Good fleet for Sealink Jollyboat Nats at Waiheke

by Matt Hall-Smith on 4 Mar 2008
The 2008 Sealink Jollyboat Nationals were held at Waiheke Island this year, and organised by the Waiheke Boating Club. The weather for the weekend was forecast to be pretty ugly and proved to be the case on Saturday as a low pressure system passed over the country delivering a big northerly breeze and large swells into the bay at Oneroa.

A course was laid by race officer Roger Hall and those that ventured out to test the conditions were rewarded with some seriously quick rides on the increasing swells which were by that time beginning to break. The downside was that only two of the brave managed to escape back to the beach and the rest put on a capsizing exhibition for those left ashore. With the breeze building further one competitor lost a mast, a club rescue boat was swamped going through the surf, and to the relief of many racing was abandoned for the day.

The Jollyboat class fills a need in the New Zealand sailing scene providing a class that allows families quality racing, but with some really beneficial crew options. Some choose to race with young children, others single handed with self tacking jibs, and all enjoy the speed of this fast Spencer designed hull powered by its generous, cost efficient rig. Racing together as a fleet is competitive but not cut throat and very friendly ashore.

Despite the shocker forecast which reduced the ‘off island’ entries down to 9, a total of 18 Jollyboats made it to the start, including the one who did a depth test with his mast on Saturday. This number was up on the previous two Jollyboat Nationals, with visiting crews promising to come back and openly jealous of the stunning sailing venue the Waiheke crews enjoy.

Sunday saw a major change in conditions, as the weather system blew through and a light westerly filled in, just favoring the single handed boats. The series was completed with back to back races on a box course laid outside Oneroa Bay. Racing was close with battles going on at all levels in the fleet. Overall the series was won in convincing style by Gordon Dyer, who pipped Mark Winters and Alex Stone for victory. It was Gordon’s first ever national title win and a fitting one as he’s also this year’s Class President. In the two handed division Paul and Harry MacIntosh took the title from Steve and Shane Tenant followed by Matt and Hamish Hall-Smith. All in all a whitewash for the locals and it is fantastic to see the new Waihikian fleet move to top the tables in such a short space of time.

Oneroa really has so much going for it as a dinghy sailing venue. The sailing conditions are superb and you could not imagine a more Kiwi venue ashore, rigging up under the Pohutakawa trees to the sound of tuis and wood pigeon. Geoff Muir, Commodore of the WBC is optimisitic about the future… “we hope to be able to provide some facilities in the future, the club has applied to Auckland City for a lease on some foreshore land at the western end of Oneroa, to build a multi-function Dinghy Sailing Centre. This should really be no surprise, given that a lot of people live on the island to be close to such activities. The establishment of the Jollyboat class with the WBC and the initiation of a Junior Sailing Programme last season and its subsequent rapid expansion, combined with the activities of the Waiheke High Schools Seasports Academy, identify we have a strong need for this facility and am optimistic that ACC will recognize this.”

The fleet will be returning to Waiheke again in November for the Auckland Championships. The class wishes to thank to all at WBC for the magnificent organisational effort, our capable OOD Roger Hall for his time and patience in running things on the water, and to all the sponsors of the event.

Results
Single Handed and overall
1st Gordon Dyer J107 Plan B Waiheke
2nd Mark Winters J118 Weapon Maraitai
3rd Alex Stone J46 Meri Waiheke

Two handed
1st Paul and Harry MacIntosh J89 Roger Waiheke
2nd Steve and Shane Tenant J91 Bartman Maraitai
3rd Matt and Hamish Hall-Smith J88 Snorter French Bay

Teams Trophy
1st Waiheke Boating Club
2nd Maraitai Sailing Club
3rd French Bay Boating Club

Further information www.jollyboat.co.nz