Nelson/Marlborough Schools Team Racing in Picton

by Cindy Adams-Vining on 28 Mar 2007
The Nelson/Marlborough schools team sailing regatta was held in Picton over two days last week. .

Conditions were pretty challenging on the first day with strong North-westerly’s, which some of the more novice teams struggled in, to a steady 8-10 knot southerly on the second day

Seven teams and nine boats were on the water with races running continuously on one course. It was great to have Motueka High School competing, they have not fielded a team for several years now but assure us next year they will have two!

This regatta was a complex one where a Nelson and Marlborough representative team were being decided as well as a girls school to represent the South Island zone. On top to that a 4th slot was available to one of the teams a not all south island regions were to be represented at nationals this year.

After some close and exciting racing Nelson College for Girls beat Marlborough Girls College 4-1. Both teams sailed well with a mixture of experienced and novice sailors and are showing great promise for the future.

After completing the round robin the rest of the teams were split into two divisions. The top four consisting of Marlborough Boys College. Nelson Boys, Nelson Girls and Queen Charlotte College.

Two round robins were sailed with some very tense races between Queen Charlotte / Nelson boys and Marlborough Boys/ Nelson Girls.

The final results were:

Queen Charlotte College 6
Nelson Boys College 3
Marlborough Boys 3
Nelson Girls 0

So Queen Charlotte, sailing extremely well with an experienced and much traveled team, will represent Marlborough at Nationals with Marlb Boys filling the 4th south Island slot. Nelson Boys, also a strong team, will represent Nelson region with Nelson Girls representing the Girls Zone.

Queen Charlotte, finalists last year, and Nelson Boys (who are intense rivals) are picked to be contenders for medals at Nationals, something both teams are aiming for. The Girls it seems are also going to be hard to beat so this region is ready to make an impact.

A new trophy awarded at this event was for the Top of the South Teams Sailing Champions. which the regions compete against each other for. The results of this contest were based on the first round robin.

These were:
Nelson Boys 6
Queen Charlotte College 5
Marlborough Boys 2
Marlborough Girls 2
Nelson Girls 2
Nayland College 1
Motueka High School 0

It was a close competition with the three teams tied in the middle, after the rule book was consulted (several times) and finally reaching Rule D4.2(d) the Marlborough region was declared the Top of the South winner.

The regatta ran very well with the combined efforts of the Nelson and Marlborough regions, pooling boats and expertise. All boats and sailors are still in one piece with no damage and a lot of new acquaintances were made. A huge amount of thanks must go to Ross Sutherland and Zack Hogg from Nelson who helped run the regatta and shared the umpiring.