News 2004-2005 Season

rowie's autumn series

(May 2005) A bit windier than expected with 15- 22 knots of breeze but in all 28 boats lined up to contest race 1 of this 5 race series. More... Another 5 green fleet optimists fronted up for their own little race and it shows how keen these skippers are to get out and sail in the conditions considering that they only started in the sport a few months ago. By around 2pm we were all ashore, after an hour and half of exhilarating sailing, just as the sun started to shine making de-rigging rather warm and pleasant prior to a change of clothes followed by a cup of tea, or a cold beer, and a sandwich accompanied by a few tall tales back in the clubhouse. To sum up: great last week, perfect this Sunday, when we expect to see boat numbers increase further with people now back after the school holidays. And, if you are from another club, come and join us. Warning signal at noon.
Results.

burglar of the bay

(16 April) This was held in idyllic conditions with a light southerly-northerly-southerly-northerly encountered during the race. Out of the three teams of four boats, the Vice-Commodore's and the Rear Commodore's team came out equal on points (which does not say much for the Commodore's team). Eventually a tie-break system was proposed and accepted giving the win to the Rear Commodore's team, who were thereby able to make up for the (possibly more apparent than real) disadvantage of being the only team without a 420, by having a boat load of lawyers to put forward such an eloquent case on behalf of their team.
Congratulations to Julian Bishop and Catherine Bagnall of Careless Whisper who become this year's Burglar of the Bay.

hebtro trophy

A strong cold southerly meant that for the first time in the 14 year history of the Hebtro trophy, racing was cancelled. A chilling reminder on the 37th anniversary of the Waihine storm. Guest of honour, Tom Schnackenberg was not phased by the opportunity this gave him to speak to an attentive crowd in the clubhouse. He held even the juniors attention for over an hour as he spoke of two boat campaigning for the America's cup, the use of computer technology in design, and other experiences on the water. This year John Ashby led the auction which not only raised spirits but more importantly, the bids, to bring the fundraising total to just over $10,000 for our junior learn to sail programmes. A HUGE thank you to our Hebtro Trophy sponsors without whom this target could not be achieved.

An awesome day!
Photos

wbbc champion of champions

On Saturday 9 April, the WBBC Champion of Champions was sailed. The champion sailor from each class raced off in the club sunbursts over four races to find the champion of them all! Skippers were: Adam Middleton (optimist), Josh Junior (p class), Chris Jones (starling), Bubble (sunburst), Phil Williams (skiff/420), Karl Purdie (mono). The wind was light and shifty from the north. Race 1 saw the rooky pushing the line too hard resulting an individual recall. Defending champion Josh sailed a clean race to take the gun. The pressure however proved too much and he failed to make the start in race 2, effectively blowing his chances of being champion again. Bubble sniffed victory on the wind and took his opportunity while he could winning race 2. Josh cleaned up in race 3 picking the left side of the course, leaving the final result to be decided in the last race. Bubble needed a third or better, and Josh needed a first to claim victory. True to form, Josh led from the start. Bubble scored his worst race, fifth. The Christophersen Family Trophy was won by Josh Junior for the second year running.
1st Josh Junior
2nd Bubble
3rd Phil Williams
4th Chris Jones
5th Adam Middleton
6th Karl Purdie
Photos

