On the final day of racing, with a promising forecast of strong winds, the race committee set a slalom course as well as an upwind course in anticipation that the wind would start to crank. Sure enough in typical Wellington fashion, a solid 20-30 knots quickly built from the NNW and the competitors were told it was slalom racing. A total of 27 slalom races were sailed with competitors sailing 3 heats per round, making for a total of 9 heats each over three rounds. With a third of the field in each heat, every race seemed to be stacked with top sailors allowing for some great racing. Nailing the starts was crucial to success as a good majority of the field weren’t dropping gybes throught the day until the later heats when competitor tiredness started to show. Most sailors opted for sails in the 6.0-6.6 range which seemed perfect for the long drags in the 5 gybe course, and slightly choppy seas.
We now have a new National champion, Gareth Wood (Neil Pryde/ AHD / Wild Winds team rider) from Wellington who sailed superbly throughout the entire event. Congratulations Gareth !
Micah Buzianis was in a class of his own and took out the ‘International’ title followed by Seth Besse. Every one at the event was stoked to have these guys racing, as it no doubt improved the quality of all the sailing from all competitors.
Full results will be online tomorrow along with some great photos of the final day’s action.
More news, photos and results: www.racenationals.co.nz
