Kiwi and Canadian Laser sailors take OKI 24 Hour Race

by Richard Gladwell on 28 Mar 2010 New Zealander Jason Geale and top Canadian Laser sailor, Michael Leigh won the OKI 24 Hour race sailed on North Shore's Lake Pupuke over the weekend. They completed 94 laps of the windward leeward course, one lap ahead of Aaron Hume-Merry and Blair McLay.

Sailing the Smales Farm sponsored entry, Geale and Leigh were greeted by one of New Zealand's top sailors, Geoff Smale who put NZ sailing on the international map with a win in the Prince of Wales Cup, off Cowes IOW in 1958, followed up with period of domination in the Flying Dutchman class during the 1960's and 1970's.

Smale was a co-designer of the Rothmans Father and Son class, the original boat used in the 24 Hour Race and also adopted by the Murrays Bay Sailing Club as a kit-built two-handed class.

First sailed in 1967, the race took a nine year time out from 1996-2004, due to local council imposed restrictions on the use of the lake, however was revived in 2005 and has grown each year.

Third placed overall crew were Chris Steele (a former World Optimist champion) and Thomas Saunders, who also took the prize for top Youth crew.

Final Results 

 

Overall Placing	Sponsor	Team Members	Class	Laps
1	Smales Farm	Jason GEALE   Mike LEIGH	Open	94
2	OKI	Blair MCLAY   Aaron HUME-MERRY	Open	93
3	Adhesive Technology	Chris STEELE   Thomas SAUNDERS	Youth	92
Masters Fleet	Sponsor	Sailors	Class	Laps
1	Burton & Co	Mike KNOWSLEY   Tony NICHOLSON   Scott LEITH	Masters	91
2	Harken	David LOWE   Don McGLASHAN   Martin La TOUCHE	Masters	89
3	Bassett Plumbing &    Drainage	Ken ATCHISON   Bruce YOVICH   Rob WARD	Masters	88
Open Fleet	Sponsor	Sailors	Class	Laps
1	Smales Farm	Jason GEALE   Mike LEIGH	Open	94
2	OKI	Blair McLAY   Aaron HUME-MERRY	Open	93
3	Newmarket Dental	Robyn KENYON   Matthias HOUVENAGEL	Open	91
Youth Class	Sponsors	Sailors	Class	Laps
1	Adhesive Technology	Chris STEELE   Thomas SAUNDERS	Youth	92
2	Oceanbridge	Spencer LOXTON   Scott BARNES	Youth	91
3	Norton Abrasives	Michael CATE   Rawiri GEDDES	Youth	90
Women's Class	Sponsors	Sailors	Class	Laps
1	Southern Pacific	Miranda POWRIE   Rachel BASEVI   Molly MEECH	Womens	92
2	Musto	Jessica BARRELL   Avril HIBBARD	Womens	88
3	Chelsea Sugar	Suzannah PYATT   Jenna HANSEN   Samantha OSBORNE	Womens	87
Junior Youth	Sponsors	Sailors	Class	Laps
1	RS Racing	RORVIK/SMITH   CAUNDLE/INGLIS	Junior   Youth	81
2	Freepark	JUDGE/DAWSON   JONES/DYET	Junior   Youth	81
3	PSA	McDONALD/McDONALD   JONES/TOOTLE	Junior   Youth	80