We had a great Nth Islands at Tauranga. A laid back OOD who was happy to accommodate what the 11 boat fleet wanted. So what did we settle on. Finns from Ch Ch and Welly were keen to finish the regatta in one session for travel reasons. A unanimous decision made we headed out for a six race series all sailed on Sat. Awesome sailing 12<>15 knots, sprint races, 30min, and close racing. Great to see Matt Coutts join the boys. Once we managed to reassemble his boat, find a sail that looked the part, Matt was his usual self on the water, fast and out front. Ray chased him hard with Karl, Dave, Denis, Dirch and nzl23 all having their moments. The non Devoti boys have really upped the tempo. Mark, Glen, Gerard and Greg, sailing the Devil, chased the so called guns hard and at times led the way. Tauranga Yacht club hoisted us well with lots of helpful hands and the much appreciated free accommodation.
A couple of the boys brought their own trolley dollies. Ray had a new version. She knew exactly what to do. Must have been briefed at some stage?
Many highlights with such close racing. The gybe which left me in the bottom of my boat counting stars and sky rockets. How many penalty turns did Dirch end up doing. Rays “early starts” why was he soo keen to get back to shore?. Port right of way at the top mark, must be a new rule. The non Devoti Finns right amongst the action. Daves new snoring technique. More stories shared once the debrief was in full swing, ask Dave, I bet he can’t remember too many by the end of the night.
We missed running into Andrew Murdoch. He turned up on the Sun to catch up with his fellow Finnsters and we had all done a runner. Damn, next time Andrew. Have received reports that Sun conditions were better than Sat. We could have sailed 12 Races.
| Place | Sail No | Name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Total | Nett |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NZL123 | Matt Coutts | 1 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 |
| 2 | NZL2 | Ray Hall | 2 | 12(OCS) | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 12 |
| 3 | NZL111 | Karl Purdie | -3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 12 |
| 4 | NZL10 | David Hoogenboom | 4 | 2 | -6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 21 |
| 5 | NZL19 | Denis Mowbray | 5 | 12(OCS) | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 34 | 22 |
| 6 | NZL22 | Dirch Andersen | 6 | 4 | 5 | -7 | 5 | 7 | 34 | 27 |
| 7 | NZL23 | Alan Dawson | 7 | 5 | -8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 39 | 31 |
| 8 | NZL229 | Mark Gardyne | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -10 | 8 | 47 | 37 |
| 9 | NZL232 | Glenn Berry | 9 | 7 | -10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 54 | 44 |
| 10 | NZL227 | Gerard Lelieveld | 12(DNS) | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 57 | 45 |
| 11 | NZL13 | Greg Farmer | 10 | 9 | 12(DNC) | 11 | 11 | 10 | 63 | 51 |
