Kiwi sailors win two World Titles at O’Pen Bic Worlds in Italy

by Craig Fahey on 21 Aug 2017 S-W: Our apologies to all for the late publication of this report

New Zealand sailors have won two world titles at the O'Pen Bic 2017 World Championship in Lake Garda, Italy, winning the Under 17 and Under 13 age groups together with a strong showing from the entire New Zealand contingent.

In the Under 17 division Sean Herbert topped a fiercely competitive fleet of 132 sailors from around the world. Sean put in a dominant performance throughout the regatta going into the final day 20 pts ahead. Sean’s World title represents his second after winning the U13 division back in 2012. Sean is also the current National Starling Champion and certainly a name to watch on the NZ and world sailing stage in the future!

Another notable name to watch out for is 11 yr old, Mattias Coutts. Mattias, son of Kiwi yachting legend and CEO of the 2017 America’s Cup Sir Russell Coutts, had to fight hard to protect a narrow lead over the 55 boat fleet going in the U13 World Championship into the final day. The young champion held his nerve and closed the regatta out in style with victories in both of the final two races. Mattias was competing in his first championship event.

Also representing New Zealand with strong performances were: Ollie Gilmore - 16th, Thomas Hamilton - 32nd, Laura Erichsen - 41st & 13th girl , Kaya Reese - 55th

Much of the success of the team and the strength of O’pen Bic sailing in New Zealand can be attributed to Sir Russell Coutts who was there enjoying the fun sailing atmosphere in a coach and support role for all of the New Zealand competitors.
“I was very proud of all of them. They all showed massive improvement and learnt a lot racing in such a competitive fleet. There were some very good sailors here. I think all the New Zealand sailors can take a lot of positives from this week to move forward” Coutts said.

The O’pen Bic is a relatively new class of sailing boat, which has been cutting out a place for itself in both sailing clubs and sailing events all over the world. The class is going from strength to strength here in New Zealand and gained official class status in NZ earlier this year. The 2017/18 season calendar already boasts 14 nationwide events.

New Zealand O’pen Bic Association President Barry McKay, says the class is giving kids a renewed interest in the sport of sailing. The class has experienced massive growth this past year and numbers are climbing.

“We’re taking a fresh look at junior sailing with the overarching focus being on fun, the measure of success being the retention of young sailors in the sport and smiles on faces. The O’pen Bic is proving to be the ideal vehicle to achieve this. Todays results just go to show that if kids are having fun in their sport, great results will follow” he says.

Visit www.openbic.org.nz to learn about the class and find out how to get involved.