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Report From the Napier Internationals 2019
What a fantastic weekend In Napier NZ. The sailing may have lacked in wind and Australia may not have won the team event, but this event is no better way to learn about what it takes to improve and go faster. The whole weekend was nothing less than a master class on technology, skill and commitment to make it to the top, and NZ has done all of this to be where they are in the class. Their boats are set up to perfection, presenting stiff strong boats on top of which they have built a rig again incorporating thought and technology and incorporating this into their north sail. All the boats in the fleet are there for everyone to see. You can look at all the different controls and set ups and feel free to take photos. Comradery between all the competitors was nothing but first rate. Everyone was open in discussing their set up and how they tune there boat and this was evident in the 3 ‘tuning’ sessions that occurred over the weekend. Ian Marcovitch instigated the first session, tipping a boat in its side and demonstrated how the controls on the sail effect it. On its side adjusting the controls really allowed you to see the effects on the sail and in turn how it effects its performance
Derek Scott of North Sails was also kind enough to come into the Australian camp look at our setup. He openly discussed how he tunes his rig to the sail and settings while sailing. This was again done by Derek with the whole fleet in the same way Ian did with one of our boats. He discussed controls, their effect on the sail and how the sail is built to aid in its performance. The class has never been more open in sharing information.
In discussions with the New Zealand guys it is evident that their whole fleet is committed to getting to events. Granted their country is a lot smaller than Australia meaning their fleets around the country are close to attend regattas, but numbers they have turning up is staggering. At their Nationals they are getting up to 50 competitors. But this is also backed up at their fresh water regattas. Their top end skippers are world class but they help each other throughout the fleet and push each other to becoming better.
Going forward as a class in Australia I encourage all the skippers to band together, learn from each and learn from how New Zealand go about it with motivation and commitment to drive each other forward.
North Sails Discussion
(un-edited)
Napier NZ 2019
2019/20 Program
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