optimist nationals 2005

Taipa, Easter 2005
Twelve WBBC sailors headed to the far north this Easter to compete in the 2005 Optimist National Champs. There were a total of 193 sailors in the open fleet with around another 30 sailors competing in a green fleet series, making this the biggest single class regatta in New Zealand.
Day one dawned overcast with wind ranging from 15 to 20kts. Sea conditions were challenging with a reasonable size chop on top of an ocean swell. Needless to say all of the WBBC sailors performed well with some top placings in the three races run. In one race WBBC was 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 11th. Tim Coltman was in good form and finished in the top 10 at the end of the days sailing with Shelley Pearson and Josh Porebski hovering around the 20's. Jono Hanns also sailed well with two races in the top 10. Even Adam Middleton showed his age group (12 years) how to sail in the breeze leading the 12 year old age group by the end of day one.
Day two saw the wind ease to 5-10kts, however the lumpy sea conditions remained. The wind direction also shifted significantly throughout the day which, combined with the light airs and sea conditions proved to be very challenging. Four races were sailed during the day and all of the WBBC sailors struggled with boat speed and the shifting wind conditions.
Day three saw similar conditions to day two. The wind remained light and kept moving in all directions, however the sea conditions had eased a little which allowed our sailors to maintain some boat speed. Again four races were sailed during the day. Josh came to life recording a 6th, 12th, 14th and an 18th. Sarah Berry didn't have a good start to the day but sailed well in the last race to score an 11th. Adam also found the sea conditions a little easier and picked up a 12th and a 19th and James de Lisle recovered from a Z flag penalty to get a 36th in the last race.
Day four dawned calm with a flat sea. Only one further race was required to complete the regatta. By the time the warning signal sounded the wind had increased to 10-12kts. With a flatter sea, this suited our sailors and Jono scored his best result with a 4th. Rumour has it that Jono didn't want to sail but Pete bribed him that if he got a top ten place then he would buy Jono a Laser! Sarah and Stacey Swanson both had good races with a 16th and 17th respectively.
The attitude and behaviour of the WBBC sailors, both on and off the water, was fantastic. Well done.
Well done also to William McVeagh, James de Lisle and Jackson MacFarlane who all competed at their first nationals. The learning curve was huge and they will only benefit from the experience.
For a number of the sailors this is the end of the Opti era and they can now concentrate on other classes. For the others, there is always room for improvement and we look forward to seeing you on the water next season. Who knows what next year will bring.
Performance analysis
Photos

greg wright & penny kerr defend their title

(29 March) Greg Wright and Penny Kerr in "Embers" have retained their sunburst national championship title with a perfect score of seven wins from seven races. Third was "Nimrod", Phil Williams and Rob Bryant with a 5, 3, 2, 4, 4, 3, 3 scoreline.
Four Worser Bay boats went down for the Nationals, "Embers", "Nimrod", "Good Times", and "Apricot Sox". We all arrived on Thursday late afternoon to get the boats checked over and weighed and to have a look at the river conditions. "Nimrod" went out to get used to sailing a sunburst again after sailing a 420 for most of the season.
Good Friday: At the briefing it was announced we would race as a single fleet as only 21 boats were entered. It was then all on with 3 races back to back on a course very close to the yacht club. The first race got away to a clean start and up the front it was a dogfight between "Embers" and "Flossie" from Dunedin in a steady breeze. "Nimrod" finishing fifth was the next Worser Bay boat. Race 2 got away about 10 minutes after the last boat finished and was won in the same order up front as race one with "Nimrod" third this time. For race 3 the wind was light and dying away. Again it was won by "Embers" with "Nimrod" second and only eight boats - including "Good Times" in seventh - finishing within the 20 min time limit after the first boat. "Flossie" was one that was out of time in this race but eventually this was their discard. After racing, the yacht club put on a dinner for all of the competitors. A big thank you!
Saturday: The wind was a southerly or across the river making it very difficult to set a triangle course. So we set sail up river to the Stewart Gully area where the river turns ninety degrees to give a true upwind beat. Race four got away to a clean start and was won again by "Embers" with "Flossie" second. The last race for the day again consisted of three triangles but this time with a long downwind run from the top mark to finish at the club house. "Flossie" had her moment of glory leading the fleet for the whole race until the long downwind run to the finish when "Embers" came from behind to edge in front metres from the finish and win by seconds.
Easter Sunday: The wind was back to a NE so the course was as day one. The wind was up a little so most crews were on the side for the first time of the contest. Two races back to back, the first race was "Good Times" best start of the contest with "Embers" below us as we came down the line to start. "Embers" was being pushed up by another boat and we were just able to clear Embers bow as the gun went with Penny very politely asking "get out of the way Maurice'. Same order up front as race 5 with "Nimrod" 3rd. Race 7 started with the wind still steady and a top three finishing order the same as race 6.
It was then time to derig the boats and put them on the double deck trailers and then prizegiving with a great selection of prizes to choose from. Following prizegiving the yacht club put on another fantastic meal for all to enjoy. Overall the contest was run very well by Waimak and the courses was fair to everyone and no protests which all contest should avoid "just do your turns on the water". Worser Bay will be back if they have the contest again.
Worser Bay Results: Embers, Greg Wright & Penny Kerr, 1st overall, 1st Masters. Nimrod P.Williams & Robbie Bryant, 3rd overall and 1st Grand Masters. Good Times Maurice & Greg Scott, 10th overall, 1st on H'cap, Best Presented Boat. Apricot Sox, Bob & Brendan Shaw 21st overall.
Check Waimak website for full results www.waimak.org.nz
(Greg Scott Good Times 1739)

