Issue date
Just one point separated the top two teams of the 2012 Baltic Lifejackets NZ Women’s Keel boat National Championships, and Sam Osborne and her crew from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron reined supreme.
The fickle Auckland Autumn weather threw everything at the organisers and competitors for this regatta run by the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron on the 28th & 29th April in the Farr MRX yachts. On day one, the crews faced a 20 to 30 knot Westerly that severely tested their spinnaker handling skills and on Sunday each time the wind came in it disappeared almost as quickly.
Fresh from a 2nd place finish at the MRX Owners Championships the weekend prior, Sam and her team of Taylor Holland, Paige Cook, Raynor Smeal, Simone Locke, Carla Holgate and Hannah Morris were able to handle the big breeze.
“Our highlight was on the windiest day, we were really sending it and nearly out of control” said Sam. “We handled the situation well, kept our heads and got ourselves out of each drama.
Gillian William’s crew started the regatta with a first and appeared to be in commanding form. This team, sponsored by HTC Sportsworld, was unlucky to catch a spinnaker sheet between the rudder and the hull which jammed the rudder in the second race. It was a costly mistake that lost her two races and a chance a chance of winning the regatta.
Sundays racing proved just as challenging with steady North West breeze at the start of each race fizzling out by the finish of each race. First places were shared between five of the crew, proving that this close racing really could have been anybody’s title to take home.
Joy Adams and her crew representing the Bucklands Beach Yacht Club won three of the eight races, proving that their training at the Ladies Club Series of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Ponsonby Cruising Club paid off. They are sure to be back next year to avenge the one point deficit that held them back from winning this year’s event.
All the crews had their moments and small mistakes proved costly in the evenly matched one design MRX fleet. In total, eight races were run, some in more than 25 knots of wind and some in less than 5 knots.
Sam Osborne has also been awarded the helm of New Zealand’s entry for the BMW International Sailing Cup Grand Final in Istanbul this coming June. The mixed team for this event has been selected from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Bucklands Beach Yacht Club.
Final Results:
1. Samantha Osborne- RNZYS
2. Joy Adams- BBYC
3. Danielle Bowater- RNZYS
