America's Cup
Wednesday's THE NIGHT
If you don't have Sky TV click here to watch on your computer
Breaking News
Solo Trans Tasman
9 February 2010
January 2010 Update
WITHDRAWALS -
Scott Cavanough, who was to have
sailed the mini Transat Skippy
Challenge in the race, has withdrawn
to focus his energy and finances on
the Transat race. Allan Hay, a 2007
race veteran, has withdrawn Delphina
for personal reasons and Steve
Newcombe, sailing Zen,
has pulled out of the race.
John Burns (Phantom) is engaged in a
voyage to the Auckland Islands and
advises that he may be forced to
withdraw due to time constraints.
TRAVEL PLANS -
The race finishes at school
holiday time, when transTasman air
fares are at a premium, so we urge
everyone to book as soon as possible
for the best fare deals by contacting
Rebecca Dillon - rdillon@hot.co.nz
Ph +64 6 759 5980).
SHIPPING CONTAINER -
Response has been slow from entrants
who want to send anchors, dinghies
And other heavy cruising gear in the
Shipping container which has been offered for
our use by Swire Shipping.
It's a case of use it or lose it. People who
want to use it should contact Lindsay ASAP.
SATELLITE TRACKING -
We had planned to use Tracplus transponders
to relay boat positions directly to the website
but that didn't eventuate and we will be using
Ocean tracker units from Tasmania instead.
This is a much more cost effective option
and will enable the committee to supply the
units free, or at minimal cost, to skippers.
ACCOMMODATION -
Mooloolaba will be chock-a-block with
school holidaymakers around the race finish
time and when the prizegiving is held on
17th April. Anybody who needs accommodation
should contact : info@bellardoo.com
or phone +61 7 5444 6860 and mention the race. The Sunshine
Coast Yacht Club committee have been very
proactive in arranging reasonably priced
accommodation.
NITRO -
Steven Arm's new Chamberlin catamaran, Nitro, was launched on 7th January and he's already racing - to get her rigged and race ready and to sail the qualifying miles before the start.
The launch went well and Nitro floated right on her marks. Steven says that cousin Bruce, who's sailing Big Wave Rider, is worried enough to have started a major weight reduction programme. 
All best with preparations.
Lindsay Wright,
Secretary,
2010 Fitzroy Yachts Solo Tasman Challenge Committee,
New Plymouth, New Zealand.
AQIS -
Despite approaches to the Australian
High Commission, government officials and Australian Quarantine and Immigration Service management, they are obdurate that boats will be charged $AU 400 for inward clearance. One way of reducing the cost is to supply accommodation for AQIS officers and the Bellardoo Apartments are generously doing this.
Will Tiller
9 February 2010
Will Tiller (RNZYS) wins Warren Jones Under 25 International Youth Regatta
Royal Perth Yacht Club, Western Australian Yachting Foundation - 1 - 4 February 2010
WILLIAM TILLER CLAIMS WARREN JONES INTERNATIONAL REGATTA 4th February 2010
In a series that kept everyone guessing, sailors and spectators alike, William Tiller from Auckland's Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, won the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta from club and former crew mate Phil Robertson.
The final, sailed on the Swan River's Freshwater Bay went to the full five races, with a protest holding up the result even when both boats had crossed the finishing line.
"It's awesome to step up into the skippering position and take it on and do so well," said a still slightly bewildered Tiller at the end of the day. "We love the boats, they are awesome match racing boats, the competition has been great, we've been pushed all the way."
Talking about defeating his former skipper he said there was a bit of "heated rivalry at the moment, it's good to try and get one over them."
William Tiller was part of Robertson's crew when he won last year, so although it is his second win, it is the first time his name will go on the trophy. All five matches of the final were hard fought, with the two boats sailing around the course as if attached by elastic. Robertson opened the scoring with a tight 12 second win, but then Tiller came back with two quick victories, the first by just 9 seconds.
Then it was Robertson who pulled off a 39 second victory to level the score, and it was down to a do-or-die fifth and final heat.
In this final encounter it looked as though the trophy holder came off the starting line with a slight advantage, but Tiller took the fight to Robertson and managed to grab the lead at the first mark. He commanded the race from there, and even some confusion over the last mark of the race couldn't rob him of victory.
Tiller had cruised through a light wind semi-final with a 3-0 win over local skipper Peter Nicholas, while another local, David Gilmour had taken Robertson to a fourth heat. Making up the winning team were James Maloney, Harry Thurston, Jono Spurdle and Adrian Short.
