Results of the Season 2010/11
03. February 2012
If you are interested in reports and results in former years, please select the Year above.
Results and reports of international regattas can be found on okdia.org, the website of the OK Dinghy International Association.
New Zealand Ranking 2011/12
Many thanks to Alistair Deaves for preparing and calculating the ranking list after every regatta.
| Rank | Sail no | Name | Club | Points |
| 1 | NZL 511 | Luke O'Connell | Worser Bay BC | 76 |
| 2 | NZL 530 | Ben Morrison | Wakatere BC | 71 |
| 3 | NZL 478 | Dan Bush | Wakatere BC | 59 |
| 4 | NZL 523 | Joe Porebski | Worser Bay BC | 56 |
| 5 | NZL 517 | Paul Rhodes | Worser Bay BC | 52 |
| 6 | NZL 535 | Mike Wilde | Wakatere BC | 51 |
| 7 | NZL 472 | Adrian Coulthard | Napier SC | 46 |
| 8 | NZL 476 | Mark Perrow | Wakatere BC | 43 |
| 9 | NZL 500 | Nigel Mannering | Napier SC | 43 |
| 10 | NZL 500 | Hamish Fenwick | Napier SC | 40 |
| 11 | NZL 472 | Ed Goodey | Napier SC | 33 |
| 12 | NZL 533 | Rob Hengst | Napier SC | 31 |
| 13 | NZL 504 | Adrian Mannering | Napier SC | 30 |
| 14 | NZL 501 | Michael Morrison | Wakatere BC | 29 |
| 15 | NZL 539 | Brad Douglas | Wakatere BC | 28 |
| 16 | NZL 536 | Marty Pike | Napier SC | 28 |
| 17 | NZL 525 | Steve McDowell | Worser Bay BC | 28 |
| 18 | NZL 524 | Matt Sretchmann | Worser Bay BC | 24 |
| 19 | NZL 526 | Russell Wood | Wakatere BC | 23 |
| 20 | NZL 542 | Alistair Deaves | Wakatere BC | 22 |
| 21 | NZL 475 | Greg Wright | Worser Bay BC | 22 |
| 22 | NZL 509 | Chris Fenwick | Napier SC | 15 |
| 23 | RSA 32 | Brett Graham | Wakatere BC | 14 |
| 24 | NZL 482 | Miles Addy | Wakatere BC | 13 |
| 25 | NZL 5 | Miranda Powrie | Wakatere BC | 13 |
| 26 | NZL 516 | Julian Bishop | Worser Bay BC | 12 |
| 27 | NZL 510 | Nigel Comber | Wakatere BC | 11 |
| 28 | NZL 502 | Trent Pryce | Napier SC | 11 |
| 29 | NZL 372 | Graham Arcus | Wakatere BC | 10 |
| 30 | NZL 469 | Owen Anderson | Worser Bay BC | 10 |
2012 Hurricane Classic
Worser Bay, Wellington
28 & 29 JanuaryBy Bob Smith - © B.S. Sports Publishing
| Boat No. | Skipper | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts | PLACE | Pts-1 |
| 525 | S McDowell | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 13 |
| 511 | L O’Connell | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 14 |
| 517 | P Rhodes | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 26 | 3 | 18 |
| 530 | B Morrison | 5 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 31 | 4 | 23 |
| KZ | M Stechmann | 19 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 43 | 5 | 24 |
| 528 | N Mannering | 6 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 38 | 6 | 31 |
| 475 | G Wright | 3 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 9 | 9 | 66 | 7 | 47 |
| 478 | D Bush | 7 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 15 | 19 | 73 | 8= | 54 |
| 500 | H Fenwick | 10 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 68 | 8= | 54 |
| 523 | J Porebski | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 68 | 10 | 56 |
| 535 | M Wilde | 8 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 69 | 11 | 57 |
| 533 | R Hengst | 11 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 77 | 12 | 64 |
| 531 | A Coulthard | 13 | 12 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 84 | 13 | 68 |
| 509 | C Fenwick | 12 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 96 | 14 | 81 |
| 501 | M Morrison | 16 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 15 | 106 | 15 | 88 |
| 504 | A Mannering | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 110 | 16 | 89 |
| 516 | J Bishop | 15 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 110 | 17 | 94 |
| 472 | Ed | 14 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 113 | 18 | 95 |
| 469 | O Anderson | 19 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 145 | 19 | 124 |
The 2012 Hurricane Classic always looked like being just that, a classic, and it delivered in spades.
