Issue date
It’s a time many look back on with less than fond memories but for Sean and Rowan Kensington, some good came out of Auckland’s many Covid-19 lockdowns.
While the brothers had always wanted to form a sailing partnership in the 29er, they had spent almost two years learning the class with different partners before the pandemic-enforced isolation provided an opportunity to team up sooner than they had planned.
“It was toward the end of the lockdowns [in 2021], there was a rule where you could only go and sail with someone if they were in your bubble,” Sean said. “We kind of planned on sailing together later, but that got us started, and it helped us a lot. It meant we could train for a while when everyone else couldn't. Once everyone got back into sailing, we just decided to keep going.”
Sixteen-year-old Sean helms the boat, with Rowan, two years older, the crew.
Their partnership has flourished since, with the brothers' growing list of 29er titles including the North Island championships in September, the Sir Peter Blake Regatta in December, the Auckland championships in January, the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta in February and last weekend’s national championships at their local Kohimarama Yacht Club.
Sean and Rowan Kensington have enjoyed impressive success in the 29er class over the past year.
The brothers dominated at the event as they have nearly every time they have pushed off this season, winning seven of the 12 races to take out the win by 11 points from club mates Will Leech and Tim Howse.
Tessa Clinton and Nicola Hume finished first female team and seventh overall in the 29-boat fleet that battled conditions ranging from a massive rain squall on the first day and winds upward of 25kn on the second, to two days of light breeze.
“We enjoyed the first two days quite a lot because we like the breeze and then for the last two days, it was a little bit lighter, which was pretty good because there were a lot of closer races which was good practice,” Sean said.
Time on the water is one of the main reasons for their impressive success in only their second season as a pairing, he believes.
“We were both pretty experienced 29er sailors when we started sailing together but we have been trying to sail as much as we can to really get an advantage,” Sean said.
While they're on the water most afternoons and just about all weekend, winter is more challenging with limited daylight, Rowan added.
“We try to make the most of weekends then, and because we live together and we are quite close to the club we can get out for an hour or so after school before it gets dark.”
Being sailing siblings also has its challenges.
“As brothers, we definitely feel open to criticise each other more than would probably be the case in any other team," Sean said. "We do get on pretty well most of the time but it can get out of hand sometimes. We usually manage to get back on track and keep positive quite quickly when that does happen, though.”
Role clarity is another key part of making the partnership work - and making their boat go faster, according to Rowan.
“Our coach Ian [Neely] has done a good job making sure we both know what our roles are on the boat. With most of the tactics, Sean will have the final say while I’m more focused on the boat speed and the setup of the sail."
The 2023 NZ 29er national championships saw 29 boats compete at Kohimarama Yacht Club.
They have four weeks of preparation before departing for Weymouth in the UK for the 29er world championships – their first European outing in the class.
“We're hoping to get some good racing and experience over there but we really have no idea how we’ll compare with the international fleet,” Rowan said.
“We went to Australia at the start of the year for their nationals to try to get some bigger fleet racing in. We ended up fourth, but it was some good, tight racing and valuable experience in bigger fleets – which is hard to get in New Zealand.”
There’s also the chance to qualify for the youth world championships in Armação dos Búzios, Brazil in December.
Longer term, the Kensingtons want to switch to a 49er FX and eventually the 49er – arguably the most competitive domestic fleet in the country.
“I think we'll start out in the FX because we would need to get bigger and keep developing before transitioning to the 49er but there is such a good group going on there at the moment,” Sean said.
“It would be a pretty good opportunity to get involved in that group and just learn from each other."
- The 29er nationals also doubled as the 470 national championships, with Derek Scott and Rebecca Hume pipping Brittany Wornall and Sam Street to the title by two points.
Final results and standings from the NZ 29er and 470 national championships, hosted by Kohimarama Yacht Club:
29er fleet (29 boats)
1st: Sean Kensington/Rowan Kensington (Kohimarama Yacht Club) 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 (8.0) 2.0 1.0 (12.0) 1.0 - 17 pts
2nd: Will Leech/Tim Howse (Kohimarama Yacht Club) 4.0 3.0 4.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 (5.0) 2.0 2.0 (8.0) - 28 pts
3rd: Nelsen Meacham/Josh Schon (Wakatere Boating Club) (9.0) 2.0 1.0 (12.0) 4.0 3.0 1.0 9.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 - 33 pts
Full results here.
470 fleet (7 boats)
1st: Derek Scott (Torbay Sailing Club)/Rebecca Hume (Royal Akarana Yacht Club) 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 (3.0) 3.0 1.0 2.0 (4.0) - 11 pts
2nd: Brittany Wornall (Naval Point Club Lyttelton)/Sam Street (New Plymouth Yacht Club) 2.0 1.0 (3.0) 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 (3.0) 2.0 - 13 pts
3rd: Ashlee Daunt/Brayden Daunt (Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron) 3.0 3.0 2.0 (5.0) (4.0) 1.0 3.0 1.0 3.0 - 16 pts
Full results here.
