2008 Sanders Memorial Cup Results
29th to the 31st December 2007, at the Napier Sailing Club

Six Boats from : Auckland, North Harbour,B.O.P,Taranaki, Hawkes Bay & East coast went to Napier to Challenge for the Sanders Cup.

New Jafa reps Craig & Rob teamed up together, after a 2 year break. Having missing winning the sanders,three times by one point, they decided to try swaping positions on the boat. They showed they had good form for the 1st half of the Kingham trophy, before The Shanks got a favourable shift downwind & took  the lead managing to stay there to take the gun.
    
The breeze filled in for the 1st race of the Sanders cup. 13knts & N E swell suited E C who took the gun ahead of B O P who also enjoyed the stronger breeze. Craig found hiking straps harder to use than a trapeze wire, coming 3rd. 
The next day the AP was lowered on shore and the fleet was sent out to relax on a windless Sunny Hawkes Bay for an hour before a 5knt Easterly came in ,racing was started with a short course." Don't Blow too Hard Brown" was in his element & pushed Auck to the finish, missing by 3 boat lengths ahead of EC.
The breeze built nicely for the next two races. Auck & EC had some very close racing. Taranaki & BOP were also having a good battle as well. Taranaki's crew had never been on a  wire (great entertainment). BOP crew combination Bax & Adam was the heaviest & had the Youngest / oldest (62 was mentioned at prizegiving).N Harbour took on a Napier crew Warren Foulds (no stranger to Javs) They had finishes close to the front ,but had to retire on the 2nd day with a  broken body part.Kerry Rodger (NIce One) also had a Napier crew , they represented HB.They were the big improvers & finished 5th.

Race 5 came at the end of a big day on the water. With the wind dropping to 8knts Auckland showed their form again, going on to win over EC & BOP.
The last day brought in a colder shifty Southerly 15 - 18 knt with rain.( Alot of fun was had, with some great Kite rides by all. It looked like the Taranaki crew was heading to Gisborne at one stage.)

This was just what EC was waiting for & had a 3min win over Auckland, who were just in front of BOP.

It looked like EC would retain the Cup in the 8th race ,only having to be the next boat to Auck. BOP had other ideas & came in to spoil the party, passing both EC & Auckland. But 5mins before the finish Auck regained the Lead ,leaving EC 3rd & keeping their Cup chances alive.

It came down to the last race, the 1st boat between Auckland & East Coast would Take the Cup. The stronger breeze continued with lumpy seas.
BOP broke their Vang on the start line, putting them out of the equation. Auckland made one of only a few mistakes in the regatta & put their  boat into irons while tacking, this allowed EC to get a comfortable lead, & go on to win the Sanders .With 13 points over Auckland 14. This was now the 4th time Craig & Rob had missed winning the Cup by one point or count back.

Over all results with 2 drops were: East Coast 7 Auckland 9 BOP 18 Taranaki 19 HB & NH 37.

Javelin (Sanders Cup) Results

Overall

Javelin (Kingham Trophy) Results

Overall