13 year old Waikato sailor takes out Tanner Cup

by Nickolas Radovanovic on 4 Jan 2011
The Tanner Cup, hosted by Napier Sailing Club, was wrapped up today with a deserved victory for Waikato.

Hamilton's Isaac McHardie, representing the central North Island province of Waikato, won the Tanner Cup, showing skill beyond his 13 years by winning the first two races today in his P Class dinghy in very light and shifty conditions, making it three in a row and ensuring victory with a race to spare.

The Tanner Cup is one of the most prestigious trophies in New Zealand sailing, and one of the 'Big Three' of Junior sailing. It has often won by sailors who go on to achieve great heights in America's Cup, Olympic sailing or at World Championship level.

Holding a slender lead from Bay of Plenty's Trent Rippey and Hawke's Bay's Michael Hayton at the start of the day, McHardie put his lake sailing training to good use and pulled away from his rivals. The conditions didn't suit Rippey as much but he also sailed excellently to keep himself in contention and finish a point behind McHardie.

Hayton allowed small mistakes to creep in that put him out of contention but he too ought to be very pleased with his effort to keep Hawke's Bay comfortably in third place.

The first race today was a continuation of the trio's procession but as the breeze died away, North Harbour's Matthew Hughes also proved his ability in the light. Finishing third in the second race behind McHardie and Rippey, Hughes managed to hang on to Rippey in the final race, as both were the only sailors to cross the line in time to avoid a DNF. That put North Harbour in fifth place overall, just behind Canterbury, well represented by Charlotte Corston.

The focus for the P Class sailors now shifts to the Tauranga Cup, with the forecast for the rest of the week promising a little more breeze and plenty more sun.

TANNER CUP 2011

Napier Sailing Club

Results are final as of 17:52 on January 3, 2011

Overall

Rank	Region	SailNo	Club	Helm	Age	Gender	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Total	Nett
1st	WT	494	Hamilton/TYPBC	Isaac McHardie	13	M	2	3	2	1	1	1	(14 DNF)	24	10
2nd	BOP	989	TYPBC	Trent Rippey	14	M	(5)	1	1	4	2	2	1	16	11
3rd	HB	979	NSC	Michael Hayton	15	M	1	10	3	2	3	5	(14 DNF)	38	24
4th	C	22	CBYC	Charlotte Corston	16	F	6	4	4	3	7	4	(14 DNF)	42	28
5th	NH	795	MBSC	Matthew Hughes	15	M	(9)	7	7	5	5	3	2	38	29
6th	WC	722	LMAC	Patrick Haybittle	12	M	3	6	8	6	4	7	(14 DNF)	48	34
7th	ND	105	Keri/BOIYC	Petrina Sheldon	15	F	8	2	6	7	8	9	(14 DNF)	54	40
8th	W	404	WBBC	Nick Thyne	14	M	4	(14 DSQ)	5	8	6	6	14 DNF	57	43
9th	A	444	KOHI	Eliza Wilkinson	14	F	7	8	9	9	9	12	(14 DNF)	68	54
10th	SC	581	Timaru	Matthew Morrison	15	M	10	5	13	11	13	10	(14 DNF)	76	62
11th	T	8	New Plymouth	Lyneche Simkin	15	F	11	12	12	10	10	8	(14 DNF)	77	63
12th	O	389	WYPBC	India Fitzgerald	14	F	12	9	11	13	12	11	(14 DNF)	82	68
13th	M	825	QCYC	Alastair Gifford	11	M	13	11	10	12	11	13	(14 DNF)	84	70

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