Sprite Week 2012 at the Blackwater Sailing Club
by Ian Barbrook 13 Jun 2012 02:41 NZST
6-9 June 2012
Sprite Week 2012 at Blackwater © Ian Barbrook
With the success of Sprite Week in June 2011, it was decided to run the event this year over 4 days after the Diamond Jubilee weekend, sailing 8 races to compete for the Heron Cup.
The outlook for the weather was not favourable but 8 boats turned out for the competition.
Wednesday 6th June
Race 1 - The first race had 3 seasons of weather all rolled into an hour, with bright sunshine, monsoon rain and Force 6 winds, with the result being very close racing.
1st Nida II
2nd Djinn
3rd Aeolus
Race 2 – The wind was a steady force 5 with occasional force 6 gusts and even a mini tornado passed over the fleet which caused confusion. The start was very lively with boats over the line, a few collisions and penalty turns being completed. By the end of this 2nd race, 2 boats had capsized and Flook had lost her mast.
1st Djinn
2nd Nida II
3rd Banshee
Thursday 7th June
The two races were held back to back and either side of High Water and as predicted by the weathermen, the rain came along just as the racing started and lasted throughout.
A very steady force 3 from the East resulted in yet more close racing, with only 2 minutes separating the fleet at the finish line each time.
Race 3
1st Djinn
2nd Juno
3rd Nida II
Race 4
1st Djinn
2nd Aeolus
3rd Nida II
Friday 8th June
Racing was cancelled due to the unseasonal depression which came across from the Atlantic with force 9 winds across the south Coast.
Saturday 9th June
On this final day, the weather was a moderate force 4 wind with occasional force 5 gusts and even some sunshine. 5 boats produced very close racing again with only minutes separating the fleet.
Race 5
1st Nida II
2nd Juno
3rd Aeolus
Race 6
1st Nida II
2nd Aeolus
3rd Juno
A great big thank you to all the Bridge and Rescue boat volunteers who gave up their spare time to help. If anyone is interested in sailing a Sprite please contact
Overall Results:
1st Nida II, Chris Nichols
2nd Djinn, Alan Jackson
3rd Aoelus, Donald Tipper