Sellers win NZ Nationals, Practice race in Worlds blown out
by Suellen Davies/Int. Tornado Association 4 Jan 02:02 PST
4 January 2019
Racing in the NZ Tornado Nationals presented by Candida Stationery - January 2019 © Int. Tornado Assoc
Rex and Brett Sellers win NZ Nationals from a fleet of 16 boats and 9 races over three days with very shifty and gusty winds coming off the beach between 12 and 24knots.
The regatta was a preliminary event for the 2019 World Tornado Championship presented by Candida Stationery to be sailed from Takapuna Beach.
Former Olympic Gold and Silver medalist Rex Sellers (NZL) crewed by his son Brett, won the NZ national title in the regatta organised by Takapuna Boating Club. In second position the Windrush team Brett Burvill and Max Max Puttman from Australia came very close to taking the title with four wins, but had a a jib track break in the last race.
In third place overall Jörg Steiner and Michael Gloor Swiss team, who were very consistent.
Zdenek Pavlis and Michaela Michaela Pavliová were the top Mixed crew with Estela Jentsch and Daniel Brown in second place. Ely Warren and Winton Winston Ordish-Benner were the third overall Mixed crew.
Friday 4th January was scheduled to be the Practice Race for the 2019 Tornado World Championships presented by Candida Stationery, however with 30 knots blowing across the race course, the boats never left the shore.
Race Officer Megan Kensington made the decision at 1300 hours with the backing of the International Class President Jurgen Jentsch from Germany.
"We are going to fly AP over A today. There is just too much breeze to safely race," said Kensington.
Jentsch backed this up agreeing that it wasn't worth breaking gear in the fierce conditions this early into the regatta.
The regatta was opened with a traditional Maori blessing before the waters from each nation competing where offered to the Waitemata Harbour. Seven countries are being represented at this regatta. Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, USA and New Zealand.
Official racing in the World Championship starts on Saturday 5th January from 1300 hours with two races scheduled.
The 2019 Tornado World Championships is being hosted by Takapuna Boating Club in Auckland, New Zealand and is powered by Candida Stationery.