As well as collecting the prestigious trophy that was won by the crew of Australia II at the America's Cup Jubilee in 2001, the winner gets invitations to three major senior events, the Danish Open, the Spanish Open and the Australia Cup.
First race of America's Cup is abandoned -
9 February 2010
I'm so glad I went to bed!!!!!
Race One rescheduled for Wednesday.
Valencia (February 8, 2010) - Race One of the 33rd America's Cup Match was abandoned for the day on Monday afternoon.
With very light and shifting winds over the race area, the Race Committee was unable to find suitable conditions for racing.
"We had a southerly breeze well offshore that was occasionally filtering into the start area," explained team meteorologist Chris Bedford (USA). "But closer to shore we had a westerly breeze for most of the afternoon. At times it was showing up to 14 knots at the top mark.
"So there was pressure (wind) trying to make it onto the course, but because of these two winds converging, we never had enough breeze over a 20-mile leg to get going... I think the Race Committee did a good job today."
After waiting for nearly four hours, and moving the race course area in an effort to find more wind, Principal Race Officer Harold Bennett decided to abandon racing for the day, shortly before 14:00 CET.
Under the schedule of the 33rd America's Cup, the next race day is Wednesday, 10 February, when the start is scheduled for 10:06 CET (04:06 EST, 01:06 PST).
Strong winds are forecast on Tuesday and will linger into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
"On Wednesday, I'm looking for quite a bit more seaway; we'll probably be getting some kind of a swell down from the Northeast, along the coast," Bedford said. "We'll likely be in a waning Northwesterly that may turn into some kind of a sea breeze in the afternoon, if we're lucky. That's what we're keeping our fingers crossed for."
You can follow all of the action on Wednesday on www.bmworacleracing.com with our "Race Day" coverage, which features live original programming, as well as the Host Broadcast feed of the racing.
Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland 2010
7 February 2010
Dated: Sunday 7 February 2010
Winners decided at Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland
Another fantastic day in the City of Sails and the race committee managed to fit in all the final races, including the medal for the Olympic Classes. A lot of close racing action across all the divisions with some stand-out performances, including Alexandra Maloney in the 29er, Peter Burling in the 49er, Olympic Gold Medalist Tom Ashley on the board and Andrew Murdoch in the Laser.
With over 150 competitors from 15 different countries it has been a fantastic regatta with a lot of camaraderie and superb sailing!
29er
Alexandra Maloney and her crew Sam Bullock representing the Murrays Bay Sailing Club completed their clean sweep of the 29er fleet, with a perfect scorecard of 8 wins out of 8 races. Matthew Spray and Tyler Russell representing Buckland's Beach Yacht Club, managed to hold onto second place just two points clear of the McKenzie brothers Andrew & Sam.
420
James Turner and his crew Logan Dunning-Beck, representing the Murrays Bay Sailing Club added another second to their scoreboard to finish 12 points clear ahead of Alex Munro & Luke Stevenson in second place overall. The female Malaysian team helmed by Khairunnissa Mohd Afendy successfully held onto their lead to take third place overall for the regatta and bragging right for beating the mens Malaysian Sailing Team helmed by Mohamad who finished in fourth place.
The next two female teams were Brittany Wornall & Emma Goodwin, representing the Mt. Pleasant Yacht Club in Christchurch who placed 6th just ahead of 7th placed Erica Dawson & Vicki Francis from the Murrays Bay Sailing Club.,
470
Yachting New Zealand Olympic Squad members Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, although sailing to the wrong top mark they managed to undo their mistake and finish the final race in fourth place overall and take the overall win in the 470 class. The girls finished five points clear ahead of second placed Singaporean team helmed by Roy Jun Hao Tay and third placed Fancisco Lardies & Finn Drummond representing the Glendowie Boating Club.
The second female team in the 470 class were nineth placed overall Sarah & Emma Berry from the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club.
2.4m
No change in the 2.4m Sailability Class as Andrew May won the final race and takes the series win with an impressive six wins out of seven races. Josh McKenzie-Brown holds onto second overall and Brett Willcock from Charteris Bay in Christchurch third overall.
49er
No surprises in the 49er class as Peter Burling and Blair Tuke hold onto their lead to take the series win over Marcus Hansen and Andrew Clarke.
Laser
Andrew Murdoch finished seventh in todays medal race by this result was good enough to keep him in the lead overall. Under 21 year old Andy Maloney also retained his second place overall but fellow junior Sam Meech who finished 9th in the medal race got pushed back into 6th overall. Josh Junior representing the Worser Bay Boating Club took the opportunity to jump into third place overall after gaining a second in the medal race.