Current leader of the NZOK Tour (and Worser Bay Boating Club Vice Commodore) Luke “Colt” O’Connell stepped up to the plate this year and organised a fantastic event, kicking off with a gathering for a few powerades at a local establishment in Miramar followed by a delicious Indian curry and a couple of Tiger beers to wash it down. With the forecast (typically, for Wellington) predicting the possibility of a hurricane, all competitors wrapped the evening up fairly early and retired to a night accompanied by the usual Wellington sound of wind howling in the trees.
Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and the Wellington met service forecast was right on the money (not a difficult task for the Wellington met service: just predict wind a lots of it), northerly blowing 20 bags as the milk was poured on the cereal and the toast buttered.
Down at the club 19 intrepid OK sailors rigged their boats, interspersed with regular checking of the size of the “sheep in the paddock” and standing in line for the amenities (Ben Morrison spotted there 3 times, blamed the curry).
Race 1 got underway under sunny skies and a northerly of 20-22 knots with the odd puff a little higher. Gouch Rhodes immediately hit his straps, handing out a sailing lesson for the first 95% of the race and establishing a massive lead, only to watch it evaporate down the run as a hard-charging bunch came roaring down on a line of breeze. Luckily for Gouch the bottom mark loomed up just in time and he was able to sneak round inside Steve McDowell, Greg “Bubble” Wright and Colt O’Connell, this being the order across the line. Notable performance in this race was from Bubble Wright - having shelved the OK for most of the season on a pot-hunting mission in the Zephyr, he returned to a real man’s class to show his best form ever in the breeze. Look out all you gold card holders, Bubble is in top form!
Much to everyone’s surprise, race 2 got underway in a slightly moderated breeze of 15 gusting 18 (what was Wellington playing at??). After a general recall the fleet powered off the line and charged for the left. Those who managed to hold their line were nicely rewarded, with the Bushwhacker Dan Bush leading at the top followed in a bunch closely by McDowell, Colt, Matt Stechmann, Ben Morrison, Gouch and Nige “Zac” Mannering. Some outstanding downwind speed down the reaches saw McDowell take the lead and make a break while the others all jostled for position. This included Morrison charging into 3rd on the second reach, only to push it too far, take a swim and drop out of contention. Up the next work McDowell showed good speed with his new Norths fruit and rounding the top mark for the run first the downwind specialist was never going to be headed, taking a nice win. Behind Stevo things were heating up with Colt, Gouch and Stech rounding the final leeward mark together, exchanging jabs up the last work and ending with Colt and Gouch dead-heated for 2nd with Stech a further length back (who in turn held Bushy out by a length followed by never-say-die Zacharias Mannering attacking Bushy’s rudder like a hungry Hawkes Bay dog).
Race 3 kicked off in a lovely 15 knot Northerly, Worser bay at its best! Bushy got a blinding start towards the leeward end and once again lead at the top mark - unfortunately for the biggest man in OK sailing, 15 knots wasn’t enough and he was quickly chopped up by Morrison, Mannering and (just before the wing mark) a charging Matthew Stechmann. The second reach turned more into a run and, with Mannering and Morrison careering off on a match-race, Stechy took the favoured low road, coming in hot to the bottom mark to snatch the lead just a length in front of Morrison and Mannering and with a nice buffer on the rest of the pack. The hunter now became the hunted, as Morrison used his speed nicely to power past Stechy and draw away from Mannering. With a decent break on Mannering who was now seeing Colt in the wing mirror, Stechy attacked down the run but Morrison held firm to take the win by a couple of lengths, while Zac was not so fortunate as the ruthless Colt slipped by to take 3rd.
