Olivia Christie. Maddie Rist was the leading youth girl, beating Sophia Morgan by a single point. Mike Pascoe was the only ILCA 6 Master to brave the conditions, and was notable for his consistency. I think he capsized in just about every race!
In the ILCA 7's leading U21 sailor Thomas Mulcahy won all but one race, his only hiccup being the result of a quick dip with an unexpected gust on the race 2 final downwind. He clearly had the measure of the Masters fleet in the conditions, with the Masters being led by Nick Page (GGM) in second overall with the consistent Ian Gladwell (GM) and Ken Atchison (M) 3rd and 4th overall. The weekend was completed nicely with legendary commodore John Dowsett's prizegiving speech, plenty of prizes for all and a good Pupuke BBQ to warm everyone up.
Nick Page - 23 May 2022
Caleb Armit
Sara Winther
Thomas Mulcahy
Nick Page
Ken Atchison
Ian Gladwell
Mike Pasco
2022 Auckland ILCA/Laser Champs Results & Report
Thu 24 Mar 2022 8:31pmChallenging but still way better than mowing lawns!
Results
Congratulations to the winners
- Sophia Morgan (Women's Radial)
- Caleb Amit (Open/Youth Radial)
- Thomas Mulcahy (Open Stadard)
- Al Tate (Masters Standard)
- Phil Wild (Masters Radial)
The Auckland ILCA (Laser) champs was held at Tamaki on 2nd and 3rd April, incorporating the Auckland Masters one day regatta on the Saturday.
A good fleet of 44 turned out on Saturday morning to a forecast of light and variable conditions for the weekend and indeed that was what we got, northerly breezes 5 to 8 knots on Saturday and struggling to get to 5 knots on Sunday. That, combined with the usual Tamaki washing machine chop from ferries and with half of Auckland out boating, definitely made for some interesting racing. Standout performance had to be 82 year old Sandy Grigg being very competitive in the Standard fleet; never say local knowledge is not important, he joined Tamaki in about 1952!
On Saturday the Standard Masters, who made up the majority of the Standard fleet, enjoyed close racing with Al Tate making the most of the conditions to be the leading masters in all 4 races and take home the Auckland Masters trophy. He was followed by a close bunch in most races with Chris Brodie eventually coming through as leading GM and second master overall, Mark Hursthouse third overall and first GGM with David Giles and Mike Fyfe from Akarana rounding out the top bunch. In the Radials the Masters were in the minority but ended up well spread through the large youth fleet. Standout was Phil Wild, winning the Masters championship and sitting 3rd overall at the end of the day, including getting the gun in one race. Tamaki Apprentice Phillip Bennett was second master with leading GM Werner Hennig in 3rd.
On Sunday a few masters were back to join the balance of the fleets to decide the Auckland Champs. In the Radials Fijian Olympic rep Sophia Morgan had led overnight and had a great battle with Caleb Armit (Y) in the two races completed on Sunday. In the end it was Caleb who won on count back from Sophia with George Lane(O) third and Greta Pilkington, who won two races but struggled a bit for consistency, finishing 4th overall. In the Standards the racing at the top of the fleet was close both days but Thomas Mulcahy dominated the results in the end with Samoan Olympic rep Eroni Leilua second overall and master Chris Brodie 3rd.
Overall a challenging regatta for all but great to see a strong fleet at the end of this Covid affected season.
2022 NZ ILCA Champs Final Day Results & Report
Sun 23 Jan 2022 3:10am
Final Results
Final day 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.
Nick Page
2022 NZ ILCA Champs Day 3 Provisional Results & Report
Sat 22 Jan 2022 7:13am
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.
Nick Page
2022 NZ ILCA Champs Day 2 Provisional Results & Report
Fri 21 Jan 2022 7:24pm
Picture Perfect Conditions
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.
Nick Page
