The Blurr takes out the 2011 Elliott 5.9 North Island Champs

by Elliott 5.9 Class Assn. on 21 Nov 2011
A small but classy fleet contested the 2011 North Island Elliott 5.9 Champs sailed at Turangi 19-20 November 2011.

The event was sailed in very unusual southerly conditions straight off the Stump Bay shore. This made for very shifty and gusty conditions but kept the racing very close. Several of the sailers commented that in 20 plus years of sailing at Turangi they had never sailed in that breeze direction before.

The Blurr (Simon Manning, Andy Robertson and Phil Quinn) capped off a great comeback season with a win to take the North Island title.

The class is notable for the longevity of the boats and as one of the very first E5.9's built, The Blurr has been relaunched after sitting idle in a Karaka shed for four years. New owners Simon Manning and Andy Robertson normally race Voodoo, the current National Champion. However with Voodoo increasingly in need of a renovation, the boat has been temporarily retired and team Voodoo have campaigned The Blurr in 2011.

Defending North Island champions, the always classy Slam Dunk (Cameron Horne/Stu Clarke/Hayden Whitburn) pushed The Blurr all the way, finishing the regatta in second place, one point back from The Blurr.

Third place by a further point went to the crew of Erotic (Sam Edwards, Greg Wagstaff, Keith Hogan), making a comeback to the class after a 2 year absence due to various circumstances including crew injuries. Erotic showed its blistering downwind pace in winning two of the five races - each time coming from behind down the last run.

Class President Nathan Williams helmed Brzo to fourth place after a few gear problems took the gloss off some promising placings during the event. Hobo The Butcher (Whangarei) finished fifth.

Class newcomers the Wellington-based Elliott Ness crew led by Laurie Greene attended their first event, finishing in sixth place but learning a lot in the process.

In winning the final regatta of the 2011 Traveller Servies, The Blurr also took out the overall Traveller Series title for 2011.

The class Nationals for 2012 are set for March 8-11 March 2012, hosted by Onerahi Yacht Club and sailed from Marsden Cove Marina in Northland.

Offering close racing and great social events built around a North Island weekend regatta circuit, the Elliott 5.9 class is the perfect 3-person syndicate boat. The class is relatively low maintenance and is sailed by a crew of 3. No rail meat - everyone has a job! There is a growing fleet in Opua with interest and new owners also in Auckland, Picton and New Plymouth.

The Elliott 5.9 Class Association operates a website that is in the process of being rebuilt (www.e59.org.nz) and a new Facebook page (www.facebook.com/elliott5.9) that contains details of events, boats for sale and many photos. Boats for sale are listed as well as gear layout shots.