Black Heart Sanders Cup - Race Commentary
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Tuesday 26th March 2002

Results Race 1 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

After waiting for the breeze to settle down, Race One of the Black Heart 79th Sanders Cup was started in a course situated to the North of Bean Rock.

In a 12 Knot Easterly, Auckland, Alex Vallings and Hamish Hey worked the left hand side of the course to open up a 4 boat length lead over the North Harbour crew of Rob Fordyce and Craig Gilberd. Following North Harbour was Northland, Phil McNeill and Bob Vernon and Bay of Plenty, Nathan and Ben Bax.

On the gennaker run to the bottom mark, the Northland crew gained on North Harbour with Auckland maintaining its lead at the bottom mark.

The wind eased to about 6 knots on the next windward leg with Auckland getting stuck on the right hand side of the track and dropping back to fourth place. Bay of Plenty took a good shift on the left hand side to pass the right hand fleet and lead by 6 boats lengths at the top mark. North Harbour made the best of the right hand side to end up 2nd at the top mark.

The course was shortened at the top mark as the wind started fading away, with Bay of Plenty finishing 1st, North Harbour 2nd, and Auckland 3rd.

Results Race 2 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

Race two started in a 15 knot inceasing breeze, Auckland lead into the top mark with a 6-8 Boat Length lead over East Coast, Doug Roberts and Colin Shanks, with Bay of Plenty 3rd and North Harbour 4th.

Auckland extended its lead with Bay of Plenty and North Harbour rolling over East Coast on a quick starboard gybe. AT the botom mark Auckland maintained a good lead, with Bay of Plenty and North Harbour rounding within a boat length of each other in 2nd and 3rd.

At the fnish Auckland held a good lead, with Bay of Plenty and North Harbour fighting for 2nd place. North Harbour rolled over Bay of Plenty on the last gybe to finish 10 boats lengths ahead in 2nd. Following up behind Bay of Plenty was Northland in 4th.

Taranaki has a disaster on the finish line with a capsize which ended up with her loosing two places and finishing 7th.

Wednesday 27th March 2002

Results Race 3 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

1st Bay of Plenty "The Unknown" - Nathan Bax, Ben Bax
2nd North Harbour "Bungholio" - Robert Fordyce, Craig Gilberd
3rd Auckland "Freckle Deckle" - Alex Vallings, Hamish Hey
4th Canterbury "Ballistic" - Murray Bain, Malcolm Scott
5th Northland "No Name Required" - Phil McNeill, Bob Vernon
6th Taranaki "Flying Circus" - David Brown, Wayne Brown
7th Otago "Horizontal Refreshment" - Ross Davies, Richard Buddle
OCS East Coast "Wildfire" - Colin Shanks, Douglas Roberts

Summary of Race 3 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

East Coast, Doug Roberts and Colin Shanks took the inshore side of the course and lead to the top mark, while the rest of the fleet attempting to gain an advantage by sailing away from the shore with the tide had to trail into the mark in a big bunch. Bay of Plenty, Nathan and Ben Bax lead the offshore pack, with Auckland, Phil McNeill and Bob Vernon in third. On the downwind leg, Auckland moved from 3rd to 1st, Bay of Plenty held 2nd and North Harbour moved from 5th into 3rd. Bay of Plenty took the lead on the next upwind leg and were able to hold it for the next to two legs and finish 1st. North Harbour had good height in the lighter conditions and sailed over Auckland on the wind to move into 2nd place, just holding onto 2nd place downwind to finish 14ft in front of a fast advancing Auckland boat. The new Christchurch boat, Murray Bain and Malcolm Scott, started to get their boat speed together with a 4th in the race over defending Sanders Cup champion Northland, Phil McNeill and Bob Vernon.

Results Race 4 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

1st Bay of Plenty "The Unknown" - Nathan Bax, Ben Bax
2nd North Harbour "Bungholio" - Robert Fordyce, Craig Gilberd
3rd Auckland "Freckle Deckle" - Alex Vallings, Hamish Hey
4th Canterbury "Ballistic" - Murray Bain, Malcolm Scott
5th Northland "No Name Required" - Phil McNeill, Bob Vernon
6th Taranaki "Flying Circus" - David Brown, Wayne Brown
7th Otago "Horizontal Refreshment" - Ross Davies, Richard Buddle
8th East Coast "Wildfire" - Colin Shanks, Douglas Roberts

Summary of Race 4 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

Race 4 started just before 2pm, again sailed to the East of Bean Rock. North Habour took the lead to the first mark with a nice lift to take them over Bay of Plenty and East Coast. On the downwind leg the superior down wind speed of Bay of Plenty saw them take the lead, with North Harbour moving into 2nd, and Auckland in 3rd. These positions held for the next upwind leg, reach to a broad wingmark and back into the bottom mark. On the final upwind leg, North Harbours ability to sail high on the wind saw it overtake Bay of Plenty and lead by 5 boat lengths at the final top mark. A number of gybes down the run saw Bay of Plenty overtake North Harbour 200m before the finish and take another gun 11 seconds ahead of North Harbour in 2nd, with Auckland 35 seconds back in 3rd.