The final heat of the day produced some outstanding racing. With the breeze now down to 12 knots and moving round a little, the real estate at the leeward end looked the hot property but devalued quicker than South Canterbury Finance when a shift to the right in the last minute saw the boats further up the line found themselves in lifting breeze and with more pressure to boot. Those who tacked out to the right made even more gains and at the top mark Colt snuck round first, having sailed a blinding first leg after falling out of his craft during his first tack! NZL531 with new commander Adrian Coulthard rounded second showing fantastic form up the first leg and Stechy and McDowell rounded out the top bunch. Down the reaches Colt used his awesome reaching skills to extend out to a comfortable lead while McDowell, Stech and Morrison jumped Commander Coulthard. The next beat saw the fleet scatter to all corners of the course as the breeze was now moving round plenty - the front 3 worked the left but nearing the top were joined by Gouch and Morrison who come piling in on a nice righty. Colt’s lead looked safe enough as he rounded with a small lead but then it was rush hour with Stechy, McDowell, Gouch and Morrison all rounding together. The surprise down the run was Gouch who hopped on a line of breeze and firstly knifed McDowell then rolled Stechy to climb to second, while Morrison got a case of the go-slows and dropped off the bunch to leave the other 3 to battle it out for the minors. At the bottom the Colt was still in front and sailed away to victory, while in the meantime Gouch, McDowell and Stechy went round together and even after a hard day’s yachting took to the final beat like a pack of hyenas battling for the scraps: Stech to the left, Gouch to the right and McDowell up the guts. As the boats converged on the line it couldn’t have been tighter. 50m out Stech ducked McDowell and then Gouch and tacked onto starboard for the last 2 minute grunt into the line, and with the legs burning Gouch hung on to take second by a couple of seconds, Stechy slipped McDowell by a second and Morrison charged up the last work to almost pip McDowell but ran out of time.
So at the end of the day McDowell and Colty were tied, with Gouch a further couple of points back and Morrison sniffing around the top bunch thanks mainly to his Race 3 victory.
After a tip-top day’s sailing everyone retired to the bar for a few “hard-earnts” and to dissect the racing. Star of this show was Stechy’s girl Meg, a seasoned sailor herself and having attended plenty of OK events she fronted up with not only content for the first rum bucket but also a ladle and chain to be attached to the mighty bucket so as to give it a little more class.
The evening meal was Thai, which everyone attended including the race committee and a great night was had by all. Meg shone once more when, the meals taking too long to be delivered, she charged into the kitchen and took over the show, delivering more meals than the paid staff!
Sunday dawned overcast and a little chilly, but everyone arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready to scrap it out, and after a quick gather-round-the-tea-urn, everyone put to sea in a lovely 10-12 knot northerly that had more than a touch of east to it in the puffs. Race 5 got away first time and the fleet quickly split in two; one bunch headed left the other right. As the boats all started tacking back from their respective corners the left had paid handsomely and it was the old war horse Ade Mannering who lead at the top (having joined the battle that day after supervising Opti teams’ racing on Saturday), followed by his Napier compadre Rob Hengst and then McDowell, Mike “Oscar” Wilde, Gouch, Colty and Morrison in a bunch. Colt turned it on down the reaches to close in on Ade by the bottom with the others all piling into the bottom mark and somehow all coming out looking respectably lined up! Up the beat the flaws in Ade’s fitness programme suddenly became apparent and Colt pounced like the hungry little terrier that he is. Ade’s problems had just started as he now had Gouch, McDowell and Morrison doing their best impersonations of a bad rash, and they were soon all over him. Gouch once again showed a nice touch down the run to sneak by McDowell and get home in second while McDowell held off the fast finishing Morrison to round out the minor placings.
Race 6 turned on the best ding-dong battle of the contest. After a general recall the fleet got away and it was quickly apparent that 4 boats had made the jump straight away. Ade led once again at the top from Stechy, McDowell and Colt (Gouch and Morrison, consistent so far, had blown the first beat and were well deep). The front four managed to pull out a solid break from the rest and set to each other, having a massive old go for the entire remainder of the race, each taking the lead at different stages but being unable to shake free of the bunch. At the final weather rounding they lined up four abreast like an annoying bunch of cyclists on Tamaki Drive (but with a hell of a lot more talent and class!) and the test was on to see who had the goods down the run. Once again everyone had their turn in front but, again like a cycle race, the chasing group always pulled them back. With 50 metres to go to the bottom Stechy looked to have made just enough of a break but right on cue the others came in on a small line of breeze and once again they all rounded nose to tail: McDowell, Stechy, Colt then Ade. Up the final work Colt was first to throw, and Stechy went with him while McDowell scrambled up the centre and Ade went right. They all had their eye fixed on the favoured leeward end and all converged at once: McDowell managed to hang on for his second win of the contest, Ade on the back of doing one tack up the last work beat Colt by a second who in turn got Stechy by 5 seconds.
