Leander 2018 - NPCL, Lyttelton Harbour
Day 1 produced a nice solid Easterly which saw the foiling boats flying nicely. Massive Attack (Sean Milner and Doug Gale) managed to rob a race from The Virtual (Paul Roe and Malcolm Snowdon) when they made a dodgy gybe just on the finish line. The easterly built all day, blowing the less experienced boats L2 (Leo Pritt and Jess Lee) and Rampant (James Maynard and Ollie Palmer) off the course.
Day 2 saw some innovative course laying by the race committee with a beat from Purau across the harbour right between the feeble Easterly getting pushed away by the Nor Wester. After multiple tacks and gybes with the boats pointing in the same direction, The Virtual ended up a miniscule number of points in the lead.
Day 3 started with a fickle Nor West drifter. Massive Attack and Merde (Dave Pairman and Peter Holder) got out to a big lead after picking a few nice shifts, but as the Easterly sucked in on the second leg The Virtual got flying and pulled through from the back of the fleet to take the gun. Rampant was looking to beat L2, before snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and missing the finish line. A second race was squeezed in as the Easterly faded away, with Massive Attack nabbing a race win and a small lead on the points table. L2 was able to catch a mystery breeze on the last downwind, coming from last to second, only to have Merde foil pass them at the last minute. After lunch, a big Southerly blew out the rest of the day, the final race was postponed to Day 4.
Day 4 turned on a nice 10-12 knot Easterly with the foiling boats pulling out to a big lead. The Virtual took the race win which was just enough to give them the overall series win.
Leander 2018 Final Results
| Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | Race 7 | Race 8 | Race 9 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boat | Skipper | Crew | Total Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | ||
| 1 | 607 - The Virtual | Paul Roe | Malcolm Snowdon | 770.476 | 1 | 100.000 | 2 | 80.000 | 1 | 100.000 | 3 | 66.667 | 3 | 66.667 | 1 | 100.000 | 1 | 100.000 | 4 | 57.143 | 1 | 100.000 | |
| 2 | 609 - Massive Attack | Sean Milner | Doug Gale | 743.810 | 2 | 80.000 | 1 | 100.000 | 2 | 80.000 | 1 | 100.000 | 2 | 80.000 | 3 | 66.667 | 2 | 80.000 | 1 | 100.000 | 4 | 57.143 | |
| 3 | 589 - Merde | Dave Pairman | Peter Holder | 605.238 | 5 | 50.000 | 4 | 57.143 | 4 | 57.143 | 4 | 57.143 | 1 | 100.000 | 2 | 80.000 | 4 | 57.143 | 2 | 80.000 | 3 | 66.667 | |
| 4 | 565 - More FM | Steve MacIntosh | Paul MacIntosh | 590.952 | 3 | 66.667 | 3 | 66.667 | 3 | 66.667 | 2 | 80.000 | 4 | 57.143 | 4 | 57.143 | 3 | 66.667 | 5 | 50.000 | 2 | 80.000 | |
| 5 | 600 - L2 | Leo Pritt | Jessica Lee | 423.611 | 6 | 44.444 | 5 | 50.000 | DNF | 23.611 | 5 | 50.000 | 6 | 44.444 | 6 | 44.444 | 5 | 50.000 | 3 | 66.667 | 5 | 50.000 | |
| 6 | 601 Rampant | James Maynard | Ollie Palmer (Isaac Armstrong races 8-9) |
402.976 | 4 | 57.143 | 6 | 44.444 | DNF | 23.611 | 6 | 44.444 | 5 | 50.000 | 5 | 50.000 | 6 | 44.444 | 6 | 44.444 | 6 | 44.444 | |
After a lunch break everyone went back out for the sprint series. The Easterly had come in to a comfortable 13 knots which made for some exciting close racing. There were multiple tight mark roundings and close finishes with one minor error being the difference between a win and fourth. In the end TheVirtual took the overall win with 4 guns out of 5 races. Second was closely fought with 1 point between each of the next three boats.
Sprint Series Super Cup Results
| Boat | Skipper | Crew | Points | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R607 - TheVirtual | Paul Roe | Malcolm Snowdon | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| R589 - Merde | David Pairman | Peter Holder | 15 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| R609 - Massive Attack | Nick James | Doug Gale | 16 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| R565 - MoreFM | Paul MacIntosh | Steve MacIntosh | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | DNF |
| R600 - L2 | Leo Pritt | Jessica Lee | 22 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| R601 - Rampant | James Maynard | Isaac Armstrong | 35 | 6 | 6 | 6 | DNS | DNS |
Thanks to Tony Tailor, Tony Park and all the volunteer rescue boat crews for running an excellent contest under at times trying conditions.