New Zealand RS Feva Nationals at Royal Akarana Yacht Club

by Suellen Davies 3 May 2017 07:18 BST 29-30 April 2017

Hamish McLaren and Henry McLachlan during the New Zealand RS Feva Nationals © Suellen Davies

Maddie Couwenberg and Mia Horton during the New Zealand RS Feva Nationals © Suellen Davies

Royal Akarana Yacht Club sailors Eli Liefting and Rose Dickson have secured back-to-back RS Feva National Championship.

Liefting and Dickson, who placed 4th at the most recent RS Feva Worlds in Spain, were thrilled to have won again.

"It feels pretty to good to have won for a second year in a row," said Liefting when presented the perpetual trophy at prize giving.

Hamish McLaren and Henry McLachlan, also from RAYC finished second overall with current Optimist National Champion Seb Menzies sailing with Robbie Wooldrige finishing third. This was Menzies’ first experience in the RS Feva Class and he was happy with his result.

"It was so much fun!" said Menzies post racing.

The fleet of 22 boats and 44 sailors were dealt with rather horrendous conditions for the two day regatta. With strong westerlies and torrential rain, the RAYC Race Management team opted to race the fleet in the more protected area of Mechanics Bay as appose to the exposed area of Northern Leading. But the protected area came with it's own challenges with the fleet forced to deal with more tidal influences racing closer to shore.

The fleet during the New Zealand RS Feva Nationals - photo © Suellen Davies

On day one of the regatta four races were completed, but it wasn't a enough to secure a National Championship. Fives races were required for the regatta to count. The RAYC Race Management team were adamant they would get a series in and get racing away on time on the final day.

"We will definitely get the races in," said RAYC Commodore Sally Garrett who was keeping a watchful eye on everything from the start boat. "We are very fortunate to have a very strong mark laying and safety boat team out there who are ensuring everyone is ok and that we have fair races," continued Garrett.

Eli Liefting and Rose Dickson during the New Zealand RS Feva Nationals - photo © Suellen Davies

With breaks in the weather all of the planned races were completed.

The 2017 Nationals is the third major event for the RS Feva Class in New Zealand and was supported by The Water Shed Takapuna who provided the sailors with some fantastic prizes.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1	6588	Eli Liefting	Rose Dickson	1	1	1	[2]	1	1	2	1	8
2	6192	Hamish McLaren	Henry McLachlan	2	3	2	3	2	[4]	1	2	15
3	5792	Seb Menzies	Robbie Wooldridge	4	2	3	1	6.5	2	4	[23S]	22.5
4	4678	Harry Butler	Harry Firman	3	4	4	8	3	3	3	[23S]	28
5	6189	Cameron Todd	Danny Su	6	[10]	6	4	6.5	5	7	3	37.5
6	4676	Maddie Couwenberg	Mia Horton	8	13	[20]	15	4	7	6	4	57
7	5950	Chole Boyce	Holly Liefting	12	8	7	[13]	12	9	5	5	58
8	4606	Callum Richards	Liam Richards	5	5	5	5	11	6	[23F]	23S	60
9	5427	Kiera Sinton	Leah Sinton	7	9	14	[18]	5	13	8	8	64
10	4067	Tom Buchanan	Ben Fraser	10	7	[15]	10	9	10	9	9	64
11	4072	Elizabeth Hayman	Innes Horton	[23S]	15	16	9	8	8	11	7	74
12	6584	D'Arcy Londeen	Patrick Londeen	14	[19]	9	14	15	11	10	6	79
13	4945	Andre Bennett	Kate Martin	17	11	17	12	13	12	12	[23F]	94
14	4677	Michelle Keenan	Pheobe Meachen	9	6	10	6	[23C]	23C	23C	23C	100
15	5951	Jack Carter	Jacob Lean	11	12	8	16	10	[23S]	23F	23S	103
16	5428	Henry Barton	Reuben Clinton	16	14	12	11	[23C]	15	23F	23S	114
17	1982	Felix Schrider	Marcus Inkster	13	16	18	19	14	14	[23C]	23S	117
18	5439	Joe Brownlie	Rohan Sherlock	15	17	11	7	[23C]	23C	23C	23S	119
19	2984	Janet Yue	Scott Bryant	[23F]	18	22	17	23C	23F	13	10	126
20	5437	William Blick	Sean Brownlow	[23F]	20	13	23R	16	16	23F	23S	134
21	5438	Sam Fraser	William Hall	[23F]	22	19	20	17	23F	23C	23S	147
22	5432	Grace Brownlie	Molly McLennan	[23F]	21	21	23S	18	23C	23C	23S	152