Elliott 5.9 Travellers Series Regatta: RnR dominate at Sandspit
by Tony Poolman 2 Nov 17:47 PST
2025 E 5.9 Traveller's Trophy Sandspit - October 2025 © E5.9 Assoc
RnR dominated racing on Sunday to take the fifth and final Burnsco Travellers Series regatta of 2025.
The weekend started with a BBQ at the Sandspit motor camp for the nine boats competing in the regatta. Class legend and Life Member, Dave Cochran, shared some hospitality for his upcoming 80th birthday to make it an enjoyable evening.
Saturday presented challenging conditions. A light, predominantly westerly breeze of 5–8 knots was constantly shifting, with variations of up to 30 degrees and many unexpected gusts. This made for a tactical nightmare for the sailors and a busy day for Race Officer Megan Kensington and her team (Brooke Adamson, Grant, Mike, Grizz, and Tony), who were forced into numerous course changes.
Race 1. Zoot Allures with Dave Cochran, Darrell Civil and Garth Weinberg had a comfortable win from Slam Dunk and Dirty Circus. Surprisingly, RnR finished in ninth place.
Race 2. Once again Zoots was on fire winning this race from RnR and the Napier boys on Bloodline, third.
Race 3. This race started under a U flag after a general recall. This was the only general recall but there was a number of individual recalls with all boats pushing to get a small advantage. Dirty Circus (David Woods, Greer Houston and John Kensington), won this race from Slam Dunk and Zoots.
Race 4. Slam Dunk (Cam Horne, Robbie Woodridge and Phil Quinn) took this race from Dirty Circus and Revelry.
Race 5 was particularly challenging, becoming extremely light with unpredictable pressure bands. RO Kensington attempted to shorten the course, but the inability of the mark boat to get into position meant the race continued. Zoot Allures (Dave Cochran, Darrell Civil and Garth Weinberg), who were seventh at the second top mark, skillfully found better pressure on the final run to snatch the win.
At the end of Saturday’s racing, it was very tight on the leaderboard. Zoots and Slam were both on 13 points. Dirty Circus was 1 point behind on 14. Revelry was 4th with 23 points, RnR 5th with 26 points and Bloodline 6th with 27 points.
The crews gathered on Saturday evening for a delicious meal at the Sandspit Yacht Club put on by Daniel and his team. There was disappointment for the Bloodline crew as they watched Hawkes Bay lose to Canterbury in the NPC semi-final. Daniel then entertained us all with some traditional fines and social competition amongst crews.
There was a short postponement to Sunday’s racing as a 10-12kn westerly arrived under sunny skies. The breeze still had some shifts and pressure bands, but not to the extent of Saturday’s racing, with only a few mark changes throughout the day.
Race 6. Bloodline held the lead at the bottom mark but RnR (Craig and Gretel Satterthwaite and Nathan Williams) took the lead in the second beat, finishing first with Bloodline second and Revelry third.
Race 7. RnR won this race with Slam second and Bloodline third.
Race 8. The new team of Razorback had the highlight of their Travellers Series, leading at the top and bottom mark. Once again though, RnR led by the second top mark and the win.
Razorback held onto second place from Bloodline in third, bringing a steady puff of wind down the course. RnR was on fire, taking three wins and was in contention to win the regatta after Saturday’s mixed results.
Race 9. The Napier crew on Bloodline (Gavin Earle, Gareth Howard and Mark Shedrake) made sure of winning this race after leading at the bottom mark twice in earlier races. Second was RnR and third was Revelry.
Race 10. Bloodline again won this race from RnR and Revelry third. After a super consistent Sunday, RnR was first on 24 points with Slam Dunk second on 27 points, holding off Bloodline, who also had very good results on Sunday, on 29 points.
Slam Dunk's Cam Horne wryly noted their second-place finish, lamenting that the crew "cannot get rid of the dress"—a good-natured nod to their consistent bridesmaid status.
Zoots was fourth on 33 points. Dirty Circus was fifth on 37 points on countback with Revelry sixth on 37 points. Class Act was seventh on 53 points, Razorback was eighth on 65 points and Nyx ninth with 73 points.
A big thank you to Stu Clark, Class President, for the use of his launch as the start boat.
Thanks also to JK and Adam for the use of their ribs. Sandspit was another great regatta with tight racing and great camaraderie.
For the overall Burnsco Travellers Series, RnR was first, Slam Dunk second and Zoot Allures third.
Another successful year for the Elliott 5.9 class. The next regatta is the National Championship at Maraetai on 12-14 March 2026.
A huge thanks to Burnsco who have again been great supporters of the class at both the Nationals and Travellers Series. These regattas and the class would not have the same level of success with out Burnsco’s ongoing support.
Follow results and pictures online www.facebook.com/elliott5.9 and for more information on the Elliott 5.9 Class Association visit www.e59.org.nz
Previous results can be found here elliott59.weebly.com/results.html
About The Elliott 5.9
The Elliott 5.9 emerged in the early 1980’s as a high performing trailer yacht and continues to deliver competitive one design racing in a welcoming fleet of world-class sailors and novices alike. The boats started a revolution with their well-balanced and cost effective design, and quickly become the boat of choice for top club training schemes and a breeding ground for NZ’s America’s Cup, Ocean Race and Olympic champions.
Sailed by a crew of three, the Elliott 5.9 remains a low maintenance sailboat with an efficient single spreader fractional rig, a well-balanced sail plan and practical deck layout. Whether sailing among mixed trailer yachts, sport boat fleets or in a one design setting, the 5.9 is celebrated for its responsiveness and outstanding value.