wya centreboard championships at paremata

(16 March) Congratulations to Adam Middleton (Optimist), Patrick McDonald (P Class), Emma Berry (Starling) and Matthew Steven (Laser) who are this season's WYA Centreboard Champions for the classes mentioned.

oki 24 hour race lake pupuke

(16 March) Well done Aaron Hume-Merry who teamed with Matt Coutts to finish 11th overall (and 2nd youth) and Cushla Hume-Merry, who with Jo Aleh and Samantha Winther were 12th and 1st womens team.
Results at
www.murraysbay.org

leander trophy at wbbc

(13 March) This years contest was held at the Worser Bay Boating club for the first time since 1997. The Wellington weather being what it is racing was only held on 2 days. Thursday was breezy, even for Wellington, with 100km/h forecast. Sunday was the complete opposite with a glassy calm for most of the morning rising to under 5kts. Results here.

asia pacific 420/470 champs

(27 February) Several WBBC pairs teamed up for this regatta. Phil Williams & Rob Bryant finished 5th, Josh Junior & Ben Hanns 9th, Rowan Swanson & Chris Jones 18th, Mark & Emma Berry 20th, Jonathan Clough & Carl Syman 22nd, and James Hakes in a crew that came 23rd. Report, results and photos at
www.lfyys.wellington.net.nz.

centreport youth match racing champs

(24 February) The Line 7 Port Nicholson Regatta 2005 - Wellington's largest annual yachting regatta - kicked off with the CentrePort Wellington International Youth Match Racing Championships this week.
For results and photos visit the Lion Foundation web site at www.lfyys.wellington.net.nz/

laser nationals at napier & asia pacific champs

(27 February) A number of the youth sailors have been competing in the Laser Nationals at Napier with some great results in some strong fields, that included the top laser sailors in NZ plus competitors from overseas. Aaron Hume-Merry 11th overall and 3rd youth, Stuart Thomas (19th and 6th), and Matthew Steven (22nd and 8th). In the Laser Radial Class Seth Price finished 15th overall and 5th youth with Cushla Hume-Merry 17th overall and 7th youth.
The Asia Pacific Champs were sailed at Muritai Yacht club, where a number of our laser sailors also competed.
Results for the Nationals and Asia Pacifics available at http://www.nzlaser.org/

another national champion from wbbc!

(February 2005) Congratulations to Steve McDowell, who, with a results of 2,6,3,1,1,14,1,3 (and not needing to sail the last race), is the 2005 National and Interdominion, International OK Dinghy Champion. Congratulations also to Karl Pudie - 2nd, Greg Wilcox - 3rd (and first veteran). A WBBC trifecta with Paul Rhodes and Joe Porebski giving us five boats in the the top ten placings. Full results at
www.napiersailingclub.org.nz

ward island club picnic

(29 January) A steady southerly blew the fleet of junior and senior sailors to the island for this year's club picnic day under the guidance of many support boats. After and sausage and a few games, some of the juniors continued across the harbour to race at Muritai in the afternoon. Others soaked up the relaxed island life and prepared for the upwind return sailing. A great day out!
Check out the photos.

