P Class: Close contest for Tanner Cup at Plimmerton
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz 6 Jan 2023 18:43 PST
P Class - Light winds beset the Tanner Cup fleet on the final day - Plimmerton BC - January 2023 © PBC
The storms and rain which have beset the upper half of the North Island weather made a late arrival at Plimmerton Boating Club, venue for the 2023 Tanner and Tauranga Cups.
Kohimaramara Yacht Club's Ollie Stone won the Zhik sponsored Tanner Cup, earlier in the week. With light winds proving to be a challenge for race officials, Stone took the interprovincial title by just 1pt from current Auckland Champion, Will Mason (Wakatere BC).
The regatta swung on the final race sailed, with Mason leading going around the last mark of Race 6, the wind dropped to a zephyr, and the decision was taken to shorten the leg and finish the race.
That made life hard for Mason who could but watch competitors with more pressure pass either side of him. Mason recovered somewhat to finish in third place, with Stone placing second giving him a 1pt advantage in the final standings.
If Mason could have forced a situation where the two finished equal on points, he would have won a countback with two wins to Stone's one win.
Despite the fickle weather, the race officer managed to sail all six scheduled races.
Stone won the series through consistent placings in the difficult conditions. Although he made a slow start to the series with a Scoring Penalty, a 4th and 3rd placing on the first day, he returned a 1,2,2 score card on the final day, and kept his pointscore low in the 17 boat fleet.
Will Mason finished second overall (13pts), with Will Leech (CBYC) third (19pts), Nelson Meecham (WBC) and Arran Bergic (MBSC) were tied on points for 4th overall, with Meecham getting the nod when the tiebreaker process was applied.
For full results sailwave.com/results/ZhikTannerCup2023.htm