NZ 49er and FX NZ Nationals - Favourites defend titles

by Richard Burling on 10 Jan 2016 The 49er and FX nationals were completed today with a further six races in a shifty 10 - 20 knot southwesterly off Bean Rock.

Sailing as one fleet worked well with Alex and Molly in the 49erFX in particular mixing it up with the boys.

Highlights were a race win for young crew Isaac McHardie and Trent Rippey. Ellie and Erica managed to take a couple of races off Alex and Molly.

Peter and Blair squeezed past Logan and Jack by gybing round them right on the bow of the finish boat in race 10, in 20 knots to win by a whisker. The race committee were amazed at the level of boat handling in these conditions, perhaps a bit close to the committee boat for comfort.

With the series in the bag, Peter and Blair swapped places for the final race back to Orakei.

Improving throughout he regatta, a good finish by Markus and Josh in the final race was almost enough to secure 3rd place overall but the countback for 3rd place went to Isaac and Trent. Logan and Jack saved their best for the harbour races, winning them both and comfortably were 2nd overall.

Great to see a handful of our talented young 29er sailors out watching the 49ers in preparation for moving into the class.

Overall the New Zealand champions for 2016 are Alex Maloney and Molly Meech in the FX and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in the 49er.

Results

49er

Pete Burling / Blair Tuke. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. 1. 3. 1. 1. 1. (4). 14
Logan Dunning-Beck / Jack Simpson. (4). 2. 2. 2. 3. 1. 2. 4. 2. 2. 3. 1. 24
Isaac McHardie / Trent Rippey. 2. 3. (4). 3. 2. 4. 3. 1. 4. 4. 4. 3. 33
Markus Somerville / Josh Porebski. 3. (4). 3. 4. 4. 3. 4. 2. 3. 3. 2. 2. 33

FX

Alex Maloney / Molly Meech. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. (2). 2. 1. 12
Ellie Copeland /Erica Dawson. (2). 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 1. 1. 2. 20