So going into the final heat anyone of 3 could win, McDowell and Colty just had to beat each other, while Gouch would need to beat both with a couple of boats in between.
Race 7 got underway first time and Ben Morrison, needing to do something special after having a shocker in the previous heat, made a perfect mid line start with great speed and shot out of the pack. Colty and McDowell were keeping an eye on each other up the windward end and Gouch had a less than ideal start having to tack off to the unfavoured righthand side, virtually ending his chances right there. Morrison on the back of his great start lead handily at the top from a melee of boats that included the 2 front runners; down the first reach Morrison had the nerve to stay low, followed by McDowell and Mannering, while Colty went high and was punished for it. Down the second reach McDowell unleashed some superb downhill pace to slide into a comfortable 2nd just behind Morrison, followed by Mannering and then some way back to the Colt. Up the next beat Morrison cruised along in front, while Mannering jumped McDowell who was watching Colts every move and maintaining a reasonably tight cover, and at the top with just a run and a work to go Morrison held a nice lead – but he was followed by three of the fastest downwind OK sailors in the world in Mannering, McDowell and Colt. All three regularly chase down huge leads off the wind and this race was by no means over. Two thirds of the way down the run Mannering got into contact with Morrison (followed closely by McDowell) and was soon neck-and-neck. With just 50m to go Morrison pulled something special out of the bag and got into a nice puff and a string of waves to just hold his lead with Mannering seemingly attached to his transom and McDowell right behind, just waiting for an opportunity. Colt had been unable to get close enough to challenge the front three and would now have to do something pretty damn miraculous up the final beat if he was to take McDowell and make sure of the championship. Meanwhile, McDowell needed a boat between himself and the Colt if he was to be the Hurricane champ for 2012. With a short beat to the finish, and a nice 15 knots blowing, Morrison put the hammer down and pulled away from Mannering and McDowell to take his second bullet of the series. Meanwhile , McDowell turned his attention to Mannering and a great final battle ensued – just 2m short of the line, with McDowell charging in on starboard, Mannering came in at full pace on port and went for a highly questionable lee-bow tack, far too close to McDowell and ultimately fluffing the tack to allow McDowell to roll by and take 2nd and the Hurricane Classic for 2012 by the slimmest of margins of 1 point over Colt. After another poor race Gouch had nonetheless done enough to hold onto bronze, while Morrison’s last race heroics lifted him to 4th by 1 point over Stechy.
All in all a fantastic event both on and off the water, sailed in true OK spirit with some of the most exciting racing seen in the class this season.
Back in the club, Colty’s better half, the lovely Bridget, laid on a BBQ for the lads which went down a treat, and a few beers and a bucket or two later Steve McDowell was crowned Hurricane Classic Champion for 2012.
Special thanks must go to Colty and Bridget for organising the event, including a couple of great nights out; Paul Davies and Katie Hakes for an awesome display of race management; Graham Joy for the use of Flying Circus as the committee boat, the Stanley lads and Sparkles for manning the rescue boats and all those others who made the event such a success. Thanks also to the Auckland and Napier sailors for making the long drive down.
2011 Hawkes Bay Champs
Napier, Hawke's Bay
26-27 November| Place | Name | Sailno. | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | tot | net |
| 1 | Rob Hengst | NZL 533 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 8 |
| 2 | Trent Pryce | NZL 502 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 11 |
| 3 | Peter Scheuerl | GER 718 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 14 |
| 4 | Adrian Coulthard | NZL 531 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 18 |
| 5 | Josh Weeks | NZL 518 | DNF | DNS | DNS | 1 | 1 | 3 | 41 | 29 |
| 6 | Martin Pike | NZL 536 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | DNS | 41 | 29 |
| 7 | Evert Nyzjink | NZL 515 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 39 | 32 |
| 8 | Peter Millar | NZL 454 | OCS | 5 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 46 | 34 |
| 9 | Colin Shanks | NZL 494 | 7 | 8 | DNF | 8 | 9 | 9 | 53 | 41 |
| 10 | Daniel Couchman | NZL 310 | DNS | DNS | DNS | 11 | 11 | 8 | 66 | 54 |
| 11 | Edward Goody | NZL 472 | DNF | DNS | DNS | 10 | 10 | DNS | 68 | 56 |
Over the weekend of the 26th-27th of November 9 Napier and 2 Gisborne sailors took on the challenge of the 2011 Hawke’s Bay OK Dinghy Champs. For Peter and Shanksy Saturday started early with a drive down from Gisborne. On arrival they were issued with their boats for the weekend and went through the motions of learning to rig them.