north island sunburst champs

(January 2005) Congratulations to Greg Wright and Penny Kerr, who have added another North Island Championship to their list of major Sunburst titles. Brett and Lyndal Linton finished third, and first husband and wife, whilst the other five WBBC crews, all had their moments of glory battling the competition in light to (very occasionally) moderate winds, and the Taupo sun which sat at around 28 degrees for most of the weekend! More photos.
Full results.

p class and starling nationals

(January 2005) The P and starling nationals were sailed over two weeks from December 27. Twenty five sailors made the trip from Wellington to Tauranga for the regattas.
Rowan Swanson was the stand out Wellington sailor finishing third equal in the Tanner cup, fifth in the Tauranga cup and 38th in the Starling nationals.
Full report, results and photos here,
www.lfyys.wellington.net.nz/

starling match racing trials

(6 December) Chris Jones is the Wellington rep this year having sailed through the trials undefeated. Two round robins were held on Saturday morning with Arran Whiteford and Chris Jones coming out on top. The sail off for third place was won by Jonathon Clough. Then came the final which Chris managed to win 2-0 over Arran. The trials were sailed in a fair breeze and were very well organised by Kapiti Boating Club. Good luck Chris for Tauranga!

wya primary schools regatta

(1 December) Sailed at Paremata Boating Club, this teams event was well supported by Wellington schools and the weather gods. Light and shifty winds in the morning, which strenghtened throughout the day. Four races were sailed of which three races counted. Tim Coltman from Wellesley College earned a first placing overall, but as the sole sailor from Wellesley, the team trophy went to Adam Middleton and Fengyi Looi from Scots College. Second placed team was St Matthews College and third, Muritai school.
Results
Photos

tanner cup trials

(30 November) The Wellington region Tanner Cup Trials were held at Worser Bay Boating Club on 27 & 28 November. Josh Junior sailing for Worser Bay was selected as the representative for this season's interprovincial P class championships which are to be sailed at Tauranga over Christmas. Josh joins fellow club members Rowan Swanson who will represent Wanaganui-Manawatu) and Emma Berry (who will represent New Plymouth) in the Tanner Cup. Results and photos at www.lfyys.wellington.net.nz.

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mighty river power optimist champs

(22 November) Light, shifting winds greeted our 13 sailors at this year's North Island Champs in Taupo. 'A good start and clear air'! - heard this before? - I know our juniors have. But have they been listening...! Tactics also proved important as the wind tended to shift through 20 - 30 degrees during some races, requiring sailors to be always thinking about that other side of the course. Winds varied from less than 5 knots, through to about 12 knots, though most races were sailed in 5 - 10 knots.
Adam Middleton had an exceptional regatta, finishing 18th overall out of 122 boats in the open fleet, second in the 11 year age group, and top Wellington sailor. Adam was closely followed by Josh Porebski in 22nd overall and fourth in the 12 year old age group, and by Fengyi Looi in 27th overall and fifth in the 12 year old age group. In the end, WBBC had eight sailors (ten in JRS) in the top half of the fleet which is encouraging for the Nationals next year.
Three WBBC sailors competed in the Green fleet of the regatta. None of these sailors had competed in a major regatta before, yet all three completed every race. Jackson Macfarlane and James de Lisle finished a very commendable 27th and 28th respectively out of 70 boats, with Nicholas Jamieson placing 63rd. Well done guys - great effort!

