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More than 70 boats and boards across nine classes toughed it out in challenging conditions at last Friday's College Sport Regatta at the Wakatere Boating Club.
While this represented a drop in the usual number competing at this event, it was a good turnout considering many senior students were absent because of mock exams.
Takapuna Grammar School won the Epiglass Trophy as the overall winning school for the first time in the event's 71-year history. This was calculated by the three lowest-scoring boats from three classes, plus the next lowest-scoring boat from any class.
Race management were impressed by the standard of racing, especially as cold winds in excess of 20 knots and the usual strong tide off Wakatere made life challenging. The large number of fleets meant two race courses were in operation and the race officers on both courses whipped through the races to make sure the sailors weren't out on the water any longer than they needed to be.
The College Sport Regatta has been absent from the calendar for a couple of years due to Covid-19 and this year's event was delayed from its original date in March. Next year's regatta will return to its usual date early in the school year, which should see a boost in numbers again.
"The event went really well," said Yachting New Zealand regional development manager Hayden Whitburn, who helped coordinate the event with hosts Wakatere. "It was great to get it back up and running after a couple of postponements.
"The biggest highlight for me was the superb group of volunteers involved who ensured the event ran so smoothly. It was also great to see so many schools provide support boats, which took a lot of pressure off."
Takapuna Grammar School won the Epiglass Trophy as the top school for the first time.
Last week's regatta featured the IQ Foil for the first time, and seven sailors buzzed around the course, including Aimee Bright (Whagaparoa College) who competed for the NZL Sailing Foundation Youth Team at this year's Youth Sailing World Championships in The Hague. Bright took out the overall honours in the windfoiling fleet, finishing ahead of Charlie Solly (Glendowie College), who took the boy's title, and Stella Bilger (Baradene College).
The Starlings made up the biggest fleet with 24 entries, and many of those were among the impressive fleet of 31 Starlings at Saturday's Icebreaker regatta at the Murrays Bay Sailing Club the following day. Sam Clarke (Westlake Boys High School) won the boy's division at the College Sport Regatta, with Chloe Turner (Rangitoto College) finishing on top in the girl's fleet.
The Hansa 303 class provided plenty of colour with their bright sails, with Quinn Heald (Rangitoto College) and pilot Connor Lloyd-Read winning all three races.
You can find the full results here as well as a gallery of pictures here.
