Sailing: Shifty stuff stalls optimists but green fleet class make most of day

Green fleet sailors Sean Kensington (4038) and Tahiti's Tukea Rousseau take stock of cruise liner Emerald Princess in Napier yesterday. Photo / Lewis O'Donnell

All they wanted was some consistent winds but instead the 175 optimist sailors got torrential rain about 3.30pm and news of an earthquake about 5.33pm in Napier yesterday.

The three races scheduled for day four of the five-day Toyota-sponsored national regatta along the Ahuriri waterfront were scuttled yesterday because of "oscillating" or shifty breezes at the Napier Sailing Club-hosted event.

Regatta administrator Adrian Mannering said the wind had to be above 4 to 5 knots, which it was, but major sou'westerley shifts made it difficult to set a proper course for the sea-savvy elite class who will today be divided into gold (top 55), silver and bronze fleets in the hope of squeezing in four races, weather permitting, for a 10am start.

Top national seed Seb Menzies, of Murrays Bay Sailing Club, looks unbeatable after seven rounds.

"It was all over the compass," said Mannering as the open fleet optimists sat on the water from 10am for an 11am start. Race officer Gerald Martin eventually sent them back to shore before calling it a day at 2.45pm.

"All the green fleet kids were drenched but they were wet anyway," said the Napier Sailing Club coach. Although he didn't feel the quake, he said: "They would all have been wobbling around from the water."

However, the elite optimists' frustration was green fleet (learning-to-sail class) sailors' delight as they completed three races for Kohimarama Yachting Club's Sean Kensington to jump into the overall lead with 10 nett points from five rounds.

"They can race in lighter winds and they can race in shifty winds because there's not much at stake," Mannering explained. The green fleet didn't race in 4m swells on the opening day.

Despite travel fears due to Cyclone Cook, the four Tahiti sailors had arrived on time for the regatta with Tukea Rousseau (Yacht Club de Tahiti) sitting in ninth place in the green fleet on 48 nett points overall.