EXCELLENT JUNIOR
Josh Junior created history by becoming the first Kiwi to win the Finn Gold Cup (World Championships) and took the top gong at the recent Volvo Yachting Excellence Awards.
Junior triumphed at last year’s Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne. Along with the Orbit World Travel Sailor of the Year Award, he was also named the Zhik Male Sailor of the Year.
ETCHELLS PARITY
A review of an Etchells mould created by the Australian Association in 2011 is underway, following queries about the symmetry of the mould, along with the laminating schedule used to create the actual vessels.
Over its 50-year history the Etchells Class has regularly reviewed itself to ensure uniformity across the three licensed builders (one each in the UK, Canada and Australia).
All items that require a modification to the Class Rules (say electric bilge pumps), go through the Technical Committee for analysis before being voted on by the Governors.
The Class Measurer also undertakes reviews at World Championships, and liaises with the builders throughout the year, including factory visits.
In 2011, the Australian Association produced a new mould from scans of boats produced by all three existing moulds. This was approved after being re-measured on completion, and it has been creating new Etchells ever since from its home at Innovation Composites in Nowra on the NSW South Coast.
But queries about the symmetry of this mould (and therefore its boats), have prompted the Governors to approve scans of two boats from each of the three builders to form the basis of an audit of the fleet.
This will include the Chief Measurer, Bill Abbott, attending the Australian manufacturer using a single set of templates to establish if any variances exist, in addition to investigating the laminate issue.
Says Mark Roberts, President of the International Etchells Class of Australia: “The results of the review will be delivered to the Governors. At that time, any rectification works that may be required will be evaluated, put into place, and announced to the sailing public.”
Australian teams blitzed the field at the 2019 Etchells World Championship in Corpus Christi, Texas, leading to speculation about Australian-built boats’ speed advantage. Australia’s Iain Murray with Colin Beashel and Richard Allanson topped the 37-boat fleet.
ZEPHYR NATIONALS
Auckland’s Helgard Dannauser is the new Zephyr champ following the class Nationals held at the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club in March. The regatta attracted 55 entrants from around the country, as well as an Australian Zephyr enthusiast. Though sailed in mostly light conditions the racing was competitive and produced nine different line honour winners over the four-day series.
PALMA MEDALS
Kiwi sailors claimed three medals at the recent Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma, including gold and bronze in the Finn class, to finish as the second-most successful nation at the event.
Andy Maloney won his first major regatta in the Finn class since switching from the Laser. Josh Junior was third. Alex Maloney and Molly Meech collected another silver in the 49erFX, following on from their second placing at February’s World Cup Series event in Miami.
The three medals saw New Zealand finish level with the United States as the second-most successful nations in Palma behind Great Britain, which snared eight medals.
TITANIUM MAKES HISTORY
Chris Skinner became the first person to win back-toback handicap honours when he and co-skipper Shane Bellingham won the SSANZ Round New Zealand Twohanded Race.
The pair circumnavigated the country on their Thompson 38 Titanium, taking 13 days and 22 hours to complete the four legs. They took line honours in the second and fourth legs, fighting off Damon Joliffe and Josh Tucker in Motorboat II (Elliott 10.5) who won both line and handicap in legs 1 and 3.
Titanium took control of the race on the second and longest leg from Mangonui to Stewart Island (930 nm), winning by a comfortable 22 hours on handicap. They finished 11 hours ahead of Motorboat II overall on corrected time after the final leg.
Skinner competed in the 2012 edition of the round New Zealand race on Truxton (Tiller 10.5), winning legs 2 and 4. For full results visit www.ssanz.co.nz/results/
CELESTIAL SUCCESS
Scorning modern electronics for a sextant, a 73-year-old French sailor has won the 30,000-mile Golden Globe solo round-the-world race after 212 days at sea – his first sailing victory – and a new record for the oldest skipper to sail solo non-stop around the world.
Jean-Luc Van Den Heede arrived in France’s Les Sables d’Olonne at the end of January in his 35-foot yacht Matmut. Of the 18 competitors who started the race in July last year, only five finished.
The race was Van Den Heede’s sixth circumnavigation. He nearly abandoned the event in November when his mast was damaged during a Southern Ocean storm, with 65-knot winds and 11m seas. A repair on land would have disqualified him, so he fixed the mast himself before rounding Cape Horn.
“But I admit that climbing a mast is no longer OK at my age,” he said in a post-race interview. “I climbed seven times. The worst thing was trying to undo the pins.”
Among those greeting Van Den Heede on his arrival was British sailor Robin Knox-Johnston, who won the only other Golden Globe race 50 years ago.
EDWARDS TAKES STARLING TITLE
South Island Wildcard Harry Edwards beat Auckland’s Max Scott to take the 2019 Starling Match Racing Nationals title in January – scoring three wins from four races and in the process adding his name to a trophy studded with the Who’s Who of New Zealand yachting.
RESULTS
1. HARRY EDWARDS – South Island - WILDCARD 2
2. MAX SCOTT – Auckland
3. EMILY OVEREND – Marlborough
4. LACHLAN DILLON – Bay of Plenty
INTERNATIONAL SCHOONER ASSOCIATION FOUNDED
Which is why owners and enthusiasts of these vessels have just launched a new initiative – the formation of the International Schooner Association.
In late September the 40th edition of the Régates Royales in Cannes attracted what was possibly the greatest group of classic schooners gathered together in modern times. At a reception and dinner hosted by one of the vessel’s owners – Tomas de Vargas Machuca – owners or representatives of 10 schooners signed up to the launch of the new association.
