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There has been some great racing over summer, with some new names appearing alongside some more familiar ones.
Napier Sailing Club – John Buchanan travelled down from Auckland for Napier Sailing Club’s Centreboard New Year Regatta and was rewarded by winning the six strong Hansa Liberty fleet, with locals Katy Kenah and Dennis Hebberley second and third respectively. Full results can be found here.
Ngaroto Sailing Club - After the successful inclusion of the Hansa Classes in the Hartley North Island Champs (1/2 November 2015) seven sailors took the opportunity to attend a Training Clinic at Lake Ngaroto on 5th February, followed by competing in the Waikato Thames Centreboard Championships on the 6th and 7th of February. It was pleasing to see a fleet of five Hansa 303 boats outnumbering the two Hansa Liberties! The feedback from the sailors who attended this event points to this being a good format and venue for training followed by racing. Dave Allerton’s experience showed as he took out the Hansa 303 division, with local sailors Mark James and Andrew Short coming second and third. Both boats In the Hansa Liberty fleet were sailed using servo assist, and Mark Mandeno won this division with Mackenzie Kench battling with equipment problems to get second. Full results can be found here.
Waitara Boating Club held a regatta on the weekend of 13 and 14 February, and they also attracted a fleet of five Hansa 303’s . Experience and Local knowledge saw Wayne Holdt win, with Dave Allerton taking second on countback from Simon Holdt. Full results can be found here.
Oceanbridge Sail Auckland - while the off the beach classes sailed out of Murrays Bay, the Sonars and Hansa Liberties sailed at Gulf Harbour with the Flying 15’s. The Regatta started on the 25th February for the two Paralympic class Sonars, with nine Hansa Liberties joining them on the 26th and then the Flying 15s joining the mix for the weekend. Unfortunately, lack of wind prevented any sailing on the Sunday. The two Sonars managed to complete nine races with Rick Dodson and his crew of Andrew May and Chris Sharp sailing a very consistent series to win over the second Sonar helmed by John Weston, and crewed by Richard Brown and Gemma Fletcher. View the full Sonar results here. Oceanbridge Sail Auckland was also the Hansa Nationals, and the Hansa Liberties managed to complete six races. Sarah Dunckley of Evans Bay Yacht And Motor Boat Club sailed well and her consistent results in the light conditions over the two days of sailing saw her win, with Robert Coulter second and Tim Dempsey third. Robert Coulter won the Kiwi Cup as the first sailor with a classifiable disability. View the full Hansa Liberty results here.
Lake Taupo Yacht Club’s Mighty River Power Regatta has been a popular event for Hansa Sailors for the last six years (lake level permitting) and this year was no exception, with an entry of 6 liberties and four 303 boats, of which two were sailed as doubles. For the full story read John Buchanan’s article, but full results can be found here.
The extra effort put in by John Buchanan to travel to out of town regattas has paid dividends in sailing experience and results , as he has also just been to the Australian Hansa Class Association Nationals held on the Gold Coast over Easter. John showed he was no Easter Bunny by placing third on countback in the Liberty fleet. Read all about it on the Australian Hansa Class Association site or on their Facebook page.