Saturdays racing took place in a 20knot SE, which died away in the afternoon. A long start line was set for race one, and as the start gun neared it was clear that the wind was shifting and the pin was heavily favoured. With mere seconds to go Peter Millar tacked over onto port at the pin and cleared the fleet, (With a huge smile on his face and images of his hey days of the 80’s in his mind he failed to hear the second sound signal and the individual recall flag go up). It was a drag race on port to the top mark, with the SE breeze whipping up a short sharp chop, and with a few interesting wind shifts towards the end of the beat the fleet was well spread out. Rob lead round the first mark followed by Trent and the two Peters. Just after the wing mark Trent had an uncharacteristic swim letting Peter Scheuerl through to second. By the bottom mark the top three boats had a good lead on the rest of the fleet and they sailed away with the race.
Race 2 started in similar conditions, though there were no attempts at port tack starts this time. Again Rob, Peter and Trent pulled away from the rest of the fleet, with Rob leading around every mark. He then blew it on the last beat by not covering Trent and Peter, only just sneaking between the pair on the finish line after having a comfortable lead at the bottom mark.
Race 3 and more of the same, though this time Rob made no mistakes in taking out the win. At the end of the third race the wind had dropped to 12 knots and the fleet headed in for a well-earned rest.
That night Peter Millar’s Race 1 start was the hot topic of discussion, (primarily amongst the Gissy boys) with Shanksy coming up with a multitude of measurements to describe the distance Peter was over the line at the start.
Sunday dawned sunny and warm, and as the Napier OK sailors arrived at the club they were greeted by the image of Nigel Mannering giving the Gissy boys instruction on how to set their sails up. This image however was tainted by the fact that Nigel was standing in his lycra cycle shorts and top, (bike riding instead of OK sailing, your credibility has certainly dropped).
The fleet headed out in very light easterly conditions for the first race of the day.
Race 4 and the light weather specialists Josh and Adrian match raced themselves around the course well in front of the rest of the fleet; Josh taking the gun after the pair had completed a couple of turns at the bottom mark. (Josh was probably feeling the fresher of the two, with his usual DNF’s and DNS’s in windy conditions)
Race 5 and the sea breeze was slowly building, this time Josh and Trent battled their way round the course, with Josh again holding out for the win.
Race 6 and it was all on for the title, with only a point between Trent and Rob. The race started with the breeze still building. At the gun the majority of the fleet played by the local sea breeze rules and tacked onto port after crossing the start in search of the favourable lift off the land. Rob, Peter and Shanksy carried on, on starboard, sailing into more pressure and a nice lift. Rob and Peter rounded the top mark comfortably in front of the rest of the fleet and held their positions until the finish.
So Rob takes the title from Trent in second and Peter in third. It was great to have the Gisborne OK fleet in full attendance at this regatta, hopefully they can spread the good word in Gisborne and increase their OK fleet numbers.
The Hawke’s Bay Champs was the second round of the Eastern Region Series, with the third round being the iconic Napier Sailing Club New Year Regatta (probably the second oldest OK trophy sailed for in NZ after the national champs). This year being sailed in a shortened format over the 28th and 29th of December to accommodate the Optimist World Championships which start on the 31st of December. This is a great opportunity to get out and sail with over 200 young optimist sailors and see some future Olympic and World champions, and possibly the odd OK sailor amongst them.