Laser Radial - Men
The results remained the same even after the medal race in the Laser Radial Youth Men's division. Tom Saunders who won the Laser Radial Class National Championships a week ago held in Timaru, who has lead all regatta finished with an impressive 26 points overall, a full 20 points clear of his closest rival young French sailor Etienne Le Pen. In third place overall was Chris Steele on 54 points.
Laser Radial - Women
Sara Winther from the Takapuna Boating Club, just managed to stay one point ahead of youth sailor Molly Meech representing the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club. Another Takapuna local Rachel Basevi finished third overall ahead of rival Miranda Powrie representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Norwegian Ina Kullman.
RS:X 9.5
Kiwi Olympic Gold Medalist Tom Ashley won the final Medal race to take the overall series win with an impressive 17points overall. Dutch sailor Dorian Van Rijsselberghe who was tied with Ashley yesterday is pushed back into second overall on 28points and Kiwi JP Tobin comes third overall on 32points.
RS:X 8.5
Young French sailor Thomas Goyard had a fantastic regatta winning the overall 8.5 division with an impressive 10 point scorecard just over Kate Ellingham from the Takapuna Boating Club.
Kate went into the Medal race for the 8.5 women in the lead and won the Medal race to finish first overall on 16points. Italian female Laura Linares was second and Jazmine Lynch third overall.
470 winners - Jo Aleh & Olivia Powrie NZL
49er winners - Peter Burling & Blair Tuke NZL
29er winners - Alexandra Maloney & Sam Bullock NZL
Laser standard winner - Andrew Murdoch NZ
Laser standard 3rd - Josh Junior NZL
Laser Radial Female winner - Sara Winther NZL
RS:X 8.5 female winner - Kate Ellingham NZL
What The?
7 February 2010
I don't know what is going on here, but I count seven windsurfer rigs on a proa?????
Port Nicholson regatta
7 February 2010
Starts Thursday, 32 entries, even a couple from Auckland. Here's a teaser from last year:
Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland 2010
7 February 2010
4 - 7 February 2010
Kohimarama Yacht Club
Dated: Saturday 6 February 2010
More light airs make for very competitive racing!
The race committee worked exceptionally hard on day three of Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland to complete three races for the 29er, 49er, 420 & 470 classes. The laser classes were next to leave the beach and completed an impressive four races to make up for no racing yesterday.
The RS:X boards were the final fleet away for the day and the race committee persevered with the dying breeze and got two races in.
29er
Alexandra Maloney and her crew Sam Bullock, continue to show their skill in the fast double-handed skiff adding yet another first place to their already perfect scorecard. Alexandra is undoubtedly the most experienced in the 29er fleet from competing at both the 29er Worlds and the Youth Worlds last year. With seven races now completed the fleet are able to drop their worst scores this causes the McKenzie brothers Andrew & Sam to move back into third spot and Matthew Spray and Tyler Russell jump back into their day one position of second.
420
Still leading the 420 fleet is James Turner and his crew Logan Dunning-Beck, representing the Murrays Bay Sailing Club who had a perfect 3 out of 3 scorecard today, showing their skill in the light airs. Still in second place overall is Alex Munro & Luke Stevenson. The mens Malaysian Sailing Team who were third yesterday are pushed back to fifth, after being overtaken by the female Malaysian team helmed by Khairunnissa Mohd Afendy.
49er
Peter Burling was joined by his regular crew Blair Tuke today and it was straight back to business for the dynamic pair adding another 3 wins to their perfect score, keeping Marcus Hansen and Andrew Clarke in second overall.
470
The results have dramatically changed in the 470 fleet as Yachting New Zealand Olympic Squad members Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie had a fantastic day in the light airs adding two wins and one third to their score to lead the fleet. The girls push the Singaporean team helmed by Roy Jun Hao Tay back into second place and Fancisco Lardies & Finn Drummond representing the Glendowie Boating Club appear in the top three for the first time in the series.
2.4m
A great day on the water for the 2.4m fleet with four races completed. Andrew May still leads with a total of 7 points with Josh McKenzie-Brown in second place on 11points overall.
Laser Radial
Tom Saunders who won the Laser Radial Class National Championships a week ago held in Timaru, still leads the Radial Fleet clear ahead with 12 points overall. In second place overall is Chris Steele on 23points and French sailor Etienne Le Pen on 29points.
