Well that’s it folks!  Another year of team sailing completed.  It’s all over, bar the after match-party and the formal dinner.  It all came down to the last couple of races, with some very close racing finishing the week.

Crazy team sailing stats were: 36 teams, approx. 250 students, more than 50 coaches, umpires and race management.  42 – 420’s racing continuously, nearly 12,000 kms sailed and 6,985 hoots sounded on the water.

Umpires feedback was that they appreciated a very high standard of sailing and the change to two umpires per race worked well and helps to increase the consistency and speed of decision making.  The sportsmanship of the group was overall of a very high standard and a tribute to all.

The weather was perfect for sailing today and we successfully completed the final races within RR3, to wrap up the event with a total of with 635 races, plus an umpires’ race.

Even with the frustration of a couple of late starts due to lack of wind, the afternoons tended to fill in enough for sailing to happen, we managed to sail every day of the 2017 Nationals which was fantastic.

Tractor driver Dave has been incredibly busy launching and recovering boats all week, but he will have the last laugh at the Auckland Boat Show next month, when we expect big things from him in the trailer backing competition.

Team sailing at Algies Bay has been incredible with the addition of five new teams competing this year, with the sport of team sailing continuing to grow in numbers and capability.

So, thank you Algies Bay for putting on brilliant weather to complete another successful event where 36 teams performed at their best under perfect warm skies and for giving the Wellingtonians a summer and also providing amazing sunrises for the budding photographers in the Nelson camp.

Thanks to The Warehouse for the free wifi which most teams have taken advantage of and the local coffee shops for giving the parents their morning fix! Thanks for having great hot pools, awesome sculpture trails and a beautiful cinema in Matakana.  These were but a few of things that people visited while they stayed at Algies and Snells Beach.   What a great friendly venue, as the local neighbours even bake cookies for some of the teams.  I won’t say which team it is, as they might lose that book-a-bach house, if we all knew where this house was!

Yet again, Gay, Ross, Derry and the management team who organised and facilitated this event have done an amazing job There are many people who have contributed in one way or another to this event and we all appreciate the time and effort that goes into making this event such a success.

Safe travels home and we look forward to seeing you all next year (where ever that may be).

Until then – Roving Reporter – Robyn Boswell, Wellington Combined.

Final Regatta Points 2017

RR3 Decision Tree