2011 Wairoa River Regatta
Wairoa, Hawke's Bay
12-13 November| Place | Name | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | tot | net |
| 1 | Adrian Coulthard | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 |
| 2 | Rob Hengst | 3 | OCS | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 17 |
| 3 | Trent Pryce | 2 | OCS | 2 | 3 | 2 | DNC | DNC | 30 | 23 |
| 4 | Evert Nijzink | 4 | OCS | DNF | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 24 |
| 5 | Peter Millar | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | DNC | DNC | 34 | 27 |
| 6 | Collin Shanks | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 4 | 4 | 43 | 36 |
Friday night in the suburbs of Napier, Adrian Coulthard tucks himself into bed; he shuts his eyes and falls to sleep with a smile on his face. He has just finished reading the final chapter of Karl Purdies OK Dinghy Racing Manual.
Saturday morning and four OK sailors from Napier and two from Gisborne arrive at the Wairoa Yacht Club. While rigging their boats they watch the rescue boat setting the course for the weekend.
10:30 and the Race Officer gives his briefing, and informs the competing fleets of the hazards on the river; sand banks, set nets and white baiters.
Just after 11:00 and the first start in light patchy conditions is underway. A combined start of OKs, Lasers and a Phase 2. With an outgoing tide and a top mark set down stream, the starts were always going to be interesting. Add to this the near impossibility of laying the start on starboard and the scene was set for a great day racing.
At the end of the days sailing, which saw four races completed, last years champ Trent “The River Rat” Pryce was languishing in second, trailing, Adrian “The Electric Eel” Coulthard by 10 points. “The Eel” had shown a clean pair of heels all day, with nobody able to match his boat speed both upwind and downwind in the light shifty conditions. For the rest of the fleet there were limited highlights, especially in Race 2 when three boats were OCS. Race 3 saw Peter Millar capsize not long after the start when his mainsheet cleats failed him. (After 30 years in a shed his resurrected boat had finally gotten a wash). Not long after this, Evert capsized after also breaking his tiller.
A BBQ, Beers and Rums that night at the club made the night a little easier for the sailors to bear, and as they got into their tents, vans and cars to sleep the rain was steadily falling.
Day 2 started sunny with a light sea breeze. However, the breeze was not strong enough to justify a double points river race to the bridge and back, therefore limiting the fleets’ chance of pegging back “The Eels” lead. Race 5 carried on as the previous day had ended with “The Eel” again showing the fleet his transom. He repeated this in the final two races, taking the Wairoa River Regatta for 2011 with an impressive 7 bullets. (Those late nights of reading and re-reading Karl’s OK sailing manual had paid off),
So the first round of the Eastern Region Series goes to Adrian Coulthard, with round two being the Hawke’s Bay Champs on the 26th – 27th of November. Peter and Shanksy will be coming down from Gisborne, though they have no plans of bringing KZ 395 to the regatta. After 30 years sitting in a shed the old Mitchell hull was requiring a bit of maintenance before she could be taken out on the sea.
2011 Rum Bucket Regatta
Wakatere, Auckland
22-23 October| Place | Name (Club) | Sailno | tot | net |
| 1 | Brad Douglas (Wakatere) | NZL539 | 28 | 22 |
| 2 | Luke O’Connell (WBBC) | NZL511 | 47 | 26 |
| 3 | Paul Rhodes (WBBC) | NZL517 | 41 | 31 |
| 4 | Ben Morrison (Wakatere) | NZL530 | 68 | 47 |
| 5 | Mark Perrow (Wakatere) | NZL476 | 65 | 52 |
| 6 | Russell Page-Wood (Wakatere) | NZL526 | 64 | 53 |
| 7 | Alistair Deaves (Wakatere) | NZL542 | 82 | 61 |
| 8 | Joe Porebski (WBBC) | NZL523 | 76 | 63 |
| 9 | Hamish Fenwick (WBBC) | NZL500 | 86 | 73 |
| 10 | Dan Bush (Wakatere) | NZL478 | 95 | 81 |
| 11 | Mike Wilde (WBBC) | NZL535 | 114 | 93 |
| 12 | Adrian Coulthard (NSC) | NZL531 | 109 | 95 |
| 13 | Marty Pike (NSC) | NZL536 | 126 | 110 |
| 14 | Michael Morrison (Wakatere) | NZL501 | 141 | 125 |
| 15 | Brett Graham (Wakatere) | RSA32 | 160 | 139 |
| 16 | Miles Addy (Wakatere) | NZL482 | 163 | 142 |
| 17 | Ed Goody (NSC) | NZL528 | 172 | 151 |
| 18 | Nigel Comber (Wakatere) | NZL7 | 179 | 158 |
| 19 | Graham Arcus (Wakatere) | NZL372 | 187 | 166 |
The first event of the 2011-2012 NZOK Tour was the third annual Rum Bucket Championship, which took place over Labour Weekend at Wakatere Boating Club in Auckland. With the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and France scheduled to take place on Sunday evening following the conclusion of the Rum Bucket, there was also much to be fought for in the waters of the Rangitoto Channel. Like the All Blacks, the Auckland sailors had a monkey which needed removing from their backs: both previous Rum Buckets had been won by a sailor from Worser Bay Boating Club in Wellington. Would a home sailor finally win the Bucket?