Sara Winther still holds the top female spot but is now back in fourth place overall just in front of Molly Meech.
Laser
After no racing yesterday the Laser fleet was well rested and current National Champion, and Olympic Squad member Andrew Murdoch still leads the 21 boat fleet with an impressive two wins and one second today. Chasing hard on his heels are two hard-working under 21 year old sailors Andy Maloney and Sam Meech on 18 and 19 points respectively.
RS:X 9.5
Kiwi Olympic Gold Medalist Tom Ashley and Dutch sailor Dorian Van Rijsselberghe are tied for first place in the RS:X boards with a total of 14 points each. Tom had a great afternoon on the water with a first and second place ahead of Dorian who had two fourth placings. Kiwi JP Tobin is just one point behind them on 15 points overall, making tomorrow morning racing, and then the final Medal race and pressure race for the top three!
RS:X 8.5
Young French sailor Thomas Goyard still holds onto the lead with 8 points after his second and third placings today. However Kate Ellingham was the Queen of the light airs winning both racers and propelling herself into second overall with 13 points. This pushes Italian sailor Laura Linares into third overall.
The final days racing begins at 10am tomorrow (Sunday) with one race scheduled in the morning and then the Medal Race (which is worth double points) is scheduled to being at 1300hrs.
The medal race is for the Olympic Classes plus the men's Laser Radial fleets.
Laser Radial – Sara Winther NZL
Laser Radial – Tom Saunders NZL leads the fleet
Laser Radial – Molly Meech NZL
RS:X 9.5 – Dorian Van Rijsselberghe NED
RS:X 8.5 – Thomas Goyard FRA
470 – Jo Aleh & Olivia Powrie NZL
29er – Alexandra Maloney & Sam Bullock
Viet Nam
7 February 2010
I always thought it would be a nice place to visit. Now read these two articles, the first is off the WMRT website, the second from Latitude 38. An interesting juxtaposition. Similarly Oman are making a big deal about top end racing there, yet last year they pretty much tossed us out of the country, go figure.
Rainbow International Awarded The Rights To Organise Vietnam Match Cup
 |
 Nha Trang Beach, venue for the Vietnam Match Cup |
 Peter Gilmour, Le Xuan Than and Do Tuan Anh (General Director of Rainbow International) in front of the race venue |
 WMRT and Rainbow International with Le Xuan Than, Deputy Chairman, Khanh Hoa People's Committee (third from Left) |
Saturday, 6 February 2010, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam - The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) has today awarded Rainbow International Co. Ltd the rights to organise the Vietnam Match Cup.
The Vietnam Match Cup will take place in the picturesque east coast city of Nha Trang, Vietnam this September. The event will be the eighth stage of the Tour this year, and is the first time that Vietnam has featured on the WMRT schedule.
The appointment gives Rainbow International the rights to host and promote the event that will be held at one of the world's most beautiful bays, Nha Trang, Nha Trang City, in Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam.
"It is a great honour for Rainbow International to host such a large scale programme in Vietnam. For the first time, Vietnamese people will have the chance to witness the competition amongst the worlds best sailors right off the shores of their homeland. It is going to be one of this countries biggest sporting events in 2010. More importantly, this is a fantastic opportunity for the world to discover Vietnam's natural beauty, which I hope will bring about great benefits to our national tourism industry," said Mr. Do Tuan Anh, General Director of Rainbow International.
This year, the Tour starts in April in France, and will reach Nha Trang City by late September. Mr. Le Xuan Than, Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Province's People Committee said, "This is an honour for Vietnam to join the Tour. The province will do its very best to make sure everything runs smoothly. I believe this is going to be one of the biggest sports and tourism events in Vietnam for 2010."
With expected media and television highlights coverage of over one billion households in over 100 countries around the world, the Tour will revolutionise Vietnam's tourism industry and propel the country into the limelight across the globe.
Several thousand people are expected at the event to witness the world-class competition. This will provide Vietnam with the opportunity to reaffirm to the world its great tourism potential as well as boost the country's growing sports and tourism industry.
Then this :
The Vietnam Cruising Fantasy
January 22, 2010 - The Socialist Republic of Vietnam
 (Click on the photo to enlarge it.) Halong Bay, a three-hour bus ride from Hanoi, has hundreds of unusual 'stacks'. It also has about 400 house-like charter boats and is subject to typhoons. Photo Latitude / Richard © 2010 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc. |
Because of America's troubled yet intense relationship with Vietnam during the war years, we think an unusually high number of American sailors think they would like to cruise the waters of that Socialist Republic. Indeed, a couple of years ago there was an article in one of the sailing slicks that called Vietnam a "virgin cruising ground." And while we've been in Asia and haven't seen a copy, apparently there is an article in the current Cruising World saying that Vietnam is a great place to cruise.
