HAWKE'S BAY sailor Matt Stechmann was doing his best to avoid a stag do stitch-up this week.
It was understandable. The Napier Sailing Club member has a lot on his plate.
Today Stechmann and the rest of the nine-strong crew on Blink will start the final leg of the Fully Crewed Central Triangle race from Napier to Wellington with the aim of beating the winner of the previous two legs, Crusader of Auckland, to take line and title honours. On Monday, he and wife-to-be, fellow sailor Meg McKerchar, will find out the sex of their child, who is due to arrive in July, and next Saturday they will get married in Picton.
"It's funny how sometimes things all line up at the same time. I'm sure the other crews will stitch me up at some stage before we leave Napier," Stechmann said on Thursday night.
The world OK Dinghy champion, courtesy of his one point win over Napier Sailing Club clubmate Luke O'Connell in Melbourne in January, Stechmann is enjoying racing in an eight-boat big keel fleet in what is the biggest coastal race to be staged in New Zealand this season. Leg 1 from Wellington to Akaroa covered 195 nautical miles, leg 2 from Akaroa to Napier covered 350 nautical miles and the final leg which is expected to end tomorrow will cover 205 nautical miles.