World’s top sailors take to Lake Wakatipu
Top moth sailors whipping it up on Lake Wakatipu during last year’s South Island Championships. Photos: Aidan Gordon
Some of the world’s best Olympic and world championship sailors will be strutting their stuff on Lake Wakatipu from Friday with the launch of the New Zealand International Moth Association National Championships being held here for five days.
Star-studded sailors, some direct from the prestigious Sail GP (Australia Sail Grand Prix) event in Sydney, have been out on Lake Wakatipu practising. They’ve been reaching speeds of some nearly 30 knots (around 50km/hr) from the competition base at the Wakatipu Yacht Club.
Club Commodore John Stalker says it’s the third year international moth events have been sailed in Queenstown, all thanks to part-time local, Kiwi sailing legend Russell Coutts. Russell and Larry Ellison, co-founder of software giant Oracle, invented the international Sail GP series three years ago, which is headed up by Russell. Many of the sailors competing in Queenstown are staying with Coutts’ at his large Crown Terrace property while racing in the event.
Among the sailing greats competing are Swiss Sail GP skipper Sébastien Schneiter, highly-ranked NZ-based Netherlands sailor Nick Heiner, an Olympic silver medallist and world champion, and champion Emirates Team NZ sailors.
Coutts’ talented 17-year-old sailor son Mattias, a former world junior champion, will be competing and is expected to be close to the very front of the fleet, says John.
About 17 international moths will be competing in the event with a Kiwi international judge, Graeme Robinson, on standby in Napier via video link, unable to be at the event due to Cyclone Gabrielle.
“These people have all been world champions in at least two classes,” says John. “These boats reach up to 38 knots – they’re the fastest dinghy in the world and worth around $80,000 brand new.”
They’ll be sailing out on the main lake and John says four GPS-controlled marker buoys that have just been used in the Sail GP event in Sydney are being used for the event here.
“It’s really important to us as a club to have event with international sailors like this competing here on Lake Wakatipu,” says John. “It’s just huge to have this kind of calibre of sailors competing here. We rarely see moths in the South Island so to have Russell bring this here is fantastic.”
The Moths South Island Championships were held locally last year and this year’s South Island event will be held in Christchurch next week, before the NZ Sail GP event at Lyttelton on March 18 and 19.
While the weather’s been a bit rough on Wednesday, John says they’re expecting light winds for the next few days. Racing doesn’t get underway until about mid-afternoon when winds usually pick up. “Racing may be down by Closeburn or below Cecil Peak on the southern arm of the lake by Hidden Island, says John. “More than likely they will be racing way down the lake between Closeburn and Walter Peak because of the wind.”
Photo: Aidan Gordon
A local drone photographer Aidan Gordon (20) will be filming footage of the whole event and posting it on social media for people to enjoy.
John says there’s been a great community effort to help stage the event, with his company, Flint’s Plumbing, stumping up for fuel for the five or six safety boats needed. Yacht club volunteers will be on hand running the barbecue for sailors and supporters with Freshchoice having donated the meat.
