It was a brilliant sight to see 177 Optimists at Wakatere on Saturday morning for the Pre Nats. The place was buzzing with action, excitement and enthusiasm from the sailors. Equally thrilling was the fact that 57 of them came from Wakatere! Well done to so many sailors who have been gaining skills over summer, whether it be on Sunday AM, Open and Express groups and Sunday club racing, and have made the choice to have a go at some regattas.

This event was a chance to test a range of the systems we will need to have operational for the Nationals, so thanks to the volunteers who did such an awesome Job, from the Early bird crew launching boats into the water from 7am, to the Tractor drivers, Race Management crews, Beach crews, Kitchen Crew and Results team. Thanks especially to Kevin Whitehead and Dean Coleman for pulling it all together. These events rely solely on volunteer effort, and it was great to have so many reliable volunteers making it all happen. We still have some things to work on for the Nationals, and will need an even bigger volunteer committment to run it, but we are on track.

This event represents different things for different sailors – for some, it’s a chance to fine tune their skills and long standing experience in an attempt to perhaps make the team for the 2011 Opti Worlds in New Zealand later in the year in Napier, for others its about improving their performance from the last regatta, and for many its an opportunity to make some new friends, learn some new skills and build their confidence.

Saturday was blustery and choppy and so it was superb to so many Green fleeters “giving it a go”. A number of sailors who are new to regattas did incredibly well to sail all of the races on Saturday. The Open fleet were pretty well off Takapuna, and virtually all Wakatere sailors completed all of the races in challenging conditions.

Sunday was very calm, which combined with the tide, made it impossible to get the Open fleet racing away, but the Green fleet fired away three short races.

Right at the top of the results, were Leonard Takahasi Fry in 4^th and Markus Somerville in 6^th in the Open fleet, with Jonathon Barnett winning the green fleet, followed by James Grover Grey in 2^nd and Joe Pearson in 3^rd.

Then there were a bunch of “personal bests”

Sam Wallis 10^th – Open ( 126 boats)

Chris Coleman 24^th – Open

Sebastian Jones 47^th – Open

Kate Stewart 56^th – Open

Harry Milne 66^th – Open

Chamonix Stewart 6^th – Green ( 51 boats)

Jessica Berry 13^th – Green – Finishing all races!

Yuka Isozaki 21^st – Green – Finishing all races!

Alp Semiz 23^rd Green – Finishing all races!

Hannah Smith 24^th – Green – Finishing all races!

Mathew Jacobi 27^th – winning the last race

Donald Mayo 30^th – 5^th in the last race

Emily Dol – finishing all races

Grierson Fox – first regatta, started all races, finished all but one, ending up 39^th.

Full results at http://www.wakatere.org.nz/results.html

It was great to have the 420’s present to give a preview to the sailors ( and parents)  about life after Optis. Some of the Opti sailors got out on Sunday after sailing and experienced a moderate breeze and even hoisted spinnakers, which was very exciting for them. James Munro reminded me that Alex started sailing a 420 at age 13 and 52 kg. ..

Well done to all on some great results and an excellent event.

The 11 Wakatere sailors who made the effort to get to Picton for this regatta were treated to perfect conditions, wonderful hospitality and loads of fun. Most made it into Picton on the Thursday, in time for a sail on Thursday afternoon. The regatta ran over three sunny, light wind days, which tested the sailors ability to read the conditions. With only 5 races sailed and only one discard it was important to avoid the high scoring races. The fact that Markus Somerville again dominated the results shows that the best sailors do still come through despite light and shifty conditions. Interestingly the results also showed that despite the higher weight of the older sailors, their maturity in reading the light conditions resulted in 12 out of the top 15 results being taken by 14 or 15 year old sailors. Clearly 12 year old Queen Charlotte sailor Alastair Gifford showed with his 3^rd place, that local knowledge is a handy thing too! It was great to see Coral Headey and Kate Stewart keeping the boys in check and advancing so well. Jono Weston was the first 11 year old and Wakatere Boating Club won the club Challenge for the event. Full results at http://www.qcyc.org.nz/index.php/component/content/article/49-interislander-optimist-challenge-2011/252-2011-interislander-optimist-challenge-open-fleet-results

And the highlight? The local hospitality of complimentary Spy Valley Wines, Locally produced beer, salmon and freshly cooked mussels whilst sitting in the sunshine beside the club after the racing.

Neil Wallis was on the loose with his camera and got some stunning shots: https://picasaweb.google.com/wakatere/InterislandChallengeQueenCharlotteYC2011?pli=1&gsessionid=NKZpG7kfanQaYbokdQ4mKg#

29 sailors from Wakatere attended Junior Sail Auckland at Kohimarama, enjoying some perfect light breeze sailing conditions.

This kept our newer Green fleet sailors happy, with Brianna and Courtney Reynolds-Smith feeling comfortable sailing in the Green fleet races after only finishing learn to sail courses in spring.

Markus Somerville showed outstanding skills to dominate the 91 strong fleet.

Joseph Gibb-Pearson showed his light air skills to place 31^st, and William Long, Airi Kawana, Seb Jones,  and Xanthe Copeland showed some great results from time to time.

In the Green fleet James Grover-Grey was third on equal points with Jonathan Nicholas who ended up 4th. Nelson Greenwood showed that we will be unlikely to see him in Green fleet for long, with a 17^th place overall and two 6^th race places.

Full results at http://www.kyc.org.nz/index.php?displaytype=catalogue-results&menu_id=25&rootid=4&n_subtitle=Results

What a perfect weekend we had for a return to sailing at Wakatere! On Saturday we had the Opti (and Starling) invitation regatta. 103 boats attended – 32 in Green fleet, 59 in Open fleet and 12 Starlings.  

Thanks to all the parent helpers, who made the day run like clockwork.

We had 41 Opti’s sailing the regatta from Wakatere, so perhaps we might just get to 50 for the Nationals!?

Success stories from the Wakatere Invitation Regatta:

It was great to see Markus Somerville back on the water after being unwell, getting second – Eliza Wilkinson from Kohimarama won and showed the boys how to do it! Wakatere had 4 in the top 10:

Markus                         2^nd

Sam Barnett                 7^th

Rory McCutcheon         8^th

Aidan Nicholas             10^th

It was good to see some new faces stepping into and sailing comfortably in the open fleet:

Marsanne Jordan         46^th

Kate Stewart                47^th

Finn Dalbeth                49^th

Leo Pagani                    50^th

Xanthe Copeland          51^st

Celia Willison               54^th

Olivia Koller                 55^th

Dan Finnemore              59^th

In the Opti Green fleet we welcomed some new faces to regatta attendance also, with Emily Dol and Nelson Greenwood, new in from learn to sail courses, sailing comfortably in the fleet.

Murrays Bay secured the medals, but James Grover Grey took 4^th place. Sophie Andrews secured 7^th and Matt Brewer showed loads of progress with a 9^th.

Full results are on the main club website under regatta results.

http://www.regatta.org.nz/Results_files/2011_Kohimarama_Results.pdf