Lawson's Dry Hills New Year Regatta at Waikawa Boating Club

Lawson's Dry Hills New Year Regatta and Flying Fifteen Nationals © Steve Hodren

Flying Fifteens 1st place (sail number 3840) and 2nd place (sail number 3091) © Steve Hodren

This year, the Lawson's Dry Hills New Year Regatta coincided with the Flying Fifteen national championships to see a record number of keel boats out of the water in for one of the racing event highlights in the Marlborough sailing calendar.

With 46 yachts, seven Flying Fifteens, and 260 crew out on the water, the three day event, which ran from the 12-14 January was a huge success.

The regatta commenced with an invitation twilight race on Friday evening that enabled the skippers to put their craft and crews through their paces. With little wind on the Saturday morning, just one race took place, resulting in the crews making the most of the fantastic Marlborough weather and coast by enjoying a swim in the warm water. The unpredictable nature of the wind in the afternoon (gusting anywhere between 2-2o knots) resulted in challenging sailing conditions and it was anyone's race to win.

The winds picked up mid-morning on Sunday for the final day of racing, and provided the steady winds for near perfect race conditions around the Queen Charlotte Sound.

After the weekend of racing the local fleet topped the podium with a Waikawa Boating Club yacht taking first place in two out of the four regatta divisions with Crossfire III, skippered by Bryce Ecklein taking first place in Division 5, and That's Amore, skippered by Ian Michel taking first place in Division 4. Visiting yachts, Loco from Worser Bay skippered by Jamie McDowell and Whistler III from Wellington skippered by Mike West took out Division 1 and Division 2 respectively.

For the smaller, high performance Flying Fifteen competition, the weekend's weather offered challenging racing conditions, Murray Gilbert skipper of the winning Ffrenetic, commented: "Well done Waikawa Boating Club of organising a great regatta. The race management was excellent and the support from the local and national sponsors was amazing. With testing race conditions of the Friday and Saturday, Sunday was a 'champagne' sailing day and showcased what a perfect location this is for race sailing."

Lawson's Dry Hill New Year Regatta, Waikawa, Picton - photo © Steve Hodren

Flying Fifteen National Championship results

1. Ffrenetic - Royal Akarnie Yacht Club
2. Fflorin - Napier Sailing Club
3. Femme Fatale - Waikawa Boating Club
4. The Godfather - Royal Akarnie Yacht Club
5. lff - Royal Akarnie Yacht Club
6. Snaffler - Napier Sailing Club
7. Business – Napier Sailing Club

Lawson’s Dry Hills New Year Regatta 2018 Results

Division 1
1. Loco
2. Satellite Spy
3. Jive Talkin
4. Simply Irresistible
5. High Voltage
6. Honk n Jack

Division 2
1. Whistler III
2. Acquiesce
3. Legacy 2
4. 88% Proof
5. Nimrod
6. Slingshot

Division 4
1. That's Amore
2. Northern Rebel
3. Excel
4. High Society
5. Khamsin
6. Joint Effort

Division 5
1. Crossfire III
2. Fame
3. Findhorn
4. Settimio
5. Satu
6. Rival