Yachting: No shortage of action at Otago Harbour

Alan Taylor, of Dunedin, controls his windsurfer on Otago Harbour at the national windsurfing...
Alan Taylor, of Dunedin, controls his windsurfer on Otago Harbour at the national windsurfing championships on Saturday. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
James Dinnis, of Taranaki, won the open men's grade in the national windsurfing championships on Otago Harbour, winning all but one of the 21 races.

Sue Bradley, of Queenstown, won the women's open grade, finishing just ahead of Annie Crombie, of Christchurch.

In the over-50 men's grade, Tim Wood, of Auckland, was a convincing winner.

The 34 competitors in the event were able to enjoy the benefits of good weather throughoutthe long weekend.

Two promising Dunedin crews filled the top spots in the 29er class at the Sail Auckland regatta at the weekend.

Skipper Chelsea Whitburn and crew Gabrielle Cross, sailing for the Macandrew Bay club, won the event, winning five of the nine races and finishing second in two others.

Dan Meehan and Deryck Edie (Ravensbourne) were second with four race wins and three seconds.

The annual event included 11 divisions in seven different Olympic and dinghy classes at the Waitemata Harbour.

Meanwhile, Dunedin sailor Allan Sutherland guided his Hot C Air craft to victory at the national Farr 6000 championships in Dunedin at the weekend.

Sutherland had five wins and two seconds in racing at the Port Chalmers Yacht Club, enough to give him victory by four net points over Rob English, in Aphrodite.

Canterbury's Vince Williams (Piracy) won the national Noelex 22 championships, also hosted by the Port Chalmers club, with Alex Bruce (Double Dark) second.

The finish was very close with overnight leader Dragos Blaga (Rangatahi) dropping to third and Williams and Bruce having to be separated at the second stage of countback.

Williams got the nod having won the final race.

Consistency paid off for skipper Tom Arthur sailing his Europe Dinghy Mac in their national championships.

Sailed over the weekend from the Vauxhall Yacht Club, Arthur finished with a fine record of six wins out of 10 to comfortably take the championships from Napier junior Jake Weeks and Christchurch skipper Paul James. The first local skipper was Ben Carrick from the host club in fourth place while Week's mother Susie won the lady skippers' honours.

Friday's steady 10-knot northerlies gave a fine opening day for the sixteen competitors from as far away as the Bay of Islands with a mix of southerlies and variable northerlies providing a good test.

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