Timaru sailor Simon Boys achieved a resounding win at last weekend’s regatta, hosted by the Rotorua Yacht Club.
The regatta is a big event with 60 boats competing across seven classes.
There were 12 races for each class, adding up to 72 races over the two days.
Boys entered the Weta class and won six, came second in three and third in one of the 12 races, giving him a clear win overall.
His win was on the back of the Timaru Yacht & Powerboat Club’s growing Weta fleet, which is bucking a trend of decreasing club memberships around the country.
The Weta group had close racing with most of the fleet taking the lead at some point.
Boys said conditions were mostly light with big wind shifts and the occasional freshening puff, so sailors had to pay attention to make the most of what breeze they had.
‘‘The racing was great but the highlight for me was connecting again with the Auckland and Northland sailors who are a great bunch,’’ he said.
Boys and fellow sailor Gordon Collister became interested in the Weta trimaran in 2013, ahead of the World Masters Games.
The local fleet has since grown to seven — the two men were joined by Ross Jones, Peter Taylor, Richard Johnson, John Kennedy and most recently, Colin Wilcock.
Boys said the boat was part of the reason so many people were taking up — or coming back to
— sailing, as Weta sailing was fast, wet and exciting; but also extraordinarily user-friendly, forgiving and affordable.
Most of the sailors sailed single-handed, but juniors or beginners also crewed from time to time.
Weekly Saturday racing gave sailors something to sail for on the day, and allowed them to assess how they were going.
