Hutt International Boy's School win the Harken Schools Regatta 2013

by Amber Roberts on 10 Mar 2013
Hutt International Boys School from Upper Hutt, Wellington, extended their lead on the water today to claim victory in the Harken Schools Regatta 2013.

[Sorry, this content could not be displayed] George Gautrey and his team of Callum Pritchard, Dan McDowall and Jono Francis sailed a very consistent regatta, with an impressive 17 points overall and only dropping their worst result, which was still an impressive fifth placing.

15 year old Gautrey commented, 'We had a good day on the water, with hard shifty conditions; the team did really well. We have never sailed in the Elliott 7s but sail the Elliott 6s at the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club; they are quite a different layout which obviously we adapted quite well too. Thanks to Harken New Zealand and the Squadron, we are stoked with the win.'

In second place overall was KeriKeri High School skippered by Harris Bindon with a total of 30 points overall. The team started off the day with an impressive two first places before a seventh place in the final race. Bindon commented, 'It was shifty, light conditions, close racing, nice weather; our weekend went well.'

Kings College, who have been competing at this event for the past five years, round out the top three with a total of 35 points overall. The team skippered by Rahul Makam commented; 'We had a good day sailing, the wind was all-over-the-place, but it was good intense racing; we had a really good time.'

The final three races were completed in a light nor-easterly breeze with an unbelievable perfect flat water champagne sailing conditions. These conditions were perfect for the number of parents and supporters watching from the Members Bar and Westhaven Seawall.

Given the success of this weekend a number of the schools have already registered their interest to compete next year’s event.

The Harken Schools Regatta is aimed at promoting the RNZYS Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme. With a large number of applicants coming from within the Auckland region, and an increasing number from nation-wide, it’s a great fun event to give exposure to the Youth Programme and provides a taster to what the Youth Programme offers.

At Prizegiving, RNZYS Training Manager Guy Pilkington, thanked all the competitors for contributing to the success of this year’s event and is already looking forward to the HARKEN Schools Regatta 2014.

Final Results

School Skipper 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts Drop Total Place
HUTT INTERNATIONAL BOYS SCHOOL George Gautrey 1 2 1 2 3 1 1 5 4 2 22 5 17 1
KERIKERI HGH SCHOOL Harris Bindon 3 1 6 3 6 2 11 1 1 7 41 11 30 2
KINGS COLLEGE Rahul Makam 2 5 2 7 2 6 8 2 6 3 43 8 35 3
AUCKLAND GRAMMAR Sam Simpson 7 4 4 1 7 9 3 3 5 4 47 9 38 4
MAHURANGI COLLEGE Angus Adamson 9 6 5 4 1 5 5 4 3 5 47 9 38 5
ST KENTIGERN COLLEGE Tom Morton 6 3 3 8 4 3 6 11 8 6 58 11 47 6
LONG BAY COLLEGE Joe Buckley 5 8 7 9 5 7 2 11 7 1 62 11 51 7
CANTERBURY COMBINED SCHOOLS Jess Sullivan 4 7 8 5 8 8 9 6 2 8 65 9 56 8
WESTLAKE BOYS HIGH SCHOOL Sam Wallis 10 9 9 10 9 4 4 11 10 10 86 11 75 9
RANGITOTO COLLEGE Cameron Moss 8 10 11 6 10 10 7 7 9 9 87 11 76 10


For further information please check the website www.rnzys.org.nz / Youth Programme and our Facebook page.