Having travelled much of the length of Vietnam, we can tell you that it's a fascinating and dynamic country, and the people we met were wonderful. Nonetheless, we have it from three excellent sources that cruising Vietnam would not only be a nightmare, but at this time it's absolutely impossible.
 It's not your grandfather's Vietnam. Even in Hanoi, Che and Marilyn - now there's a power couple - hawk "revolutions" in teeth whitening rather than the social order. By the way, skin-whitening is very popular in Vietnam, as only Americans want a deep tan. Photo Latitude / Richard © 2010 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc. |
The most devastating indictment comes from Frank and Lisa Coale of Portland, who spent five months in Vietnam taking delivery of their Saigon-built Corsair 50 catamaran Mango Moon. Lisa broke her ankle the first time she set foot on the Reichel-Pugh design, and having a boat in Vietnam didn't get any better after that.
Frank listed three main problems. The first is weather. He notes that the northern part of Vietnam, including beautiful Halong Bay, is subject to typhoons. Further, the trades in the South China Sea regularly blow at 25 to 30 knots. Second, there are no boating facilities or boat gear in Vietnam. For example, not once were the Coales able to pull their cat up to a fuel dock. As a result, they've had to fill their 200-liter fuel tanks five gallons at a time from transported fuel jugs. And when it came to trying to find something as common as a cooler to keep cold drinks in, it took three weeks of diligently searching Saigon, a city of seven million people.
 Lisa and Frank Coale of Mango Moon really had the stuffing knocked out of them by Vietnamese officials. But they did get a salon sole made out of mango wood. Photo Latitude / Richard © 2010 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc. |
 There are no goods or services that won't be delivered directly too you on a motorbike - except for boat parts and boat gear. As yet, West Marine has no plans for a superstore in Hanoi. Photo Latitude / Richard © 2010 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc. |
But the real cruising killer in Vietnam is the bureaucracy, which has weird regulations, and demands so much paperwork and so much money in bribes. How bad can it be, you might wonder. Consider that it took the Coales 3.5 days of dealing with paperwork when they wanted to go for a daysail! And then they were required to have two Vietnamese captains and a Vietnamese engineer along! Further, they were given specific lat-long positions of where they could anchor, usually in 70 feet of water with no protection from the howling trades. One time they got caught using their dinghy. "We were told dinghies were only to be used in emergencies," says Frank, "and we were told that we'd be jailed if we ever used ours again!" Then there were the bribes and fines. According to Frank, each official wanted about $100 U.S. whenever they wanted to do anything with the boat, and that the money was to go to "a party." When you want to go anywhere on your boat in Vietnam, you have to file a complete list of all the gear and food and drinks you have on your boat. When one official found that the Coales didn't have the case or two of beer they'd listed as part of their stores, Frank explained they were going to buy it before they cast off the next day. The official would have none of it. He insisted on a $500 U.S. fine! After a very long and trying discussion, the fine was reduced to $38 U.S.
 Boat traffic runs as hot and heavy in the Mekong Delta as does downriver flowing vegetation. But don't expect to see any running lights or for the charts to be accurate. Photo Latitude / Richard © 2010 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc. |
 Boating facilities are of suspect quality in Vietnam, as evidence by this dock. But docking techniques are simple. The captain just rams his boat bow first into the cement, and leaves the engine in gear until everyone is on or off. Photo Latitude / Richard © 2010 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc. |
But didn't Sunsail have a charter operation in Vietnam? They did, past tense. The base manager told the Coales that in the early going, the Vietnamese government would only allow charter guests to anchor in five places. The next year they only allowed them to anchor in four places. And the paperwork just kept getting worse. The base manager told Frank that things got so bad about a year ago, that the small staff loaded everything on their boats - and fled the country under cover of darkness. The manager now runs a Sunsail base in the Gulf of Thailand - which, unlike the west coast of Thailand, also has some Vietnam-like problems for cruisers - and has proved to be a great friend and tremendous help to the Coales.