With forecasts of 25 knots and more for the first days sailing, the “1 Ton Club” (sailors over 100kg) were all smiles at the briefing. Luckily the forecasters were wrong (again) and, while there was the odd gust in excess of 20 knots, the majority of the racing took place in 12 - 15 knots. The program was for 5 short races per day and the shifty conditions meant that a good start and hitting the first shift correctly were all important.
Wellington’s Paul Rhodes got off to a good start with 2 first places, 2 seconds and a 7th for the first day. Hot on his heals was Wakatere sailor Brad Douglas with a 3, 2, 6, 1, 1 scorecard. Brad was a newcomer to the OK class in 2009 and, after winning the OK Interdominions in Melbourne this year he is now campaigning a Finn (as a trainer for the OK, of course). Defending Rum Bucket champion Luke O’Connell from Worser Bay lay in 3rd after a string of top 4 results, while Russ Wood won the other race of the day, clearly happy in the breezy conditions, and Mark Perrow rounded out the top 5. So, after Day 1, with Wellington sailors in 1st and 3rd, Team Wakatere was in danger of yet another heartbreak at the hands of the ever-consistent Worser Bay.
The wind was lighter on the Sunday and with larger shifts. Alistair Deaves from Wakatere won the first race in diabolical conditions, with Brad Douglas and Luke O’Connell each winning 2 of the remaining 4 races.
After 10 races, Douglas had done enough to take the Bucket by a 4 point margin from O’Connell, and claim an historic victory for Auckland. Rhodes suffered in the lighter conditions (usually a strength of his) to drop to third, while Ben Morrison did enough on Day 2 to climb to 4th, with Mark Perrow holding on to 5th.
Highlights of the weekend were undoubtedly watching Ben Morrison sail around a gate mark the wrong way while leading a race, watching the J Class yacht Endeavour undergoing sea trials, the huge ham cooked by team Douglas - and of course that rugby match, which led to wild celebrations by the whole fleet which lasted most of the night.
The Aucklanders would say that all is right with the world again – the Rugby World Cup is in the hands of the All Blacks, and the Rum Bucket stays in Auckland – at least until next year.
Wakatere Boating Club should be congratulated for another excellent event, smoothly run by that smoothest of race officers Dean Coleman. The next event on the NZOK Tour is the world famous International Turangi Open, always a favourite event.
2011 Brass Monkey Championship
Napier, Hawke's Bay
4-5 June| Place | Name | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | tot | net |
| 1 | K Purdie | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 19 | 11 |
| 2 | L O'Connell | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 13 |
| 3 | N Mannering | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 14 |
| 4 | B Morrison | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 22 |
| 5 | S McDowell | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 33 | 26 |
| 6 | C Fenwick | 14 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 53 | 39 |
| 7 | J Porebski | 15 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 9 | 64 | 47 |
| 8 | T Pryce | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 65 | 53 |
| 9 | R Pagewood | 6 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 21 | 78 | 57 |
| 10 | P Scheuerl | 9 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 78 | 57 |
| 11 | G Pedersen | 12 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 75 | 60 |
| 12 | A Mannering | 7 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 82 | 66 |
| 13 | J Weeks | 17 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 86 | 69 |
| 14 | M Weeks | 8 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 14 | 93 | 74 |
| 15 | B Graham | 13 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 96 | 80 |
| 16 | A Coulthard | 18 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 21 | 110 | 89 |
| 17 | M Pike | 16 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 108 | 90 |
| 18 | D Bush | 11 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 113 | 92 |
| 19 | Ed - GBR 718 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 131 | 111 |
| 20 | NZL498 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 16 | 141 | 120 |
The Brass Monkey Championship is the main winter event for the OK class in New Zealand, and is always popular. 2011 was no exception, with 21 boats competing and no quarter asked or given on the water.
This year was notable mainly because it marked the final OK regatta for current world champion Karl Purdie, who is leaving us to campaign for the Finn Masters world title.
Day 1 was forecast to blow from the NE and build from 15 knots up to around 25 knots fairly rapidly. As is often the case in Napier, it didn’t happen and we had a great day’s sailing in breeze ranging from 10-15 knots, with few passing lanes upwind, a moderate swell and long reaches rewarding downwind speed above all.
Four one-hour races were held back-to-back, a real test of endurance for those sailors who had expected an easy winter sail, and it played right into the hands of the ultra-fit Purdie, who smashed everyone and took four victories in a truly impressive display. The biggest surprise of the day came from Napier veteran Nigel Mannering, in the wilderness for the past few years but seemingly coming from nowhere to post a 2-3-2-3 scorecard. On reflection, Mannering has always been known for his downwind speed and has probably sailed more miles in those particular conditions than anyone else in the fleet, and so in hindsight he was always going to be dangerous. The increasingly consistent Luke O’Connell performed well as expected, as usual making most of his gains on the reaches, his 5-2-3-2 day putting him solidly in 3rd, while Ben Morrison and Steve McDowell rounded out the top 5, with a big gap back to 6th.
Day 2 was bright and sunny, with patchy, difficult breezes veering from NE and NW and ranging from 5-10 knots. Three races were sailed to complete a full seven-race series.
In Race 5, Luke O’Connell led around the first mark and turned on the after-burners on the reaches, extending out to a massive lead which was never seriously challenged. Purdie sailed around the course on his own to take 2nd while Steve McDowell took 3rd (and sailed into 4th overall).
Race 6 was run in an increasingly unstable breeze, and Nigel Mannering led the first triangle, only to be caught up the next beat (by Morrison and Napier’s returned prodigal son Chris Fenwick), then regain his lead just before the top mark and hold on to the finish with Morrison 2nd and Fenwick 3rd. A raised fist and cry of joy from Mannering showed just how much the well-earned bullet meant to him.
Towards the end of Race 6 the wobbly NE breeze was compromised increasingly by gusts from the NNW, and Race 7 began in a NNE breeze that, frankly, could have gone either way. Mannering and Morrison headed left from the start and came out in front with a big margin over the rest of the fleet. O’Connell fought his way clear of the main bunch and almost closed the gap on the leaders by the bottom, taking the lead with a sensational right-hand gamble up the beat and then holding off a series of challenges until the finish to take a tight victory over Morrison and Mannering, as well as 2nd overall and the coveted Tiki.
It was an uncharacteristic final day for Purdie with results of 2-8-5, and this was no doubt due to the emotion brought on by his impending departure from the class. In any event, he did just enough to win his last OK regatta (and third consecutive Brass Monkey) by 2 points over O’Connell in 2nd. Mannering took the bronze in a sensational performance, while Morrison was 4th and McDowell 5th.
Throughout the contest all competitors were well looked after, with excellent meals at the Napier Sailing Club on Friday and Saturday, an even better prize-giving dinner at the Gin Trap on Sunday, and a great entertainment programme for the wives and families.
Special thanks must go to:
- the race committee who did a superb job and ran seven competitive races in trying conditions;
- our event sponsors The Gin Trap, NZ sailing, Raisyes, Settler wines, Ocean Spa and Monkeys Fist Yachting; and
- event organiser Marty Weeks, without whom the Brass Monkey would not happen.
We wish Karl Purdie all the best with his Finn campaign. As always, Purdie arrived at the 2011 Brass Monkey fit, with his boat tuned and his mind focussed on winning. The NZ fleet will all need to be careful that, with Purdie gone, they do not let standards slip. Even without taking Purdie’s results into account the NZ fleet currently dominates world OK sailing by any measure, and that is not a position that we want to lose.