R.O. Report Auckland IOM Championships 2026
NMMS Wattle Farm
Sometimes you just get lucky.
For me Saturday morning started with light rain all the way from Albany to south Auckland, where the sun was trying to shine but the wind was a non-starter leaving the lake as a millpond,
However, after an early 11.30 call for lunch a zephyr of breeze filled in from the north. Shortly after midday racing with three fleets started on a surprisingly good course across the NE end of the lake. The oscillating breeze kept skippers totally focused. Some had good luck, some bad luck, but those who kept their eyes out of the boat picked the shifts well most of the time. With the launching jetty half way up the course the next fleet was able to assemble at the start area as the previous heat skippers were finishing. This allowed six races (eighteen heats) to be completed by 4.15.
The results Saturday night had a tie between Earl Williams and Graham Cross at the head of the fleet with others stacked upon the scorecard right behind them
Racing started on time at 10.00 on Sunday with the wind in the same northerly quarter. Two races (six heats) were completed followed by one round of finals in gold, silver and bronze. After a period when the wind direction required a change of course, and in total defiance of all forecasts a S.Westerly arrived and the last three races were over a longer course on the favoured side of the lake allowing the skippers to show their talents. Oscillations sometimes over 20+ degrees kept things interesting (at least from a spectators point of view). Racing ended at 3pm with four finals having been sailed. A good time to end (majority decision instigated by the RO…) as the wind had died by 3.20.
Biggest ‘win of the day‘on Saturday went to Earl who smoked the fleet to led one of the races by a big margin. However, I judged his winning distance to have been eclipsed by Graham Perry on Sunday, so to you Graham goes the honour.
Congratulation to all skippers for your attitude and quality of sailing, a most enjoyable regatta for me as RO.
A few observations to finalise this report:
-Don’t argue with umpires, you are not going to change their decisions. -We need umpires and there are not a lot of volunteers left doing the job. We are very lucky to have such competent umpires as John ‘2 turns’ Rountree and Wayne ‘bulldog’ Boberg turning up regularly at our regattas. If you have a question about their calls speak to them after the race.
He doesn’t look like a computer geek and he doesn’t sound like a computer geek but the SHRS programme Roy Granich has put so much skill into producing is the greatest development in my opinion for radio sailing. With pre-allocated heats and pre-allocated observers we got through many more races in the weekend than would have been achieved with HMS.
Terry Valder RO
