Issue date
420 Nationals concluded at Naval Point 15th March, Lyttelton with WBC/MBSC pair Henry Haslett/Jeremy Mitchell closing their National Regatta win not having to attend the last race 12.
Going into Day 4, the other two top boats WBC/NPCL Jono Weston/Taylor Balogh and MPYC/NPCL Brittany Wornall/Emma Stenhouse were separated by 6 points. With final day conditions similar to Day 3 of 21k gusts and choppy sea, the National Championship remained open for the final day's winner to take the Championship. However historic Opti colleagues CBYC/QCYC Kim Buchannan/Callum Radford dominated to win Race 11 with Brittany Wornall/ Emma Stenhouse maintaining their form 2, 3, 3. This widened the results gap for Jono Weston/Taylor Balogh.
Henry Haslett/Jeremy Mitchell's win was remarkable given the pairs restricted onramp training time toward Nationals due to Jeremy's recent glandular fever.
The Regatta of 14 boats was represented by eight SI crews, five NI crews and the WBC/NPCL pair Jono Weston/ Taylor Balogh. Demonstrating that 420's are open to older crews, NPCL/CBYC pair Rosa Hill/Ali Nightingale delivered a strong Regatta 8th. Five younger SI crews of +13yrs attended Nationals being Harry Corston/Charlotte Corston, Ben Baynes/Fergus Frame, Teo Richardson/Hunter Davison, Mathew Bayley/Humphrey Bullen and Claran Banks/Jacob Banks.
A significant effort was made by Northern travelling crews Kerensa Jennings/Chelsea Rees (MBSC/KYC), Michael Stern/Blake Nicholson (MBSC), Emma Hyde/Annabel Cave (MBSC/KYC) & Courtney Reynolds-Smith/Brianna Reynolds-Smith (MBSC), each challenged by the Naval Point choppy conditions to fill the Results board mid fleet.
Conditions were exceptional with a predominant NE/Easterly wind range 7 - 21k providing comfortable challenging racing for all. The NZ 420 Association communicates immense thanks to Naval Point Club, Lyttelton for running a remarkable regatta under the leadership of Ross May (NRO) & Wayne Keen.
Races started on time and accurate courses provided great racing through a spread of OW3's and when required IW3's.
Full Nationals Results can be seen at:
http://www.navalpoint.co.nz/results/420%20Nationals%202015.htm
