Tight battle over Kingham Trophy

by Antje Muller on 26 Mar 2011
The Sanders Cup holds a special place New Zealand Yachting History. It is the oldest trophy sailed for in New Zealand under it's original inception. It is the only remaining senior interprovincial challenge competition still sailed for today.

Since the inaugural races in 1921 it has been sailed for every year with the exception of 1942-45. The Sanders Memorial Cup was presented by Messrs Walker and Hall Limited in 1921 in the memory of Lieutenant Commander W.E.Sanders, V.C., D.S.O., R.N.R. for interprovincial competition between 14ft one design yachts.

The Kingham Trophy was donated by the Kingham Family to the Timaru Yacht Club. This trophy is presented annually to the winner of the Invitation race for the Sanders Cup Class Yachts that traditionally precedes the Sanders Cup Contest.

Provincial representatives in the Sanders Cup this year are
Antje Muller and Craig Gilberd for Northland
Peter Precey and Mark Findlay for North Harbour
Ben Bax and Adam Scott-Mackie for Bay of Plenty
Ross Shanks and Colin Shanks for East Coast Bays
David Brown and David Feek for Manawatu
Nadine Moeller and Thure Gnadenberg for West Coast

After a leisurely start by some turning up after the scheduled breifing time, the fleet headed out with an uncertain weather forecast. The fleet decided to sail the old Olympic course for the Kingham Trophy, with the triangle thrown in on two of the three laps. The course was laid to perfection in the shifty conditions with the boats able to sail the triangle with gennakers up.

Conditions changed between wiring breeze and very light patches with big wind shifts and gusts. This long race was very deserving of the beautiful trophy as most boats came into the lead at some stage. Northland hit it lucky starting at the leeward end of the start line and heading out to the left hand side where they caught a lift that took them to the top mark first. On the first reach, they went high and had to gybe back into the wing mark on port to see that Bay of Plenty had taken a nice lead out of them and even East Coast Bays were ahead around the mark.

The second reach saw East Coast Bays soaking lower and coming first around the bottom mark. Manawatu and North Harbour came past Northland and West Coast when they both had problems retrieving their gennakers. East Coast Bays hung on to their lead until the top mark, but Bay of Plenty got a gust on the downwind and blasted past them. However the lead went to North Harbour who in had gybed at top and got a big line of pressure and lead by 200 metres at the bottom mark. By the top mark their lead had halved and then on the leg to the wing mark the sidestay came out of the spreaders. Having to retrieve their gennaker put them back in fifth place. Then BOP took the lead and did not let it go again, even when Full Frontal caught up from fifth to second on the finish making it a close finish.

Congratulation to Bay of Plenty Ben Bax and Adam Scott-Mackie to win the Kingham Trophy!


The first race of the Sanders Cup was started in medium pressure from the South-East. It started out tough with four boats going around the bottom mark together after the first lap. On the second beat, Bay of Plenty went to the left to a line of breeze, having to go through a very light patch and looking very sad for a while, but coming into the mark on a lift with pressure. This shift was significant enough for the Race Committee to shift the top mark for the next leg. Full Frontal stayed in the chase, carrying some pressure down the third downwind leg, but could not come past. East Coast Bays finished third in front of Manawatu, North Harbour and West Coast.

The course was shifted to Otumoetai Channel for the second race. The breeze became more steady and stronger, coming now from the Northeast as forecast. Four boats stayed together all the way for the the first lap, with East Coast Bays first at the bottom mark. Bay of Plenty was very close behind and Northland was chasing Manawatu down the course. At the top mark, East Coast Bays had trouble with their gennaker halyard and subsequently decided that the new one shall be yellow not blue. Nortland kept close behind Bay of Plenty for the next two laps but again were unable to make up the ground.

It is looking like a good contest for Bay of Plenty in their home waters. There are three races scheduled for Saturday, and two more for Sunday.

Overall
Rank Province Boat SailNo Helm Crew R1 R2 Total Nett
1st Bay of Plenty Bay Nissan 522 Ben Bax Adam Scott-Mackie 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0
2nd Northland Full Frontal 523 Antje Muller Craig Gilberd 2.0 2.0 4.0 4.0
3rd East Coast Bays Riders on the Storm 380 Ross Shanks Colin Shanks 3.0 3.0 6.0 6.0
4th Manawatu Trailblazer 524 David Brown David Feek 4.0 4.0 8.0 8.0
5th North Harbour Absolute Marine 521 Peter Precey Mark Findlay 5.0 5.0 10.0 10.0
6th West Coast Peggy 362 Nadine Moeller Thure Gnadenberg 6.0 7.0 DNC 13.0 13.0