Local crew wins 2013 Sunburst Nationals sailed at Port Chalmers YC

by Nigel Price on 25 Jan 2013

#1322 Embers sailed by Jake and Ben Hawker in the blustery conditions at the end of Day 2. - 2013 Sunburst Nationals Nigel Price

Dunedin brothers Jake and Ben Hawker have convincingly won the 2013 Sunburst Nationals contest that was sailed at the Port Chalmers Yacht Club over 19, 20 and 21 January. In their boat #1322 Embers, they won five out of the eight races, had a second and two sixth placings.

Ben and Jake Hawker from MacAndrew Bay Boating Club with the Wilson & Horton Trophy for 1st on Line in the Sunburst Nationals. - 2013 Sunburst Nationals © Nigel Price

Wakatere crew of Bruce Yarnton and Imogen Rowe in # 1679 Good News came second, and John Kliffen from Worser Bay skippered # 1641 Plum Crazy to third place, narrowly edging out the PCYC Commodore Richard Hawkins in #1055 Moonbeam from fourth.

There were 30 entries, with eight crews from North Island clubs making the journey to Dunedin.

Conditions were a strong blustery Southerly for the first day, 20 knots baseline and well above in the gusts, with coldish temperatures. Many in the lower half of the fleet were struggling with these conditions. There was one broken boom and one snapped mast. Conditions were similar on day 2 for the first race of the day, then the wind lightened off in the afternoon. Day 3 was a steady 10-12 knot breeze in sunshine for the 2 remaining races sailed in the morning.

The course was across the channel between Quarantine Island and Portobello, and entailed a sail of about 1-2 kms to get there by the time you went around the sandbanks in the middle of the harbour. With the predominantly southerly winds, it also meant a long bash home of 30 minutes + once the days racing had been completed.

Craig Tomlinson and James Palleson from Pleasant Point YC sailing # 413 Meindad won the Handicap trophy,

Peter Nees and Peter Wood from Otago YC, fifth overall, won the Muritai One Ton Cup for first crew with a combined age of more than 100 years.

The Hawkers had never previously won the title, but have been close many times, and have had many top ten placings in past Sunburst Nationals.

The Port Chalmers Yacht Club put on a well run and resourced regatta, sponsored by Ports of Otago Ltd. Southern hospitality was to the fore with a great catering job done by the club members and as is usual help was always there for the visitors.

In 2014 the Sunburst Class will be 50 years old, with the first boat having been launched in 1964. It came about from a design competition run by the Auckland Weekly News for a multipurpose centreboard yacht that could also be rowed or run with a small outboard, and be easily built by the amateur builder. From these humble beginnings the class has grown with 1819 sail numbers issued so far.

There are well over 100 registered boats regularly sailing in clubs around the country during the season. The 50th celebrations will be held at the Wakatere Boating Club in Devonport during the third weekend in January 2014, and as well as the next Nationals there will be other events put on celebrating the class and people who have sailed in them.

Keep watching the Wakatere Boating Club website for details as they are finalised during the year. www.wakatere.org.nz www.sunburst.org.nz

Results :
2013 SUNBURST NATIONALS – Port Chalmers YC – Line Results
# Boat Name Skipper Club Points Place
1322 Embers J. Hawker MacAndrew Bay 13 first
1679 Good News B.Yarnton Wakatere 24 second
1641 Plum Crazy J. Kliffen Worser Bay 28 third
1055 Moonbeam R.Hawkins Port Chalmers 28.5 fourth
1815 Al Fresco P. Nees Otago Y.C. 39.5 fifth
1800 Cognos K. Whitehead Wakatere 40 sixth
1816 Tecary R.Roker MacAndrew Bay 49 seventh
413 Meindad C. Tomlinson Waimakariri 51 eighth
1525 Ripper C. Bicknell Worser Bay 72 ninth
1392 Waroo A. Montgomery MacAndrew Bay 80 10th
1809 Leviathon T. Gee Vauxhall YC 81 11th
1739 Good Times M. Scott Worser Bay 84 12th
1700 Flossie S. Verhoef Otago YC 84 13th
886 Raider A. Sime MacAndrew Bay 92 14th
1743 Whero D. Parkes Otago 93 15th
1182 Barri A. Morris Otago 94 16th
1813 Kuta R. Daniel Lake Mahinapua AC 123 17th
1632 Knot Fun M. Walls Waimakariri 125 18th
1561 Nite Lite G. Verhoef MacAndrew Bay 131 19th
1692 Shaker D. Ankersmit Wakatere 134 20th
1755 McBeal G. Hore Waimakariri 143 21st
1072 Beverly Ailsa N. Price Wakatere 148 22nd
1680 Cock & Bull N. Anderson Otago YC 167 23rd
1672 Legato S. Cornfoot Otago 169.5 24th
1482 Port Otago 2 M. Scadden Port Chalmers 172 25th
1510 Bruce V. Simpson Port Chalmers 183.5 26th
214 Sundrift C. Nowlan Otago 190 27th
1676 Hot Mama J. Acklin 209 28th
1791 Tac Tix J. Calvert Worser Bay 215 29th
1783 Lion Foundation A. Shearer Otago YC 217 30th