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Dozens of boats enjoyed the full range of conditions, from light through to "fireworks", during the Giesen New Year Regatta hosted by the Waikawa Boating Club.
The event is one of the largest events held in Waikawa alongside the annual Women’s Regatta and it was well attended again this year when 33 boats competed over two days on the waters of Queen Charlotte Sound.
“The spread of wind conditions across the two days of racing couldn’t have been planned any better," Waikawa sailing rear commodore David Grigg said. "The light winds for race one, built in race two until we had fireworks with strong winds for the final races on Sunday.”
Friday night opened with the Ray White invitational race which served as an excellent warm up to the main event of the weekend.
As many as 180 crew from throughout New Zealand competed in the event, with 60 percent from Marlborough and the balance coming from Northland, Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Tasman and Canterbury.
The club successfully ran the regatta as a fully vaccinated event and it brought in some much-needed visitors to Picton.
Summer racing is now under way at Waikawa with the Boom Town Summer Twilight series. The next race is the Versatile Offshore Series on January 22 and anyone wanting to join a crew should get in contact with the club.
- Photo: Karmyn Ingram.
