Day One - Thursday 4th September
The Open Division got underway at Westhaven this morning under a sunny sky and light north easterly breezes. Conditions proved challenging for the sailors and also for Race Officer Gerald Flynn with the constantly changing wind direction.
After seven flights, Phil Robertson is on top, unbeaten with 6 wins (and one bye) Josh Junior has 5 wins, Rueben Corbett 4 wins and Adrian Short also 4 wins.
The Open Division will complete their racing on Saturday, 6th September
Day Two - Friday 5th September
The four Women's teams got underway today with similar light winds to yesterday (but from the south) and overcast skys that led to some heavy showers around the middle of the day.
Jessica Smyth proved too strong winning all of her six round-robin matches, won her semi final 2 - 0 and then overcoming the other finalist, Stephanie Hazard also 2 - 0.
Complete results click here
Day Three - Saturday 6th September
The Open Division were back on the water today finishing off round robin 1 before going straight into a second round robin which was completed as the daylight faded.
(Perfect timing by Race Officer Gerald Flynn and his race management team)!
Conditions were ideal for match racing with a steady south west breeze.
Phil Robertson finished the day in 1st place (on count back) on 12 points with Josh Junior in 2nd, also on 12 points. Adrian Short is on 10 points in 3rd with Rueben Corbett on 9.
The semi finals and finals will be sailed tomorrow, Sunday 7th September with the first race scheduled to start at 10.00 am.
Day Four - Sunday 7th September
Four teams sailed today to contest the semi finals and finals of the New Zealand trials. At stake was an invitation to enter the Nations Cup, Oceania Regional Final to be sailed here at Westhaven, hosted by the RNZYS, commencing 25th September.
Conditions on the harbour today were overcast with a steady north-east wind 15 - 19 knots and a short, sharp, choppy sea that made the crews work hard.
The race committee were constantly aware that the wind was forecast to rise so kept the matches moving along smartly.
The leading skipper after the two round-robins, Phil Robertson chose to sail his semi final against 4th placed Rueben Corbett leaving Josh Junior up against Adrian Short in the other semi final.
Robertson and Short won their semi's, 2 - 1 and 2 - 0 respectively.
Josh Junior then beat Rueben Corbett 2 - 0 in the Petite Final.
In the Grand Final, Phil Robertson won the first race but Adrian Short (and his team of Scott & Peter Burling) came back to win the next two races to take out the regatta.
History of the Nations Cup
The inaugural Nations Cup in 1991 saw six regional qualifiers in each of Denmark, Italy, Greece, Brazil, Bermuda and Japan, with the Grand Final in Barcelona, Spain. At that time only sailed in an Open division, the title was won by Ed Baird (USA). The 1991 Nations Cup Grand Final was the climax of over 1,000 races sailed by some 50 countries.
Moving onto 1993, preceding the Grand Final in Holland, the qualifiers were held in Finland, France, United Arab Emirates, Peru, USA and Singapore, with Roy Heiner (NED) taking the Open Title and Helena Strang (SWE) the women’s event.
The 1995 Nations Cup saw San Francisco, USA host the Grand Final, with the qualifying events in South Africa, Croatia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada and Chile. The Open Event was won by South Africa’s Bruce SAVAGE, with the women’s title claimed by Susan WALTERS (AUS).
The Nations Cup had a very successful rejuvenation in 2006, hosting more than 50 nations in eight Regional Finals held around the world. The top teams in the Regional Finals met at the Grand Final at the Royal Cork Yacht Club, with France winning both the Women’s and Open divisions, led by skippers Claire Leroy and Mathieu Richard.
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