Oceanbridge Sail Auckland 2025 set for thrilling finale
by Eduan Roos/Yachting New Zealand 1 Mar 00:11 PST
28 February - 2 March 2025
iQFoil - Day 2 - Oceanbridge Sail Auckland 2025 - March 1, 2025 © Jacob Fewtrell Media
The 2025 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland is set for a thrilling conclusion, with little separating the leaders in most fleets as they battle it out at Torbay Sailing Club.
Neither the cooler conditions nor the constant threat of rain could dampen Saturday's action, which featured tight racing and frequent leaderboard changes.
In fact, 20 different winners were crowned across 37 completed races. With five points or fewer separating the top two competitors in six categories, the country's premier regatta for youth and Olympic classes is set for a dramatic finale on Sunday.
Nowhere is the margin tighter than in the ILCA 7 competition, where two Paris 2024 Olympians and a recent world championship medallist are vying for top honours.
Overnight leader Tom Saunders will start the final day in third place after a UFD in the opening race on Saturday allowed Singapore's Ryan Lo to briefly top the leaderboard before George Gautrey claimed back-to-back wins.
Lo won the day's final race to ensure he, Saunders, and Gautrey - who claimed bronze at the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague - will start tomorrow level on 12 points. Gautrey has only recently returned to the class after an extended break following his narrow loss to Saunders for New Zealand’s sole ILCA 7 spot at the Paris Olympics.
Greta Pilkington continued her dominance in the domestic ILCA 6 fleet, winning three of four races on day two. The recently crowned national champion and Olympic debutante in Marseille has now won five of the last six races in the regatta’s largest fleet and leads Naiomi Ferrissey by five points. Tom Pilkington sits third, followed by Arran Begic and young Chloe Turner, who prevented Pilkington from a clean sweep.
Windfoiler Josh Armit, who finished fourth in Marseille, is a point behind Eli Liefting in the iQFOiL 8m competition. Armit won three of Saturday’s five slalom races to Liefting’s two but trails the under-23 world championship medallist 5-4 overall.
Meanwhile, Stella Bilger has held on to her three-point lead in the 7.3m category, sharing two wins with Veerle ten Have.
Also on Course C, Kiwi Olympic kitefoiler Lukas Walton-Keim surrendered his day-one lead to Toby Wigglesworth after being forced to withdraw due to equipment damage. Lochy Naismith (two) and Wigglesworth claimed victories in the three completed races, with the latter now five points ahead of Naismith going into the final day.
Elsewhere, Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn made the biggest gains on the 49er leaderboard. Competing in only their second regatta together, the duo won two of four races to move into second place. They remain 11 points behind Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush, who have led for most of the event and are yet to finish lower than fourth in a race.
Erica Dawson and Molly Meech have continued their perfect regatta, winning eighth straight races in the 49erFX, while Nelsen Meacham and Tim Howse lead the 29er fleet by three points over Will Leech and Will Mason. Bella Jenkins and Jess Handley are the best-placed female team, sitting fourth.
Tessa Clinton and Amelia Higson extended their lead in the 420 class from two to nine points after a dramatic final race. The pair, locked in a tight battle with Cam Brown and Oli Stone all regatta, won the last race while their closest rivals had to settle for a DNC.
Latest results and standings after Day 2 of the 2025 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland, hosted by Torbay Sailing Club.
420 fleet (6 boats)
1. Tessa Clinton/Amelia Higson 1 1 1 (2) 2 1 1 - 7 points
2. Cam Brown/Oli Stone (8UFD) 2 2 1 1 2 8DNC - 16 pts
3. Thomas Jurczyluk/Oli Wyeth (8UFD) 3 3 3 3 3 2 - 17 pts
ILCA 6 fleet (22 boats)
1. Greta Pilkington (6) 1 1 1 6 1 1 - 11 pts
2. Naiomi Ferrissey 1 3 2 5 (23UFD) 3 2 - 16 pts
3. Tom Pilkington (8) 4 4 3 2 4 3 - 20 pts
ILCA 7 fleet (8 boats)
1. George Gautrey 1 (4) 4 2 1 1 3 - 12 pts
2. Ryan Lo (3) 1 3 1 3 3 1 - 12 pts
3. Tom Saunders 2 3 1 (9UFD) 2 2 2 - 12 pts
29er fleet (13 boats)
1. Nelsen Meacham/Tim Howse 1 1 1 3 1 3 (4) 2 - 12 pts
2. Will Leech/Will Mason (3) 2 3 1 3 1 2 3 - 15 pts
3. Peer Kruse/Leo Brown 2 5 2 (6) 2 2 3 4 - 20 pts
4. Bella Jenkins/Jess Handley 6 6 5 2 4 5 (14UFD) 5 - 33 pts
12. Kate Rasmussen/Rose Dickey 12 10 (13) 12 12 13 12 12 - 83 pts
49er fleet (10 boats)
1. Seb Menzies/George Lee Rush 1 3 1 1 1 2 (4) 2 - 11 pts
2. Mattias Coutts/Oscar Gunn 6 2 4 (7) 4 1 1 4 - 22 pts
3. Francesco Kayrouz/Hamish Mclaren 5 6 2 3 (7) 5 2 1 - 24 pts
49erFX fleet (3 boats)
1. Erica Dawson/Molly Meech (1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 7 pts
2. Nicola Hume/Rebecca Hume 2 (3) 2 2 2 2 2 2 - 14 pts
3. Erin Kee/Isla Kee (4SOP) 2 3 3 3 3 4DNS 4DNC - 22 pts
iQFOiL 7.3m fleet (9 boards)
1. Stella Bilger 1 1 1 2 1 3 2 (4) 1 - 12 pts
2. Veerle ten Have 3 2 3 1 (4) 1 1 2 2 - 15 pts
3. Aimee Bright 2 (4) 2 3 2 4 3 1 3 - 20 pts
iQFOiL 8m fleet (9 boards)
1. Eli Liefting 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 - 11 pts
2. Josh Armit 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 - 12 pts
3. Blake Hinsley 3 3 3 (4) 3 3 3 3 3 - 24 pts
Kitefoil fleet (4 boards)
1. Toby Wigglesworth 2 1 (4) 1 2 2 2 1 - 11 pts
2. Lochy Naismith 3 3 3 3 (4) 1 1 2 - 16 pts
3. Lukas Walton-Keim 1 2 1 2 1 (5DNC) 5DNC 5DNC - 17 pts
4. Lucy Bilger (4) 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 - 22 pts
Full results here: www.yachtingnz.org.nz/nzl-sailing/oceanbridge-sail-auckland
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