Wellington Results
Open fleet (122 boats)
Adam Middleton (WBBC) 18th, 2nd 11 year old
Josh Porebski (WBBC) 22nd, 4th 12 year old
Fengyi Looi (WBBC) 27th, 5th 12 year old
Tim Coltman (MYC) 32nd
Sarah Berry (WBBC) 33rd
Jono Hanns (WBBC) 37th
Ethan Price (HBC) 50th
Emma Berry (WBBC) 51st
Simon McVeath (WBBC) 53rd
Scott Bulliment (PLBC) 58th
Shelley Pearson (WBBC) 61st
Mike Trudgen (MYC) 84th
Chris Staub (MYC) 89th
Kirsten Stewart (PBC) 91st
Simon Van Ryn (MYC) 96th
Kristen de Lisle (WBBC) 102nd
Zoe Moncheur (MYC) 112th
Kelly-Marie Saunders (HBC) 115th
Chris Barstead (MYC) 116th
William McVeagh (WBBC) 121st

Green fleet (70 boats)
Heather Trudgen (MYC) 4th
Anita Trudgen (MYC) 18th
Jackson Macfarlane (WBBC) 27th
James de Lisle (WBBC) 28th
Oliver Staub (MYC) 54th
Nicolas Jamieson (WBBC) 63rd
William Eyles (HBC) 68th
Rachel McJorrow (MYC) 69th

Open fleet results
Green fleet results
Regatta photos from Smileez in Taupo.

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worser bay regatta

Eighty four boats competed in the recent Worser Bay Regatta. Light and variable winds with changing tides, created challenging conditions for the sailors in all three races. Consequently, results were closely contested with many positions decided finally in the last race and on count back.
Classes sailed were: optimist (24), P class (13), starlings (10), monos (21), sunburst (14), open (2).
Full results
Photos

nuplex north island p class and starling championships

(27 October) Seventeen Worser Bay sailors travelled to Tauranga to compete in the Nuplex North Island P and Starling Championships. The regatta was sailed over two days and consisted of six races for each fleet. The conditions were very light all weekend with only the second half of the last race making it close to ten knots.
Jono Hanns sailed an excellent and consistent regatta to finish fifth overall.
The regatta was an excellent opportunity for sailors to experience the tidal conditions that will prevail at the national championships over the Christmas-New Year period.
Congratulations to Gus Pinnegar, Carl Syman, and Elvin Els who all competed in their first major regatta in their respective classes.

P Class results (77 Boats)
Jono Hanns 5th
Rowan Swanson 14th
Josh Junior 18th
Emma Berry 30th
Stacey Swanson 39th
Hayley Hume Merry 54th
Benn Hanns 56th
Sarah Berry 64th
Alice Pearson 71st
Niall Pearson 74th
Gus Pinnegar 75th

Starling Results (89 boats)
Cushla Hume Merry 36th
Matthew Steven 37th
Bruce Jones 48th
Chris Jones 58th
Carl Syman 82nd
Elvin Els 88th

P class results
Starling results
Tauranga report

Photos here

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sailing's silent achiever

(18 October)

Read about the wonderful achievements of Rowan Swanson, Josh Junior and Ben Hanns - the "gems to come off a Worser Bay production line", at www.collegesport.org.nz. The full article is available to download in PDF format. Beware, this file is big!

Photos published here with permission from the Dominion Post and College Sport.

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winchamps winners from wbbc

(3 October) Sixteen Worser Bay sailors made the trip to Auckland to compete in the Volvo Winter Champs. They joined a fleet of over 250 sailors in three days of competition. Each fleet sailed ten races in conditions ranging from 8 to 20 knots. Worser Bay sailors dominated the P class fleet and for the first time ever Worser Bay Boating Club won the P class teams trophy from the traditionally strong Murrays Bay Sailing Club.

Optimist
Tim Coltman 9th
Sarah Berry 19th
Ethan Price 21st
Alice Pearson 44th
P Class
Rowan Swanson 1st
Josh Junior 3rd
Benn Hanns 6th
Niall Pearson 17th
Emma Berry 20th
Stacey Swanson 25th
Hayley Hume Merry 26th
Starling Green
Elvin Els 3rd
Starling
Cushla Hume Merry 13th (3rd Girl)
Matthew Steven 16th
Laser Radial
Seth Price 5th
Laser Open
Aaron Hume Merry 5th (3rd Youth)

Check out the full results and photos from the Murray's Bay website.

