Retro takes out South Island Championship

South Island Championship
hile events up north may have curtailed much of our sailing, the Elliott 5.9 Association was still able to get the inaugural Elliott 5.9 Class South Island Championship away.
The event was run in conjunction with the Timaru Yacht and PowerBoat Club’s Aviemore Classic held at Lake Aviemore over 26 - 28 October.
A big thanks goes to TYPBC for hosting the class at such a great event along with the PRO Brett Watkins who ran a great contest. Further thanks goes to Oborns Nautical who generously sponsored the Elliott 5.9 South Island Championship.
Covid again caused some disruption with a number of northern boats unable to make the planned trip south. However, a strong fleet of 6 boats, 5 from the South Island and 1 from Wellington, made for a competitive regatta with the Elliott 5.9 the largest class at the regatta.
With such a good showing by the South Island boats, the class continues to move from strength to strength across the country and the class association will be looking to future develop these southern based E5.9 regattas. 
The championship consisted of 7 windward leeward races completed over 2 days. Conditions were generally light but built to a nice 15 kts in the afternoon to produce “champagne sailing” sailing conditions.
Retro, skippered by Carla Bennett took out the overall Elliott 5.9 South Island title. Carla is a regular Elliott 5.9 sailor and Carla and her crew were able to draw on their recent strong campaign in the 2021 Traveller Series to help them secure the title.
However, they didn't have it all their own way with Christchurch based Michael Wright, sailing Rapido, taking out race 1 and following it up with 2 thirds on the first day. Saemus Tredinnick, also out of Christchurch, sailing Magpie that he has only recently purchased from Napier, also kept the pressure on with consistent top 2 placings.
In the end, Retro took out the title with Magpie taking second place from Rapido on countback after both boats finished equal on points.
Full results here
The next South Island Elliott 5.9 event are:
Nelson Trailer Yacht Regatta  21 - 23 January 2022
Royal Port Nicholson Regatta 18 - 20 February 2022