Masters Games Yachting events on Otago Harbour.

by Martin Balch on 4 Feb 2008
Otago Harbour produced a range of conditions for the 55 yachts competing in the 2008 Masters yachting events.

Solid testing sea breezes on Saturday, with light shifty southerlies on Sunday. Damp miserable conditions and a forecast gale held up the start of the final days racing, but fortunately overhead conditions improved during the day and the gale never arrived, allowing the full series of races to be completed, albeit with very shifty and tricky southerlies for Monday’s final races.

The standout performances came in the mono hulls with Barry Elliott from Christchurch in his Zephyr, Nelson’s David Davies in his Laser, and Dunedin’s Neil George all winning their division with straight wins in all races.

The closest racing was in the Olympic Finn class, with the racing doubling as the Finn Class South Island Championships. After a see saw contest, Christopher Wells from Christchurch took the medals and trophies by just one point from fellow Cantabrian’s, Andrew McGregor and Ben Winters.

The two person Sunburst dinghies produced the biggest fleet and some of the closest racing. Dunedin’s Peter Nees and Peter Wood started on a flier winning Saturday’s two races but then were chased hard in the lighter conditions by Graeme Hore and Joan Stevens from Christchurch. Although the gap was closing fast, Nees and Wood were too consistent and took the medals by a comfortable margin from Hore and Stevens with Roy Roker and Jim Godfrey taking the bronze.

The Paper Tiger catamarans saw a comfortable win for the gold for Canterbury’s Bob Nicholls. A close battle developed for the silver and gold between contest organiser Murray Grimwood and Steve Dawson from Dunedin, hurried along also by Kevyn Read from Cromwell. When the points were tallied, Dawson had the silver with Grimwood just snatching the silver from Read’s grasp.

Contrasting conditions prevailed on the Otago Harbour during the first two days racing . Saturday brought traditional Otago Harbour sea breezes, favouring the heavy weather experts, while Sunday brought testing light south easterly conditions.

In the Laser class, David Davies with four wins from four starts holds a commanding lead from Dunedin’s Allan Potter in Déjà vu.

Bob Nichol’s from Christchurch has the gold medal in the Paper Tiger catamaran’s in the bag but the battle for the silver is tight with Dunedin skippers Murray Grimwood and Steve Dawson taking turn about in the runner up position – after four of the scheduled six races, Dawson has the edge.

The Sunburst two person dinghy division developed into a local battle between the two Peters, Peter Nees skippering and Peter Wood crewing and local rivals Roy Roker and Jim Godfrey. After taking a commanding lead in the heavier conditions on Saturday, Nees and Wood saw seen their lead halved in the lighter conditions.

The Olympic Finn division developed into a Canterbury parade with Christopher Wells leading from Andrew McGregor and Dennis Mowbray.

The local Farr 6000 battle between Port Chalmers skipper Allan Sutherland and Dunedin’s Rob English continued with Sutherland in Hot C Air holding the upper hand from a trio of ex-patriot Dunedin sailors on Korire in third place.

Final results from the Masters Games Yachting events on Otago Harbour.

Zephyrs
1st Sirocco Barry Elliott Christchurch

Toppers
1st Luna Rosa Neil George Dunedin L
2nd Alouette Lynn Allen Dunedin
3rd Ladybird Geoff Allen Dunedin

Europe Dinghies
1st Mac Tom Arthur Christchurch
2nd Lucky Luke II Ross McGregor Christchurch
3rd Tim Too Tim Scott Christchurch

Laser
1st Sydney 2000 David Davies Nelson
2nd Déjà vu Allan Potter Dunedin
3rd Tipping Point Paul Marshall Southland

Finn
1st Christopher Wells Christchurch
2nd Andrew McGregor Christchurch
3rd Ben Winters Christchurch

Sunburst
1st Rek Rap Peter Nees/Peter Wood Dunedin
2nd Windsong Graeme Hore/Joan Stevens Christchurch
3rd Beverley Ailsa Roy Roker/Jim Godfrey Dunedin

Paper Tigers
1st Checkmate Bob Nicholls Canterbury
2nd Hi Jinx Steve Dawson Dunedin
3rd O Sens Murray Grimwood Dunedin

Trailer Yacht – B Division
1st Aspiring Dennis Todd/Gavin Read/Graham Haslam Wanaka
2nd Rebel Rouser Jim Marr/Jim Monson/Rowena Monson/Denise Marr Dunedin
3rd Ragtime Les Bamford/Craig Campbell/Andrew Meek Owaka

Trailer Yacht – C Division
1st Hot C Air Allan Sutherland/Graeme Wall/Nigel Lee Dunedin
2nd Aphrodite Rob English/Murray Watson Dunedin
3rd Korire Bren Nelson /Eddie Fahey/Ray Smith Dunedin