Sail Auckland 2012 becalmed on final day

The final day of Sail Auckland 2012 was plagued by light winds and extremely shifty conditions.

There were no races completed today in the 470, 420, Laser, Laser Radial and Finn, so final results in those divisions are the ones that remain from yesterday. The RS:X, SKUD 18 and 2.4mR were the lucky three classes to finish both of their races as scheduled, and the 29er and 49er skiffs had just one.

“It was a beautiful day for doing anything outside- except sailing” Blair Tuke said after coming in from his single 49er race with sailing partner Peter Burling. “They had to shorten our race by one lap so we could finish, there was only between one and four knots of wind”.

Peter and Blair are two of the twelve NZL Sailing Team sailors that have been selected to represent the country at the London 2012 Olympics. Although they were only racing against one other boat in this regatta, the time back on the water proved valuable.

“It took us a while to get back into racing. The choppy water of the long weekend was a bit different than what we’re used to” Peter said. “The weekend was really shifty and testing conditions for us, and it was good to see all the international competitors here, even though they weren’t in our fleet”.

All of New Zealand's selected Olympic representatives for the London 2012 games finished first in their respective fleets.

As it was all week, racing in the RS:X 8.5 was extremely competitive on its final day. Australia’s Jessica Crisp demonstrated her experience and fitness, winning both of the races on Tuesday. Jannicke Stalstrom of Norway was hanging around the top five all week, but finally pushed through with two good results to finish the regatta in third, tied in overall points with Kohimarama Yacht Club’s Steffanie Williams in second.

In the Men’s RS:X 9.5 fleet, World Champion Dorian Van Rijsselberghe also showed his class by finishing up the regatta with two first place finishes today to leave him second overall. Regatta leader from the previous three days, Richard Stauffacher, had an OCS result (over the start line early) which sadly bumped him back to third overall. Tae Hoon Lee of Korea has won the RS:X 9.5 by just one point over Dorian.

Paul Francis of the Takapuna Boating Club won the final five races of the Paralympic 2.4mR class, and with this finished as top boat in that division. Paul Francis is one of the two sailors (the other is Brett Willcock of Charteris Bay, Canterbury) campaigning for selection to the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The next major event for these two campaigners is Holland’s Delta Llyod Regatta in May.

The Royal Akarana Yacht Club and their team of volunteers from several other Auckland Sailing Clubs have pulled off a fantastic regatta, feedback from the sailors has been top notch. They will now start planning for Sail Auckland 2013, also to be held The Landing at Okahu Bay.

Getting in behind Sail Auckland is a team of dedicated sponsors including The Orakei Marina, Auckland Council, The Lion Foundation, Te Waihou Reserve New Zealand Spring Water and DB Breweries.

Sail Auckland 2012 FINAL STANDINGS
Olympic Classes

Laser top three
1st NZL Andrew Murdoch- 12pts
2nd KOR Jee Min Ha- 26pts
3rd NED Rutger Van Schaardenburg- 27pts

Laser Radial top three
1st NZL Sara Winther- 17pts
2nd NZL Logan Dunning Beck- 28th
3rd NZL Andrew McKenzie- 32pts

470 top three
1st NZL Paul Snow-Hansen & Jason Saunders – 10pts
2nd NZL Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie - 29pts
3rd KOR Chang Ju Kim & Kim Ji Hoon - 35pts

Finn top three
1st NZL Matt Coutts- 8 pts
2nd NZL Karl Purdie- 19 pts
3rd NZL Brad Douglas- 24pts

RS:X 9.5 (Men) top three
1st KOR Tae Hoon Lee- 30pts
2nd NED Dorian van Rijsselberge - 31pts
3rd SUI Richard Stauffacher- 39 pts

RS:X 8.5 (Women and youth) top three
1st AUS Jessica Crisp NZL- 25pts
2nd NZL Steffanie Williams- 34pts
3rd NOR Jannicke Stalstrom- 34pts

49er top two
1st NZL Peter Burling and Blair Tuke- 14pts
2nd NZL Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski- 21pts

Paralympic Classes
2.4 metre top three
1st NZL Paul Francis - 14pts
2nd NZL Brett Willcock- 18pts
3rd NZL Josh McKenzie Brown- 26pts

SKUD18 top two
1st NZL Tim Dempsey and Jan Apel – 12pts
2nd NZL Russell Phillips and Quentin Smith- 17pts

Other Invited Classes
420 top three
1st NZL Erica Dawson and Vicky Francis- 18pts
2nd NZL Gemma Jones and Tomer Simhony- 30pts
3rd NZL Taylor Burn and Oscar Rovick- 31pts

29er top two
1st NZL Trent Rippey and Alex Munro- 13pts
2nd NZL Markus Sommerville and Jack Simpson- 19pts

Access 303
1st NZL Robbie Love and Katy Kenah- 8pts

Flying 15 National Championship
1st NZL Aaron Goodmanson and Alister Rowlands- 12pts
2nd NZL Ben Lowe and Kate Gilbert 22pts
3rd NZL Craig Coulam and Adrienne Rekke- 23pts

Access Liberty National Championship
1st Brendan Tourelle- 14pts
2nd John Buchanan- 18pts
3rd Michael Jones- 29pts

Daily results can be found online the event website www.sailauckland.org.nz and facebook page www.facebook.com/SailAKL