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the 420's have arrived!

Six sparkling 420's are now sailing the waters of Worser Bay. Competition is fierce amongst the crews, with old partnerships being reformed, new partnerships being trialled and some keeping their options open by giving them all a go! Will the young, light and nimble crews outsail the wise and rather 'solid' experience of some others? Come down for a look on Saturday afternoons.

new website for wbbc

Just as some of your boats will have had a spruce up over the winter, so too has our website! (and in good tradition, still putting on the final touches after opening day!) While we are in the 'transition' of moving all the great information over from the old site, there may be some gaps here and there. Click on the link on the right to 'Previous site' to find all your old treasures in the meantime.

The Worser Way
July 2005
March 2005
January 2005
November 2004
August 2004

Race Squad 26 May 2005

Youth Scheme News Read latest news.

OptiTech July 2005.(PDF)

News Updates

New Racing Rules Book ONLY $20 (27 January) The club has limited copies of the Yachting New Zealand Rule Book 2005-2008. Normal retail price is $29. Contact Bridget Leppien, 973 9998.

Lion Foundation Youth Yachting Scheme [LFYYS]
(28 August)
www.lfyys.wellington.net.nz.
This site will be the essential coaching reference for Wellington youth sailors of P class, starlings, lasers, 420s, E6s. Each class has a program of core and club based coaching leading up to NI and National Champs. A must read!
Keep up to date with events on the website.

General details on the scheme under Sailing development.

Aaron Hume Merry (August 2004) has won the Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston "CORK 2004" OSA Youthfest Laser Championship at the Cork OSA Youthfest in Kingston , Ontario, Canada. Aaron won all 3 races, one of which was in 30 knot winds which provided a stiff challenge to other sailors without Worser Bay and Evans Bay experience! There were many DNFs. Aaron is the very worthy recipient of the St John's Rotary Club Scholarship awarded annually to allow a New Zealand sailor to attend this regatta. The St Lawrence River venue was the sailing venue for the 1976 Olympics.

Jono Hanns (August 2004) has recently returned from the 21st Japan Junior Yachting Regatta. He was one of five sailors selected by Yachting New Zealand to represent New Zealand, based on his age and performance at the last Opti Nationals. After a slow start to the regatta (a typhoon hit on the first day) Jono finished 10th overall out of a fleet of 60 optimist sailors and the New Zealanders won the team prize. Some of his more interesting experiences there were - dining on mainly raw fish, octopus and even jellyfish and staying in a Buddhist temple with a Buddhist priest and his family. The priest’s ancestors had apparently lived there for the last 400 years!

freestyling it in fuerte

(August 2004) Four weeks in windsurfing heaven makes you really appreciate trees. What Fuerte Ventura, one of the Canary Islands, lacked in vegetation, surely made up for it with wind. That’s why I was there, to train at one of the world’s best junior freestyle camps with some of the world’s best coaches.

The JP International Young Guns Camp was an intensive live-in camp that ran for two weeks from the beginning of July. My aim for the camp was to go and learn as much as I could, watch the Professional Windsurfing Assn World Cup, and maybe even meet some pros. All of these aims were fulfilled except one.

On the final day of the camp, the young guns competition was held. I worked my way through the heats and then beat Chris Murray from England in the final. This qualified me for the PWA World Cup freestyle event. I wasn’t going to be watching it - I was going to be in it!

The World Cup was amazing. Although I never managed to win any of my first round heats, I was definitely not the worst there. The crowds in the grandstands were amazing and sailing with pumping music and live commentary was just insane. In my last heat I very nearly beat Christopher Living, who is currently ranked 17th in the world. After four days I finished up 32nd equal with eight others. Although this wasn’t exactly first, for me being the first Kiwi in five years to qualify for the World Cup made the whole experience worthwhile.

Tom Taylor , NZL 19

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