The intention is for the association to run events specifically and exclusively for classic schooners. The hope is to build a programme and a series such that, as well as individual regatta prizes, there can be an annual perpetual trophy awarded to the ‘Schooner of the Year’.
Plans are afoot for the first event to be held in Capri next spring. The formation of the association is supported by the International Maxi Association, whose function is to guide, structure and encourage all types of maxi yacht racing.
These 10 founder members of the International Schooner Association are the owners of:
Invader 1905, Orion 1910, Mariette of 1915, Puritan 1931, Orianda 1937, Aschanti IV of Vegesack (1954), Elena of London 2009 (replica of 1910 design), Atlantic 2010 (replica of 1903 design), Germania Nova 2011 (replica of 1907 Germania), Naema 2013 (inspired by an Alfred Mylne design).
ANOTHER LIFE FOR AC35 FOILING CATS
The series – comprising five grand prix events featuring six national teams on identical wing-sailed F50s – will take place in Sydney, San Francisco, New York, Cowes (UK) and Marseille (France), as crews compete for the championship trophy and a $1 million prize.
Kicking off in February next year, SailGP’s inaugural season will feature teams representing six countries – Australia, China, France, Great Britain, Japan and the United States.
Each five-person crew will race on identical 50-foot foiling catamarans. A new boat class, the F50 is a redesigned, supercharged incarnation of the AC50. Twelve months in development by technicians and engineers at Core Builders Composites north of Auckland, the F50s are expected to break the 50-knot barrier.
Sanctioned by World Sailing, each grand prix will comprise two competition days with five fleet races, culminating in a final match race between the two leaders.
After SailGP’s Sydney inauguration in February (15–16), the league moves on to San Francisco in May (4–5), New York in June (21–22), and Cowes in August (10–11), before the Marseille final in September (20–22).
The final event features a winner-takes-all, $1 million championship match-race between the season’s top two teams to conclude three days of racing.
BOI Sailing Week
A multihull has become the first boat to enter the 2019 edition of the CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week regatta – again expected to attract more than 100 entries from around New Zealand and overseas.
Boat 2, a Diam 24 trimaran owned by New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club Commodore Greer Houston, has registered for the event – scheduled for 22–25 January. Boat 2 will race in the Island Racing Multihull division.
Other confirmed entries so far include TP52s, sport boats, cruiser/racers and production boats. B division, in particular, is showing early promise, with regular starters Anarchy and Icebreaker in for another round, and Steve Mair’s Clockwork back for more too, facing off against local Shaw 9.1 Deep Throttle.
CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week is the country’s biggest event of its kind, offering three days of racing with options for everyone – from fiercely competitive TP52 racing, to longer, scenic races around the Bay of Islands, along with dedicated divisions for classes like Young 88s and Wetas.
Organisers are already advising participants to plan ahead by entering early and booking a berth at the Bay of Islands Marina before the summer rush. Entries received before the end of December will also avoid the $75 late entry fee, so it pays to be ahead of the game.
For Auckland-based sailors, a free Rally to Kawau after CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week will offer a fun way to make the trip back down to Auckland in company. Departing Opua on Saturday, January 26, and finishing at Kawau Boating Club with breakfast on Sunday morning, the rally will also put participants in prime position to join the Kawau-to-Westhaven Passage Race – part of the iconic Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta.
Notice of Race and full details, plus online entry for CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week, can be found at www.bayofislandssailingweek.org.nz
Follow Bay of Islands Sailing Week on Facebook to stay up to date with all the latest regatta news.
JOSH JUNIOR CLAIMS CROWN
Josh Junior won his second New Zealand Match Racing crown after beating Chris Steele 3–2 after a long, tricky day of match racing at the RNZYS.
Junior had eaten Nick Egnot-Johnson and his Knots Racing team earlier in the morning, which left the second semi-final between Chris Steele and Leonard Takahashi’s Pacific Racing Team. Both semi-finals were close, but it was small mistakes from the younger skippers Egnot-Johnson and Takahashi which cost them against their more experienced opponents. Both contests ended 3–0.
This put Steele up against Junior in a battle of past champions. In what were very shifty conditions, Steele took the first match quite convincingly and it looked like the final could be over sooner than envisaged. But Junior fired back in the next match to tie it up at one apiece.
The wind then shifted completely and resulted in a course change, and when racing got back underway it was Junior who took the win and found himself on match point. After yet another course change, Steele came back strong and showed some great tactics in the lighter, shifty conditions to even the final up yet again.
It was down to a do-or-die final match to decide the regatta.
Conditions were even harder for the final, with the wind going home early and forcing the two past champions to a virtual ‘drift off’. Junior crossed the line first.
YOUTH TRIUMPHS AT 420 WORLDS
The boys found their way to the podium in Newport, Rhode Island, USA by winning five of their 12 races, including two in the gold fleet. Their margin over the second-placed Spanish team was a massive 48 points.
Remarkably, Menzies is just 13 years old and McGlashan 15, but the boys raced in the open division, having gained entry to the Worlds at the youth sailing world champs at Corpus Christi the month before, where they finished fifth. Menzies and McGlashan were one of five Kiwi teams competing at Newport.
Making their achievement even more laudable is the fact the pair have only been sailing together for a little more than a year.
“It’s almost unbelievable,” McGlashan said on his way to the prizegiving. “We haven’t been in the class that long so we’re pretty new to it. We didn’t really think we could get this far this quickly.”
Past winners of the 420 World Championships include Carl Evans (2006) and Peter Burling (2007), Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (2007) and Alex Maloney and Bianca Barbarich-Bacher (2009).
