Team Jolly - Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie - lead downwind. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
Nick Rogers and Chris Grube: 470 New Zealand National Champions from Britain. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
by Christine Hansen
The New Zealand 470 Nationals came to their conclusion today with Nick Rogers and Chris Grube of Great Britain taking out the regatta with an impressive second and three first placings. Second overall, and first New Zealand sailors, were Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders who loosened the grip Geoff Woolley has had on the National title for the last (at least) three years, but not totally out of the picture by any means were Geoff Woolley and Dan Willcox who placed third overall. The first women's crew, and fourth overall, were Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie. At 20 years of age, Snow-Hansen and Saunders were awarded the Junior NZ Champion's Cup.
Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
Sunshine and strong winds were the order of the day. A very fresh and very shifty offshore westerly breeze created challenging conditions for sailors and the race committee. Takapuna Boating Club's Race Officer commented in the clubrooms after racing that gusts of 35 knots were registered and the average wind speed during racing was 23 knots. "Gnarly conditions" and "insane" were the comments from a sailor ashore with gear damage, he also added that the very short steep chop made sailing very difficult downwind.
Francisco Lardies and Finn Drummond. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
Simon Cooke and Carl Evans. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
A number of crews struggled in the breeze, Aleh and Powrie capsized during a race, the spinnaker pole went flying and after swimming to retrieve it the crew had trouble righting the boat single handedly and needed outside assistance which forced them to withdraw from the race. Maloney and Barbarich-Bacher also lost their only pole during a capsize, an Australian crew lost their mast early in the day, while Turner and Jones had to return to the beach with gear failure.
Luke Stevenson and Sam Bullock. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
Mark Overington and the Australian camp. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
Nick Rogers and Chris Grube came ashore at the end of the day smiling, however they and almost every red-eyed sailor made comments like "wasted", "absolutely exhausted" and "*!!)*(&^" but also "awesome to get a full regattas worth in just two days" and how hard it was on their bodies sailing that many high wind races over a short period. Rogers and Grube will remain in New Zealand to take part in Sail Auckland, as will the group of young Australian sailors from Sydney.
They start 'em young in the 470s. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
Nick Rogers and son. Image copyright Christine Hansen.
Another feature of the fleet were a number of young crews who are looking towards the Junior World 470 Championship to be held out of Takapuna Boating Club in January/February 2012. Luke Stevenson and Sam Bullock placed top out the crews who will be under 22 years of age to be eligible for the event. James Turner and Mathew Jones are also working towards the event and both crews are aware of reaping the benefits of sailing against, and training with, a strong group of Olympic 470 Class sailors in New Zealand.
Full results below:
470 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
TAKAPUNA BOATING CLUB INC.
Overall
Sailed: 9, Discards: 1, To count: 8, Entries: 15, Scoring system: Appendix A
RankFleetSailNoHelmNameCrewNameNatR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9TotalNett
1st GBR Nick ROGERS Chris GRUBE GBR
2nd 212 Paul SNOW-HANSEN Jason SAUNDERS NZL
3rd 98 Geoffrey WOOLLEY Daniel WILCOX NZL
4th 75 Jo ALEH Polly POWRIE NZL
5th 209 Francisco LARDIES Finn DRUMMOND NZL
6th 215 Mark OVERINGTON Ben GOODWIN NZL
7th 220 Luke STEVENSON Sam BULLOCK NZL
8th 207 Simon COOKE Carl EVANS NZL
9th AUS5 Matt CRAWFORD Robert CRAWFORD AUS
10th AUS3 Scott COTTON Rob SIZE AUS
11th 202 Alexandra MALONEY Bianca BARBARICH-BAKER NZL
12th 2091 Shelly HESSON Vicky FRANCIS NZL
13th 206 James TURNER Matthew JONES NZL
14th 197 Mike SNOW-HANSEN Ben HANNS NZL
15th AUS2 Karl BROMFIELD Tom KOERNER AUS
New Zealand 470 Nationals
