New Zealand board sailors diversify

by Jodie Perkins on 26 Jan 2005 Jon-Paul Tobin was the top kiwi performer in the Open fleet at the Sail Melbourne Australia and Oceanic Formula Windsurfing Regatta.

David Robertson from Kohimarama Yacht Club won the Youth division. They, and other New Zealand former Olympic class Mistral board sailors tested themselves on the Formula board in preparation for the new Olympic discipline, which is said to be between the two existing classes.

The recent announcement that the Mistral Board is to be replaced by the Neil Pryde RSX board as the Olympic class has prompted the diversification as sailors focus their mind on preparing for the Bejing Olympics. The new Olympic board is not available until mid 2005.

Tobin finished in fifth place behind two European sailors and two Australians who are all full-time Formula board sailors. Yachting New Zealand’s National Coach, Paul Page is in Melbourne and sees the experience of the Formula regatta as valuable practice.

'Our guys have taken on this regatta with quite antiquated equipment, and this is a game about who has the best gear,’ says Page. ‘Take this into consideration and they’ve done very well. You’ve also get to remember that some of our guys, like Robertson are well under the normal weight of the regular Formula Sailors. They’re 80kgs plus, Dave Robertson is only 68kg.’

Yachting New Zealand’s High Performance Manager Peter Lester commented on the level of interest and quality of sailors in the fleet.

'There are 49 board sailors there in this Open fleet with entries from outside Oceania. Brzozowski from Poland is dual World Champion. It’s great to see that our guys can go up against the likes of Brzozowski and the Australians who sail the Formula full-time,’ says Lester.

Jon-Paul Tobin’s result qualifies him a spot to sail in the Formula World Champs, which will be in Melbourne in December.

'The Formula World Champs is something JP will consider. It would mean quite a cost out-lay to get some good equipment, but it could be worthwhile for him,’ says Paul Page. ‘They are all weighing up the options and thinking about doing more Formula competition.’


Australian Formula Windsurfing Overall Results - Final New Zealand Results

JP Tobin – 5th
Jonathan Squires – 9th
Dave Holt – 10th
Thomas Ashley – 11th
David Robertson – 15th

Australian Youth Formula Windsurfing Results
David Robertson – 1st

For full results:

www.sailmelbourne.com.au