 The tributaries of the Mekong are too narrow and shallow for sailboats. But the old Vietnamese women will dazzle you with their boathandling skills. Photo Latitude / Richard © 2010 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc. |
We'll have more facts and details on why you absolutely cannot cruise Vietnam in the March issue, but trust us, it's just not possible. The better alternative is to put your boat in a marina in Singapore or Langkawi, Malaysia, and visit Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia by land. Oddly enough, of these three, the Vietnamese see the Americans - not the Chinese or the Russians - as their hope for the future. By the way, forget cruising the coast of Cambodia. They don't have any facilities either, the regulations are probably just as bad, but the real problem is that there are still landmines on the beaches.
 If it was at all possible to cruise in Vietnam, these underage but hard-working child laborers would be delighted to bring delicious fresh food right to your boat. Photo Latitude / Richard © 2010 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc. |
- latitude / rs
This got me thinking, isn't Korea trying to get on the map in the match racing circuit? So I had a look on Noonsite to see how Korea handles visiting sailboats and found this:
Neither country is particularly welcoming to cruising yachts, but while in the North the discouragement of foreign visitors is undisguised, in the South, cumbersome and time-consuming formalities convey the same message. Although officially most of South Korea is open to cruising, the constant harassment from army, navy and police spoils the pleasure of visiting this otherwise beautiful and interesting country.
Now I wonder if the boys in the lycra suits who race in these events for big dollars would be interesting in helping get them opened up to the cruising yachtsman?
Jules Verne
7 February 2010
February 05, 2010 -
+250 miles for Groupama 3
Jules Verne Trophy - Groupama 3 is ahead of the reference time.
The sailing conditions were ideal this Thursday afternoon as Groupama 3 began to drop down the western side of the Cape Verde archipelago. With a 250 mile lead over the reference time, Franck Cammas and his men are now casting their minds to the best strategy to adopt once they cross the equator, which should take place on Saturday after six days at sea...
After the giant slalom along the Portuguese coast, followed by a passage offshore of Madeira and the Canaries, Groupama 3 is now concentrating on her big descent towards the equator. It will be another good day and a half before they reach the Southern hemisphere, at which point they will be able to put in a long tack along the Brazilian coast, still on port tack, until they hang a left and set a course for the Cape of Good Hope. There will be at least five days on the same tack in prospect then, even though the crew will have to frequently manoeuvre as the wind gradually switches from the NE (Northern hemisphere) to the SE (Southern hemisphere)
OK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010 - DAY 1 - WELLINGTON NZ
7 February 2010
MEDIA RELEASE: 6th February 2010
http://www.okworlds2010.com - http://www.okdinghy.co.nz - http://www.okdia.org
The first day of the 2010 OK Dinghy championships started with a cloudless sky and variable 5 knot northerly on the harbour. 70 sailors left the boat park and then 'hung around' for a few hours as they waited for the wind to settle in.
After shifting to course 2 the first race of the OK Dinghy World Championship was under away in around 12kts of breeze. The fleet was well spread on either side of the track.
Ben Morrison from NZ led at the first mark of the first race. Michael Williams from Australia rounded in 2nd place followed by Jono Fish from Great Britain. New Zealanders Russell Page Wood and Daniel Bush rounded out the top five. Second time around Ben Morrison was still in the lead at the top mark with reigning World Champ, Thomas Hansson-Mild moving into second place. Russell Page Wood followed in third with Steven McDowell and Michael Williams rounding out the top five.
Ben Morrison was the winner of Race 1 in the 2010 World OK Dinghy championship. Russell Page-Wood sailed through to take second overall with Paul Rhodes taking out third. Champion Thomas Hansson-Mild came in fourth with Steve McDowell in fifth. All places provisional at this time.
The race committee then reconfigured the track for Race 2 with the wind settling in around 15 knots from the north.
First round the top mark for Race 2 was Paul Rhodes from club mate Karl Purdie with Australian, Michael Williams in third. Russell Page Wood was in fourth while Brad Douglas was in fifth.
Paul Rhodes provisionally won race 2 from Michael Williams of Australia. Young Wellington sailor Matthew Steven took out third place followed by Karl Purdie. Fifth was too close to call between Russell Page Wood and Andrew Pardington of Waketere.
70 boats began Race 1 of the OK World Championships in Wellington and 69 finished. 68 boats started Race 2 and 66 finished.
At the end of the day Dragon Boat racing, with 14-18 on each boat, provided the evening's entertainment with the Europeans winning the first and Australians winning the second.
Full results can be found on the homepage of the OK Worlds website, where regular updates will be posted during the course of racing. Media boats for on the water print, photo and film coverage can be arranged through Mandy Burt on + 64 21 643 064 - Email: mandyjb@paradise.net.nz