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The 2019 Jack Tar Auckland Regatta was dogged by light winds last weekend, but race management still manged to get enough racing in to keep things interesting.
Saturday saw no racing until the early afternoon, and even then it was like pulling teeth with the first race being a complete drift-off. The second race wasn’t much better, but credit to race management for being able to get two races completed in what were very light shifty conditions.
Although initial forecasts were more promising, Sunday also began with very light winds and there was a general sense of déjà vu on both the Royal New Zealand yacht Squadron and Bucklands Beach Yacht Club courses. The first race was slow going and, to make things harder, the wind did a complete 180 halfway through the race which meant the fleet were having to carry their kites up to the top mark, making for an interesting aspect to the race. The breeze then filled in a bit for the second race of the day.
The final race of the regatta was a harbour course that took the fleets on a track between Brown’s Island, Rangitoto and Takapuna Beach. By then the breeze was solid and finally allowed all of the boats to stretch out the sails.
In the MRX Pacific Keelboat Challenge, which kicked off on Friday and featured crews from as far away as Hong Kong and Australia, it was the RNZYS team helmed by Matt Bouzaid who took home the overall victory, with Tom Macky second and Stephen Ellis’ Hong Kong team third.
A great feature and addition to this year’s regatta were the fleet of Piedys that took to the water, with seven in total providing a nice contrast to the entry list. It was Sam Marshall’s Motormouse that won overall, with Pierre Harrison’s Red Label second and Wasabi helmed by Ryan Barron third.
The honour of the largest fleet in the regatta went to the Sport Boat division, with 11 racing it out on the Waitemata Harbour. Stuart Wilsons Angry Dragon won on line, but it was Mike Hindrups W8-Up that took the overall handicap honours. Charles Hollings Atomic was second, with Anne Hirst’s Team Sex rounding out the podium.
Another new addition to the regatta was the division E fleet, with the initiative designed to get some regular rum racers and cruisers involved in the fun. It what was a very close-fought battle that came down to the final race, it was Ross Chapman’s Charmonet who edged Mike Malcolm’s Bird on the Wing.
Division B was dominated by Mark Roberts’s team on Extreme, with Mark Noyer’s Rattle n Rum in second and the Young 88 Nona helmed by Carl Webster third.
Only one multihull competed this year but Simon Hull and his Frank Racing team still came out to race.
There was plenty of excitement and close racing across the two days in division A. Steve Mair’s Clockwork were the overall winners on handicap, with Jim Farmer’s Georgia impressively winning every windward-leeward race on line which gave them line honours as well as second place on handicap. AJ Reid and his team on Anarchy finished third.