Results Race 5 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

1st Auckland "Freckle Deckle" - Alex Vallings, Hamish Hey
2nd Bay of Plenty "The Unknown" - Nathan Bax, Ben Bax
3rd North Harbour "Bungholio" - Robert Fordyce, Craig Gilberd
4th Canterbury "Ballistic" - Murray Bain, Malcolm Scott
5th Taranaki "Flying Circus" - David Brown, Wayne Brown
6th Northland "No Name Required" - Phil McNeill, Bob Vernon
7th Otago "Horizontal Refreshment" - Ross Davies, Richard Buddle
8th East Coast "Wildfire" - Colin Shanks, Douglas Roberts

Summary of Race 5 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

Defending champion Northland took the lead at the top mark after a great shift on the right hand side of the course, going against the prevailing conditions. The consistency of Auckland had them in 2nd at the top, with Bay of Plenty in 3rd. On the downwind leg in patchy and shifty conditions Auckland took over the lead with North Harbour passing 3 boats to go from 5th to 2nd place. Northland slipped back into 3rd on the downwind leg, but had a disaster on the next beat to drop into 7th place. During the triangle Auckland and Bay of Plenty swapped the lead a few times, with Auckland regaining the lead at the bottom mark for the last time. On the next beat, North Harbours upwind ability had them move from 3rd to 1st, with Auckland dropping into 3rd place behind Bay of Plenty. At the top mark, North Harbour held a small 4 boat length advantage, and sailed out to right hand side of the course where the wind strength seemed better. Bay of Plenty followed out, with Auckland deciding on a inside track where the tide was less. Aucklands gamble paid off with them pipping Bay of Plenty on the line by 5 seconds, with North Harbour 15 seconds behind in 3rd. Canterbury becoming more consistent finished with another 4th Place 2.5 minutes behind, with Taranaki, David and Wayne Brown just behind in 5th.

Overall with 1 day to go.

Going into the final day of the Black Heart Sanders Cup, the Bay of Plenty Crew of Nathan and Ben Bax are on 5 points, with Auckland, Alex Vallings and Hamish Hey tied with North Harbour Rob Fordyce and Craig Gilberd for 2nd on 8 points. Nathan Bax is an ex New Zealand Starling champion, sailing with his Father. This combination have won the national title in the past, but have yet to win the Sanders Cup. Auckland is the current National and South Pacific champion, with Alex Vallings also winning the 12 foot skiff interdominions last year. In 3rd place, Craig Gilberd, crewing for Rob Fordyce is an ex Junior champion in the P Class, and Europe champion, and has won the Sanders Cup on two previous occasions. Current Sanders Cup Phil McNeill is in 5th place after a last minute crew change due to work commitments of his regular crew of 5 seasons.

Thursday 28th March 2002

 Results Race 6 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

Summary of Race 6 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

In the morning race a light South-westerly running down Auckland harbour caused a few dramas amongst several of the top boats as the breeze was shifting up to 15 degrees.  First around the top mark was North Harbour (Rob Fordyce and Craig Gilberd), followed by Bay of Plenty (Nathan Bax and Ben Bax), then third Northland (Phil McNeill and Bob Vernon).  Over the duration of the race the breeze slowly increased to be a nice breeze of 12 knots.  The results stayed pretty steady after that as the wind shifted further south and allowed the fleet to basically lay every mark after the bottom mark.  So it was a follow the leader race therefore the places being similar to the first mark rounding.  First was North Harbour, second Bay of Plenty, then third Northland. 

Results Race 7 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

1st  North Harbour "Bungholio" - Rob Fordyce, Craig Gilberd
2nd  Auckland "Freckle Deckle" - Alex Vallings, Hamish Hey
3rd  Bay of Plenty "The Unknown" - Nathan Bax, Ben Bax
4th  Northland "No Name Required" - Phil McNeill, Bob Vernon
5th  Canterbury "Ballistic" - Murray Bain, Malcolm Scott
6th  East Coast "Wildfire" - Colin Shanks, Douglas Roberts
7th  Taranaki "Flying Circus" - David Brown, Wayne Brown 
8th  Otago "Horizontal Refreshment" - Ross Davies, Richard Buddle

Summary of Race 7 - Black Heart Sanders Cup

This race was a bit fresher from the start with an 11-knot South-westerly.  There was a big bypass to the pin end and the Bay of Plenty (Nathan Bax and Ben Bax) cleared the whole fleet on port, but was then passed by North Harbour (Rob Fordyce and Craig Gilberd) on left hand breeze.  The places were similar to the previous race with North Harbour first round, then Bay of Plenty, followed by Auckland (Alex Vallings and Hamish Hey).  The breeze slowly increased to 15 knots to allow for some fast down wind legs.  The wind settled a bit with increased pressure therefore the faster boats once again prevailed with North Harbour taking their second win for the day, Auckland taking second and Bay of Plenty coming in third – enough to clinch the Sanders cup on count back.   

Overall final placings

1st  Bay of Plenty "The Unknown" - Nathan Bax, Ben Bax: POINTS = 10
2nd  North Harbour "Bungholio" - Rob Fordyce, Craig Gilberd: POINTS = 10
3rd  Auckland "Freckle Deckle" - Alex Vallings, Hamish Hey: POINTS = 13
4th  Northland "No Name Required" - Phil McNeill, Bob Vernon: POINTS = 25
5th  Canterbury "Ballistic" - Murray Bain, Malcolm Scott: POINTS = 28
6th  Taranaki "Flying Circus" - David Brown, Wayne Brown: POINTS = 33
7th  East Coast "Wildfire" - Colin Shanks, Douglas Roberts: POINTS = 41
8th  Otago "Horizontal Refreshment" - Ross Davies, Richard Buddle: POINTS = 45

The Black Heart Sanders Memorial Cup for 2002 was won for the first time by a Bay of Plenty Boat. Tauranga’s Nathan and Ben Bax took the Sanders Cup after tying for first place and winning on a count back for first Place over North Harbours Rob Fordyce and Craig Gilberd. Nathan Bax is an ex New Zealand National Starling champion, and has been skippering Javelins with his father Ben crewing for about 5 years.

For more information on these competitions, check out the

Javelin Web Site, www.javelin.org (follow the Black heart link), or ring Rob Fordyce (021) 322 757.

 

Spaces are available on patrol boats for anyone wanting to get photographs of the competitions, please contact Rob as above.