International Moth New Zealand Championship at Royal Akarana Yacht Club

2017 International Moth New Zealand Championship © Suellen Davies

Hamish Pepper during the 2017 International Moth New Zealand Championship © Suellen Davies

Russ Evans has won the 2017 Moth New Zealand Championship, the first time the trophy has been awarded since 2008.

Hosted by Royal Akarana Yacht Club, Evans won the regatta by 2 points ahead of Pierluigi de Felice who unfortunately had a crash coming into the finish time on the final race which would inevitably decide the final outcome.

Over the two-day regatta 10 races were completed with two drops. The border line conditions made for challenging racing with a constant 15-20 knots both days. Due to the wind direction, racing took place east of Bean Rock, meaning the sailors also had ferry wake to contend with.

Speaking at the prize giving, Evans congratulated the other competitors on a great regatta.

"PG [de Felice], sorry about that crash on the last race, but that's sailing!" said Evans.

"Yes that's true! That's sailing!" was the response from de Felice.

Third place went to Stuart Goodes, who had to withdraw from the final two races due to damage.

Fourth place went to Brad Marsh, who on Saturday said "that was the best day of Moth racing I've ever had in my life!" Sunday was a different story and Marsh was quoted as saying "that was the worst day of Moth racing I've ever had in my life..."

Brad Marsh during the 2017 International Moth New Zealand Championship - photo © Suellen Davies

The next time the Moth fleet descends on RAYC will be the 1st & 2nd April for the annual Sail Akarana regatta. The two-day event will see entrants across numerous classes including 18' Skiffs, 12' Skiffs, Flying, 15, M-Class, RS Feva, Starling, A-Class, RS700, Waszps and Moths.

Overall Results: