WBC Opti Nats Wrap
Fourteen Wakatere sailors lined up at the 2026 Toyota Optimist Nationals, brilliantly hosted by New Plymouth Yacht Club 3-7 April. For most of the team, it was their first taste of Ngamotu Beach, and despite New Plymouth's reputation for big seas, the regatta was dominated by three light, shifty, tricky days before a gusty 20‑knot finale.
Wakatere featured strongly across all fleets with plenty of standout results -
Green Fleet: Isaac Gillies (2‑5‑2‑1) and Ardie Peterson (3‑3‑3‑7) consistently at the top of the fleet all week. Both thrived with the range of racing and fun experiences laid on.
White Fleet: Missy Renall, 3rd overall, 2nd Girl, including six top-5 finishes and tied on points for 2nd overall, just missing out on countback; strong finishes from Karlia Dunne and Ivy Gillies, with all our White fleet girls finishing every race off the rugged Taranaki coast.
Silver Fleet: Vienna Campbell, 3rd Girl, 2026 NZIODA Opti Nationals Sportsmanship Prize - congratulations Vienna!!!; Ewan Wilson 9th, Adam Gillies 13th - both boys securing top 10 finishes in the final series.
Gold Fleet: Six WBC sailors qualified for the super competitive 43‑boat Gold fleet - Noah Petersen finished (10th), Milla Holland (4th Girl, 12th overall), Sam Kandziora (13th), Zephyr Lane (18th), James Garnham (32nd), Alexander Mackay (39th). All the Open fleet sailors showed some front‑of‑fleet action with every one of them achieving a top 10 finish, many banking top 5s.
Huge congratulations to all Wakatere sailors on an outstanding representation across the fleets 👊
The team was fortunate to be superbly coached by Gauthier Thomas and Finn Balchin this season. The final team briefing with Gauthier brought a few tears (his departure for his next adventure in Hong Kong draws near), but the Nationals week was packed with progress, new and strengthened friendships, whanau connections, birthdays, team dinners, and even a little surfing.
A massive thanks to the small army of WBC parents who have supported their Opti sailors and the Club, and for all the small things that went into making it an awesome season for everyone. We look forward to seeing what the next one brings.
