2009 Turangi OK International Open at Stump Bay, Taupo

by .. on 27 Nov 2009 The OK Dinghy Turangi International Open, known traditionally as the 'Turangi Worlds', was held over 21 & 22 November at Turangi Yacht Club, Stump Bay, Lake Taupo.

This regatta has been running for over 10 years now and is one of the most popular events on the OK summer calendar. With the 2010 Worlds now just over 2 months away, this year we had a record 30 entries all looking to stake a claim to a spot in the NZ team, as well as chasing the coveted Golden Trout.

Race 1 started in a moderate NW breeze, with a short chop already building on the lake. Josh Weeks picked a magic shift up the first beat and powered around the first mark with a massive lead which he held all the way round to win by a big margin. Brad Douglas, continuing his steady improvement in form, sailed a solid race to take 2nd and Luke O’Connell was 3rd. Race 2 was sailed in difficult conditions, with large holes in pressure moving across the course and pressure lines coming from left and right, seemingly at random. Not only that, but a general shift towards the West left the start line with an extreme pin-end bias and Karl Purdie emerged from the pile-up to take the lead and extend right round the track to card a solid victory.

Paul Rhodes chased Purdie hard to take 2nd, while Mark Perrow sailed a strong race to take 3rd.

After a short break ashore for lunch, Race 3 was held in a steadily building breeze that was now clearly backing into the West – this resulted in yet another pin-end pile-up, with several boats attempting to start on port and others charging into them on starboard. As the breeze built over 20 knots, Purdie’s mast crane snapped off and he was forced to retire – in the meantime, Dan Bush and Ben Morrison both rode a strong line of left-hand pressure over and past the rest of the fleet, powering into the first mark under eased sheets and well ahead with Bush in front.

Having lost his lead to Morrison down the first run, Bush claimed it back with ease up the next beat, revelling in the big breeze. As the leaders rounded the top mark for the final run, the breeze built up to around 30 knots and the fleet blasted downhill in a cloud of spray, including a number of spectacular wipeouts – Mark Perrow was seen frantically swimming after his boat after hitting the water like an Airbus A320 and being thrown clear of the wreckage. Bush held his lead downhill and powered up the short final beat to win the race, while Morrison claimed 2nd and Matt Stechmann was 3rd, giving Stechmann the overall lead for the contest after a consistent day. With the breeze continuing to build, race officer Wally decided to pull the pin and the fleet headed to shore for beer and pies, meaning that Dan Bush claimed the Tiki – a huge thrill for the young man.

After pies and beer at the famous Turangi Yacht Club, the fleet gathered at the Morrison family bach in Turangi for a BBQ and a few rums. After a disgruntled neighbour was pacified (having spent the previous night listening to loud discussions about sailing, women and rum – what is the problem, I hear you ask!), the BBQ was fired up and the first rums were poured before the boys enjoyed another pleasant evening discussing sailing, women and rum.

Luckily for the neighbour, the fleet were exhausted after a hard day’s sailing and things quietened down somewhat earlier than the previous evening.

Sunday was scheduled for 3 races, and the forecast was for 15-20 knots from the NW, moving to the W, then the SW, and finally SE. What actually happened was different but just as challenging. After 2 general recalls, Race 4 finally started under a black flag. Douglas, continuing his good form, emerged as the leader at the first mark after claiming some very good left-hand pressure in the top half of the beat, and managed to hold his lead until the second downwind leg where Purdie showed excellent pace to take the lead and extend to the finish. Douglas held onto 2nd and Rhodes was 3rd. Overnight leader Stechmann was 4th, and with two races to go the battle for the Golden Trout was wide open.

Race 5 again suffered a general recall before the black flag was hoisted once more and a start was achieved. Morrison and Douglas looked to have taken a big early lead when they hooked into some strong left-hand pressure halfway up the first beat, but the gap narrowed when the breeze petered out to around 6 knots near the top mark and began shifting to all points of the compass. Douglas was able to maintain a slim lead and from there sailed a flawless race to extend his lead until the finish. Stechmann also sailed a very good race in difficult conditions to take 2nd, while Josh Weeks carded another glamour race to take 3rd. 4 boats had been over early and disqualified from race 5 – including Purdie, Morrison, Bush, and Max Schlink.

The final race got away cleanly with the fleet spread right across the course – at the top mark Douglas had once again taken the lead and as the breeze built he hung on to take his second victory ahead of Purdie and Josh Weeks, claiming the series and the Golden Trout for 2009. Matt Stechmann was second overall in a strong performance and claimed the Silver Trout, and Ben Morrison in 3rd was the proud recipient of the Bronze Trout.

All in all the 2009 Turangi Worlds was yet another great event. Wally and the team at Turangi Yacht Club put on very good racing in trying conditions, and were as cheerful and welcoming as always. There seems little doubt that a big fleet will be back again next year. Full results are set out below.


Sail # placing Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Gross Net
Brad 'Whippet' Douglas 539 1 2 6 16 2 1 1 28 12
Matt 'Mojo Stecho' Stechmann 524 2 4 7 3 4 2 7 27 20
Ben 'The Chair' Morrison 530 3 6 12 2 6 30 4 60 30
Adrian 'Adie' Mannering 504 4 7 5 4 8 14 8 46 32
Paul 'Gouch' Rhodes 517 5 11 2 5 3 13 12 46 33
Luke 'Colt' O'Cougar 511 6 3 13 7 18 8 5 54 36
Karl 'Purds' Purdie 531 7 5 1 29 1 30 2 68 38
Mark 'Perrowski' Perrow 527 8 12 3 14 9 9 16 63 47
Mike 'Oscar' Wilde 535 9 13 16 17 7 5 6 64 47
Owen 'Owey' Anderson 469 10 19 18 8 5 7 10 67 48
Josh 'Weeksy' Weeks 518 11 1 26 12 22 4 11 76 50
Alistair 'Deavious' Deaves 538 12 16 4 19 10 6 18 73 54
Kagan 'Weeksy's Brother' Weeks 5 13 9 21 22 20 3 3 78 56
Dave 'Hoogen-Schloogen' Hoogenboom 481 14 8 23 9 21 12 9 82 59
Greg 'Bubble' Wright 475 15 15 9 10 11 21 21 87 66
Russell 'The Love Muscle' Wood 526 16 20 10 6 15 18 19 88 68
Dan 'Bushwhacker' Bush 478 17 14 8 1 17 30 30 100 70
Nigel 'Nigey' Mannering 500 18 17 17 15 16 11 15 91 74
Joe 'Giuseppe' Porebski 523 19 24 14 20 13 16 13 100 76
Martin 'Marty' Weeks 509 20 18 20 11 14 15 23 101 78
Martin 'Marty' Pike 536 21 22 25 18 12 20 14 111 86
Trent 'Trento' Pryce 502 22 10 11 13 30 30 30 124 94
Jono 'Rabbit' Clough 498 23 23 24 23 23 10 17 120 96
John 'Hoody' Hoogerbrug 458 24 21 15 29 19 22 24 130 101
Robert 'Rob' Hengst 533 25 23 19 21 24 17 27 131 104
Julian 'Julian' Bishop 516 26 28 28 25 25 23 20 149 121
Adrian 'Pom' Coulthard 472 27 26 22 24 27 25 25 149 122
Chris 'Animal' Devine 454 28 27 27 26 28 24 22 154 126
Evert 'Guy Who Sails The Woody' Nijzink 515 29 29 29 29 26 19 26 158 129
Max 'Gulp' Schlink 508 30 29 29 29 29 30 28 174 144