RB Sailing: 2013 New Zealand IRC and PHRF Nationals

24 February 2013

2013 New Zealand IRC and PHRF Nationals

After three days of superb sailing in the Port Nicholson Regatta on Wellington Harbour the 2013 New Zealand IRC and PHRF keelboat champions have been crowned. Jim Farmer's Georgia took a clean sweep of the A Division, winning both the IRC and A Division PHRF national titles, while Real Deal won the B Division PHRF national title.

Georgia - 2013 IRC and PHRF National Champion - A Division (photo Chris Coad)

Georgia sailed a flawless regatta winning every race on line and taking five wins on IRC handicap and seven wins on PHRF. This record not only gave Georgia two national champion crowns but also earned her the Ross Telford Memorial Trophy for the most outstanding yacht at the regatta. Real Deal was almost as dominant in B Division winning three races on PHRF and placing second in a further three races.

Close competition between Georgia and Kia Kaha was a feature of the series (photo John Hardie)

Conditions were quite fresh at times, especially on the first day, providing plenty of thrills and spills.

Prime Mover (Farr 1104) struggles with an errant spinnaker on Day 1 (photo John Hardie)

Flying Boat (Young 11) tries to catch up with her spinnaker on Day 1. Flying Boat finished 3rd in IRC Division 1 (photo John Hardie)

Prime Mover on Day 3, finished 5th in IRC Division 1 (photo John Hardie)

Amongst the B Division fleet were a couple of famous campaigners, with 1972 One Ton Cup winner Wai Aniwa (Carter 40) mixing it up with three-time national Half Ton champion Titus Canby (Farr 27).