New Zealand 12ft Skiff 2022 Nationals at Lake Taupo Yacht Club
by Jono Clough 18 Mar 2022 07:05 PDT
11-13 March 2022
Thirteen 12ft skiffs travelled to Taupo from around the country last weekend for their national championships.
Race 1 on Friday afternoon started in about 5kts of breeze which followed the fleet round heading them to make the first lap of the triangle course 3 upwinds!
C-Tech (Alex Vallings and Sam Richardson) and The Darkside (Tim Bartlett and Matt Hix) swapped positions the whole way round up the front to lead the fleet in the challenging conditions with The Darkside crossing 1 boat length in front of C-Tech for the win. FTB (Matt Steven and Brad Collins) sailed well, picking off boats to finish third.
Race 2, the breeze had settled in direction and strength and the race committee set a 1 lap triangle with a short start line. After a general recall, the fleet got under way with DE Group (Harry Butler and Matt Metson) leading round the top mark followed closely by Monkey Wrench (Jono Clough and Luke Stevenson) the rest of the pack was close behind with luffing matches and close calls throughout the fleet. C-Tech snuck through to get second behind DE Group with Monkey Wrench holding onto third.
Saturday morning was a sunny morning with not much wind. It was big rigs all round again for the day. C-Tech enjoying the light conditions sailed brilliantly to win all four races of the day. Dream Catcher (Chris Skinner and Malcolm Paine) also had a good day with a 3, 3, 2, 3 to move up on the leader board. The light conditions saw some hero to zero moments for most competitors at some stage in the racing. Very tricky to get going again once the train of boats rolls past.
Sunday morning was different, a bit overcast and moody. An early gust saw the whole fleet pack up the big rigs, it was a split decision in the fleet to go third rig or second as there were some quiet solid puffs, but also some big lulls behind them. In the first race of the day those with the second rig made their way to the front of the fleet with FTB taking out the win followed by C-Tech and Dream Catcher. A broken forestay on DE Group ended their regatta early.
Race 2 saw a windy first beat with Monkey Wrench leading the way round the first lap. On the final downwind a new line of pressure with a wind shift came down for the chasing pack with the top four boats all in the hunt approaching the bottom mark. Dream Catcher and FTB capsized during the final gybe to allow C Tech to take the win followed by Monkey Wrench and ASCC (Graham Catley and Riley Dean) who weaved between the capsized boats to claim third.
With the wind picking up the boats on their second rigs weren't looking too comfortable, however Dream Catcher led round the first lap followed by Monkey Wrench. A big wind shift with about 20+ knots on the next upwind saw Monkey Wrench sneak around Dream catcher for the win.
FTB sailed well to round take third. The wind picked up even more towards the end of the race with the whole fleet having awesome loose sends on the final downwind. An amazing sight to see. The race committee decide to call it a day. An epic 2 sail reach back to the beach everyone was buzzing about the days racing. AGAIG (Rodger Barnes and Luke Armstrong) and FTB put on a good show with one last kite send down past the yacht club. FTB rudder stock broke at max speed leading to a spectacular wipeout with cheers all round from the beach.
C Tech easily took out the 2022 title with Dream catcher and The Darkside taking the remaining podium places. There was a battle all the way round the race track and the depth of the fleet is good to see. The fleet would like to thank Taupo Yacht Club for putting on an excellent regatta and taking the photos from the support boats. Also a big thank you to Shaun Sheldrake for liaising with Taupo and helping organise the regatta.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | C‑Tech | 54 | Alex Vallings | Sam Richardson | Ankarana | ‑2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑4 | 9 |
| 2nd | Dream Catcher | 50 | Christopher Skinner | Malcolm Paine | Manukau yacht club | ‑8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑7 | 2 | 21 |
| 3rd | The Dark Side | 20 | Tim Bartlett | Mat Hix | Whitianga | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | ‑12 | 5 | ‑10 | 4 | 8 | 28 |
| 4th | The Rabbit | 56 | Jono Clough | Luke Stevenson | wbbc | 11 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 3 | ‑13 | (DNS) | 2 | 1 | 31 |
| 5th | DE Group | DE Group | Matt Metson | Harry Butler Skipper
Matt Metson Crew | Royal Akarana | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 2 | (DNF) | DNS | (DNS) | 32 |
| 6th | Stagecoach | 22 | Matt Steven | Brad Collins | Royal Akarana | 3 | 7 | 7 | ‑12 | ‑11 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 34 |
| 7th | Sharkskin | 48 | Shaun Sheldrake | Rob Poole | Worser Bay Boating Club | 5 | 6 | ‑13 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 8 | (DNS) | 6 | 43 |
| 8th | ASCC | ASCC | Graham Catley | Riley Dean | Royal Akarana | 10 | ‑11 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | (DNF) | 49 |
| 9th | Asko | Asko | Greg Roake | Murray England | RAYC | 6 | 8 | ‑12 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 9 | ‑10 | 9 | 49 |
| 10th | Designsource | Designsource | Paul Macintosh | Malcolm Snowdon | Royal Akarana yacht club | ‑12 | 9 | 9 | ‑11 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 52 |
| 11th | Orange Flash | 60 | Jason Parkin | Mel Parkin | Worser bay Boating club | (DNC) | ‑13 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 9 | DNF | 57 |
| 12th | As good as it gets | 46 | Roger Barnes | Luke Armstrong | Worser bay | 7 | ‑10 | ‑10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 57 |
| 13th | Mr Scruff | 26 | Thomas Olds | Ben Newton | Wakatere | 9 | 12 | 11 | ‑13 | (DNS) | 12 | 11 | DNF | DNF | 80 |