Sunburst Nationals at Wakatere - Wellington's Linton wins

by Nigel Price on 2 Feb 2012
The final race of the seven race series at the 2012 Sunburst Nationals, sailed at Wakatere Boating Club, was run on Monday 30th January, and doubled as an Anniversary Day Regatta official race.

The nominal start time delayed to 11.00 am to allow the Anniversary Day Regatta Tug Boat Race to go by, as this went through the course area. The wind was light and steady in a SE direction at the race start. Part way through, the wind died away for a time.

Once again Brett & Alice Linton in # 1530 'Rhythm & Blues' were first around the top mark, and held this through to the race end. The course was shortened as the wind died away, and the finish line was changed to be at the bottom mark of the second lap. Several boats ghosted through to finish, but many fell into a massive hole in the wind on the way down the course. Kevin Whitehead & Jane Hawkins in # 1800 'Cognos' made second place in the last 40 metres by sneaking past Nathan & William Long in # 1751 'Seabird', but many of the fleet from about fifth place became becalmed for a time until the new wind direction came in from the north. Everyone eventually finished within the 30 minutes time limit after the first boat crossed the line.

Overall Brett Linton has completely dominated the regatta with 5 wins and 2 seconds and is a worthy winner of the Wilson and Horton trophy for first overall. Second place getter James Corbett, sailing with Harrison Switzer-Corbett showed he has not lost anything by being 4 years away from the class. Nathan and William Long came in third overall and also won the under 19 Youth trophy and the Secondary School Trophy.

Top 10 Line :

# 1530 Rhythm & Swing - Brett Linton, Alice Linton - Worser Bay - 7 pts
# 400 Equinaut - James Corbett, Harrison Switzer-Corbett - Wakatere - 13 pts
# 1751 Seabird - Nathan Long, William Long - Wakatere - 22 pts
# 1462 Santa Maria - Andrew Walker, Elizabeth Pitko - Wakatere - 27 pts
# 1563 Bad News - Amanda Hargreaves, Amanda Young - Worser Bay - 38 pts
# 1738 Just Magic - Alastair Campbell & George Willcock - Worser Bay - 39 pts
# 1785 Kick Ass - Matt Buckeridge, Finn Buckeridge - Wakatere - 40 pts
# 1679 Good News - Bruce Yarnton, Rhonda Steele - Wakatare - 42 pts
# 1800 Cognos - Kevin Whitehead, Jane Hawkins - Wakatere - 43 pts
# 1254 Catch 22 - Julia Faire, Linda Wilson - Wakatere - 54 pts


The Sunburst being an all inclusive class that tries to encourage all people of all ages has a long list of trophies and prizes
for many categories :

Handicap Trophy : Bruce Yarnton & Rhonda Steele - Wakatere
Master : (skipper 40 - 50 years) Brett Linton - Worser Bay ( first o'all)
Grand Master (skipper 50 -60 years ) Alistair Campbell - Worser Bay ( sixth o'all )
Veteran : ( skipper > 60 years old) Andrew Patterson - Worser Bay ( 13th o'all)
The Muritai One Ton Cup : ( combined age > 100 years ) - Bruce Yarnton & Rhonda Steele - Wakatere ( eighth o'all)
1st Husband & Wife or partner : Andrew Walker & Elizabeth Pitko - Wakatere ( fourth o'all)
1st All female crew : Amanda Hargreaves & Amanda Young - Worser Bay ( fifth o'all)
1st parent or grandparent & child : Brett & Alice Linton ( first o'all)
Secondary School Trophy : Nathan & James Long - Wakatere ( Kingsway School) ( third o'all)
Sea Scouts / Young Mariners : Andrew Stevens & Freya Rose - New Lynn Sea Scouts ( 19th o'all)

There were 29 starters in the regatta with 2 crews from Christchurch and 1 from Dunedin making the long trip to Auckland.

Next years Nationals are to be hosted by the Otago Association. The class has an approximately equal number of boats in the South and North Island, and decided several years ago that the Nationals are to be held in each island on a year about basis.