The 2010 New Zealand Optimist Nationals were held at Mercury Bay, Whitianga. The competition was held between the Thursday 1st and Tuesday 6th of April, with the middle day scheduled for Teams Racing. It was a 15 race series and up to 4 races could be held each day. There were 196 sailors taking part in the open championship, and 88 in the (junior) green fleet.
The Australian team arrived 2 full days before the actual competition so we could acclimatise and train. James McLennan, Brodie Crossman and I were staying in a beach house across the bay from where we were sailing, along with my dad, Brodie’s dad and our coach Ivor MacNamara.
The regatta was open to all New Zealanders and up to 8 sailors from any international Optimist association. In addition to the Australians, there were sailors from Singapore, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Cook Islands and Great Britain.
The two days training that we did before the regatta was good in that we got used to the bay and the big swells that kept rolling in. On both days there was about 15-20 knots and big swells with chop. I was really fast in the wind and that built up my confidence for the actual event.
On the second day of training, the day before the regatta, we registered first thing in the morning and got separated into our designated fleets. There were 4 fleets, white, blue, purple and yellow. Tommy Trotman and I were in white fleet, so he was my training partner until they split the fleets again, after two days of racing. The reason for separating us into 4 fleets was because there were 196 boats in total, too many for one start line. Each race was run as two ‘flights’, each with two fleets, making about 100 boats on the line.
The first day of racing was good, because we were all relaxed and focused. There were three races on the program and there was about 5-10 knots out in the bay, so the race committee got us started really quickly. I was in the second flight so I could see which side of the course was favoured pretty easily.
I was in a really good spot right on the committee boat and I think I would’ve had a good start but some other sailor pulled me back at 30 sec to go, making me start in the second row. I tacked out right straight away to get clear air but then had to stay to the right because there was too much traffic on the left. Brodie and I got stuck on the right and we were mid fleet but then we got a lucky right shift all the way to the top mark. We were about 20th around it and held that all the way to the bottom gate. We then went way left on the last upwind and caught up to finish 14th and 13th respectively. We only got one race in that day even though the wind was fine because the tide would not let the race committee boat sit head to wind.
The next day I was pretty pumped but there was no wind. Ivor towed us out to the course but there was no wind and massive swell so there was no racing that day.
On Saturday, which had been scheduled for teams racing (cancelled because of the lost fleet sailing day yesterday), the wind was good and the race committee sent us straight out on the water. Ivor towed us out again and we straight away went into our routine (speed test, split tack, line bias). I was really quick in the speed test so I was really confident again. The pin was really biased on the 1st race so I got a pretty good start down there and sailed over the rest of the fleet. I just kept tacking on shifts and led for the whole race to finish 1st.
The 2nd race was good too and I was 5th around the top mark and kept sailing fast to be 4th around the gate. I went left off the gate and then tacked back on a shift to finish 3rd.
On the 3rd race there was a massive left swing on the first upwind. I got a little bit screwed from that and was around the top mark 10th. I went left on the run and rounded the gate 7th. Then I just sailed consistently on the shifts to finish 3rd again.
On Sunday, I was really happy with my results so far and decided to sail less riskily and more consistently. This didn’t really work when on the first race I missed the start, tipped on the downwind and my boardies fell down. I still finished 14th and finished up the day with a 17th and a 10th.
Second last day of the regatta started badly but still finished OK. On the start of the first race, James McLennan was covering me but couldn’t tack off. I then got stuck out on the left and finished 32nd, my worst result, but able to be dropped, along with my 17th.
2nd race was good as I got a pretty good start and stayed consistent to finish 8th and then on the last race finished 11th.
The last day I woke up with a really sore throat and didn’t think I was going to do well. There was no wind when we rigged up but Ivor took us out early and the wind filled in. In our split tacks I learned that the wind kept clocking left so made a plan on that basis.
I started the first race middle pin and sailed left from there. I then tacked too early on the shift and carried it all the way over to the right. However, the wind kept going left so I kept getting screwed by the boats that waited on the left. I rounded the top mark mid-thirties and wasn’t happy. I got to the gate around 25th but saw everyone was crowding up on the very-favoured left gate and so I took the right gate. Everyone else was tacking into the wall of downwind boats but I kept sailing in clean air. The wind then shifted right heaps and I sailed over the fleet to finish 3rd, by a fluke.
On the last race the wind was oscillating heaps. I had an epic start and just stayed in the triangle playing the shifts the whole way up the beat. I rounded the top mark 6th, behind Jack Graves, and kept that place around the gate. I kept sailing the shifts on the way back up to finish 5th. In that race which gave me a 7th overall for the regatta.
The other AUS results were:
Jack Graves 10th
James McLennan 19th
Tyrone Gowans 20th
Alistair Young 29th
Brodie Crossman 31st
Tom Trotman 44th
Chris Charlewood 49th.
I’d just like to thank these people. Without them this event would not have been possible
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