Jollyboat Nationals 2010 : Maraetai Sailing Club : 5th, 6th 7th March
Friday saw the fleet arrive for a briefing to be greeted by PRO Richard Brown and Maraetai Commodore Steve Tennent. With the remnants of a high pressure system in effect boat preparation was conducted in stifling heat before heading out to the course to wait for wind. In the boat park rumours were running wild that Bono from U2 had flown in for the regatta but it turned out to be only Gordon with a new hat and sunnies. Once out on the water the wait was long. Race one got away with two competitors, Mark Orams and Bill Hewitt stealing away from the first start leaving the rest of the fleet becalmed on the line. Richard pulled the pin and abandoned the race after a 180 degree windshift followed. Lunch was held ashore as the breeze failed to fill in and then the fleet headed South in search of an afternoon seabreeze. Nothing happened so the kids got into boarding each other's boats and those wearing too much rubber hopped over the side to cool off.
Finally at about 4:30 a black line appeared from the North West and the breeze filled in. A windward – leeward course was quickly laid and race one was finally underway. Team Sublime, last year's champions hit the front early, giving the fleet a taste of what was to come over the next 9 races. Mark Winters came in a healthy second followed by a newly repainted Bartman helmed by current single handed champion Steve Tennent with Ryan calling tactics up front.
By beer o'clock race two got away and this saw the bulk of the team from French Bay, Paddy, Fergus, Matt & Hamish and Don, spear off the pin end following Mark Winters into a gentle header which continued to roll into a pleasant lift after tacking back up the course on port. The remainder of the Maraetai boys got into a bit of argy bargy at the committee boat end which gave the visitors a chance to get away and get on with the race. Up the course the fleet separated left and right and in a slightly increasing breeze there was a convergence at the top mark with team Snorter first round, just ahead of Mark and Daniel. This lead was not to last long as the Torbay pirates cracked out secret weapon number one, plugging in their jib stick to demonstrably sail fast low angles on the downwind legs. The race ended up with Mark and Dan 1st, team Snorter 2nd and newcomer Bill Hewitt 3rd keeping the flag flying for Maraetai. Back ashore Maraetai knows how to quench a thirst. Chilled beer glasses and draught beer on tap. A perfect end to a long and hot day on the water.
Saturday dawned with the promise of wind and, sure enough, it kicked in. Coming from the South re-introducing many of the visiting competitors to the kicky chop that makes sailing at Maraetai such a blast. Aboard Zen, Richard got the fleet running early and rattled off four races with lunch brought out to us by the RIB squad maximising time on the water. Race one saw Simon Paul in the new kitset design J155 Obi-wan hit the front in a race he very nearly won. In its first regatta J155 looked on the pace and no doubt we'll all have to watch Simon closely from now on. Also up front early were the 'first time in the boat' crew of Josh Salthouse and Connor Regan in Hot Shot showing plenty of pace and hiking ability that only comes with youth on your side. Unfortunately for Simon he couldn't have been feeling the force that well as Mark and Darth Dan pressed their hyperdrive button again and brandishing their jib saber stick thingy ran Obi Wan into 2nd place.
The next race was an interesting one, with Mark Winters taking the gun. Of note Mark is still mainly confined to wheelchair ashore and still in recovery from his back surgery, but afloat is still just as deadly as he's always been. This was the only race in the series not to won by team Sublime … must feel good to have your discard being a 2nd. It was also Graham Fleury's turn to show the fleet what all that time in the shed can result in with an impressive 4th.. . Fergus also got in the groove finishing just behind.
Race three on Saturday saw the breeze build a little more and Bill Hewitt again made his mark with a 3rd with only Snorter and Sublime ahead of him. And in race four, Steve and Ryan put in another fine performance nibbling at the now unstoppable team of Mark and Dan who finished the day with the series pretty much in the bag. Of note throughout the days racing was the lack of capsizes … everyone's boat handling has improved this year. In the middle of the fleet it was also highly competitive with most crews now on par for speed with little separation through the fleet throughout the series.
2010 has also seen two new sail lofts join the established talent at Doyles. This year we saw Richard Bicknell debut his new sails from North Sails with Sublime and Planet choosing to fly mains from Ken Fyfe. Jibs seem to be very much mix and match with the Doyle Sails cut from Roger Hall appearing to still be the preferred option. All the new mains from Doyle Sails, North Sails and Fyfe Sails are radial cut and seem to set much more cleanly that the previous generation. A new mast section from Super Spars also made its debut. This mast offers greater stiffness to the Foster section for a slight weight penalty.
Sunday dawned windy. The legs were hurting (unless you were Josh and Connor), and with a fair bit of pre-race adrenalin pumping crews left the beach in a brisk and increasing wind for a sleigh ride to the start line. It was a day for the two man boats up front. Josh and Connor scored a brilliant third place in race one. Matt and Hamish were not quite able to hold off the champions on the last leg of race two pipped by only a few seconds after a thrilling reach to the bottom mark. In the single handed division there were also some star performances. Gordon got his best result for the day in race one with one reef in with a 4th. Simon scored a 3rd in race two with Graham getting a 5th not far behind. Race three also saw Richard Bicknell save the best until last with a 3rd in the final race after a close fought battle with Graham and Gordon. It was with some relief that we all returned to the beach.
To the results … the top 10 held 4 double handers and 6 single handers, this is the same percentage as for the 2009 nationals held in very different conditions. At prize giving newcomer Renee van der Voort from French Bay emerged as the handicap champion. The single handed champion for 2010 was Mark Winters once again demonstrating that passion can surmount pain, and putting in a demonstration of sound tactical choices, good speed and excellent starts. And for the second year running the star performer of the series was the two handed team of Mark and Daniel Orams. Rarely challenged they took the double handed for the second year and deservedly so after the obvious time spent in and on the boat. In the teams event Maraetai retained the trophy, with Torbay getting their first points on the board with a second followed by French Bay.
It was great to see some old faces on the water again as well as some new ones. Also to hear news of renewed interest in the Jolly from Clarks Beach which bodes well for the fleet for the coming season. Thanks to all at Maraetai for a well run event and the excellent prize pool. Special thanks to the support crews and the lunch ladies and all that took photographs. Double Handed
Single Handed
Teams Trophy
Picasa shots from the event :
Album 2 click here |
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Torbay SC have confirmed their intention to host the Jollyboat Nationals March 4th, 5th, 6th 2011. |
Renee was first on handicap
The Peddies heading upwind
The Torbay boats have certainly had some time and money spent on them. Star attraction was 'Planet', bristling with more tech than the Millenium Falcon. “Er, I'll show you what that does in a minute” … as crews gathered like asteroids around a black hole to investigate strange bits of elastic, titanium micro blocks and those perfectly executed braid splices that go to make up Graham's pride and joy. (In fact you had to be pretty careful touching anything on the boat without Graham around as it was more than likely to trigger something that could do serious damage to your gentlemen's regions). Best bit of kit by far was the power assisted rocket launcher. Only hours in the garage thinking about this problem could have produced such a cool solution. The launcher shoots out a boom mounted carbon jib pole, perfect when your other hands are busy holding important things like brunch bars downwind. Naturally there's a equally impressive retract button. Nice one Graham.
Teams Trophy, retained by Maraetai Sailing Club
