Big turnout for Elliott 5.9 Nationals at Russell in the Bay of Islands
by Gareth Howard - Elliott 5.9 Association 15 May 2022 01:41 PDT
15 May 2022
Revelry - Current Auckland Champions © Lissa Photography
The Russell Boating Club are hosting Elliott 5.9 Nationals that will commence this week 19 - 21 May. The fleet will be one of the largest Elliott 5.9 fleets to assemble over recent years.
The class is pleased to see the current strong interest in the class, including the development of a strong South Island fleet, reflected in the 2022 nationals entry list.
The competition on the water is again expected to be fierce. The one design Elliott 5.9 provides close competitive racing and the ability to trailer the boats ensures the fleet is drawn from right across the country.
There are at least four past and repeat class champions in this nationals fleet and a number of other boats have national championship pedigree on board from other classes.
As shown at the recent Rotoiti Traveller Series, a number of other boats have all shown the potential to perform well and will just be looking for consistency to challenge for the title.
There are also two crews returning to the fleet after a period of time away. Shapeshifter and Nevis are both making long awaited returns to the fleet. With these nationals being their first Elliott 5.9 regatta in some time, they will provide a somewhat unknown element to the competition within the fleet.
So there will be some real interest to see if there is another repeat champion or will there be a new name etched on the highly sought after Elliott 5.9 Championship trophy.
While the Championship trophy is the ultimate goal, there will also be a number of other trophies including the Ranking, 40 Stone and Woman’s trophies to add to the other prizes up for grabs. Of course, this is not possible without the support of good sponsors and the class is looking forward to welcoming our race days sponsors North Sails, Mount Gay Rum and Harken to what should be an awesome nationals.
As part of the nationals, the class will be holding its annual AGM and planning is already in place for next year. With a proposed Southern Circuit likely to be confirmed and a Nationals that is likely to see the coming together of the North and South Island fleets, new fleet records are expected to be set again.