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The recent Opti Team Cup brought plenty of colour and excitement as 27 teams from across the country battled it out on Lake Pupuke.
The colour was evident from the outset, with sponsored coloured sails used for the first time. Teams swapped out their rigs for the next team which meant fast-paced racing.
In fact, 140 races were completed over the two days, as organisers from the Murrays Bay Sailing Club took advantage of leading edge app technology for instant results and updates and seedings at the finish of each race thanks to Rob Cleghorn and race officer Dave West kept things rolling on the water.
The umpiring team, which which included Olympic coach Nathan Handley and America's Cup sailors Dean Barker and Jim Turner, were kept busy throughout the weekend, especially during the finals.
The NZL Optimist Yachting Trust provided the funding for the sails (these can be used many times again in the future and are a great asset for NZIODA) and Doyle Sails organised the 24 sails for the eight-team colours of three which were all individually sponsored by Mulcahy Engineering, Doyles Sails, MacKay Boats, Adhesive Technologies, Thunderbox Portaloos, Allied Fastenings, HPCA Chartered Accountants and Benefitz.
The Jogeto Racing team of Josh Hilder and George and Tom Pilkington won the open fleet, beating Just Vibing (Blake McGlashan, Ben Catton and Sam Clarke) 2-0 in the final.
The green fleet competition was won by Waka Weapons (Jack Craddock, Callum Noyer and Tom Shannon), who beat GGOAT (Greta Hutton, Charlotte Handley and Nicholas McGlennon) 2-1 in their final.
Full results here
