April 9th – 11th saw the getting together of fifteen Southern Young 88s; 1 Wellington, 2 Akaroa, 1 Auckland crew and 11 from Christchurch, converging in the Te Ana Marina Lyttleton for the Southern Champs with Naval Point Club as the Organising Authority.

The results speak for themselves; Akaroa boat “One Way” sponsored by the Montreal Hotel with Harry Thurston helming showed the fleet a clean pair of heels. Boat speed off the line and great crew work made their skill obvious and hard to beat a 1st place discard as a result!

There was a big build-up this year with a strategy of fleet evolution not revolution and a focus on sail measurement being encouraged by the national body. This proved interesting, and the unveiling of undersized sails may bring about some new purchases in the near future.

Conditions on day one were set to be a blow and unfortunately blow it did. 35 knots were recorded so racing was abandoned with the hope Sunday would provide better conditions. The teams met for lunch at the Naval Point Yacht Club who put on a great spread.

Day two was met with a light shifty breeze out of the north. The race committee did a good job of setting a course and getting the first race underway! Hotel Motreal Sailing Team sailing the yacht “One Way” from Akaroa Yacht Club lead from the start and with good speed and tactics were able to win all 5 races giving them a clean scorecard also known as ‘the picket fence.’

Flying Machine the defending champion ended up with a well-deserved second place and 3rd went to first-class both Lyttelton based yachts. The over 65 driver trophy went to Phil Folter from Full Circle. Phil is the captain of the Southern Young 88 fleet and did a great job organising the event. Well done to all the sponsors and supporters for a great event -bring on next year!

by Sail-World NZL