Fourth NZ title to Millar

SURE THING: Sure Thing crew members, including Gisborne’s Peter Millar, in race action at the Noelex 25 National Championships in Napier. Four wins in the nine races helped them to overall honours — a second Noelex 25 title for Millar. Picture by Tim Sandall

PETER Millar knew he was on to a Sure Thing but the Gisborne sailor had to negotiate nine races before sealing the deal at the Noelex 25 National Championships in Hawke’s Bay on Sunday. Millar skippered the Barry Coulam-owned Sure Thing to victory on the Ahuriri waterfront.

“I have my own boat (Citrine) but my crew (Colin Shanks of Gisborne) was racing at another regatta in New Plymouth at the weekend,” said Millar, who took the helm of Sure Thing with veteran Coulam and another Napier sailor, Nigel Stilwell, as his crew.

It was a fourth national crown for Millar and a second Noelex triumph. He won it with Shanks on Citrine in 2006 as the smallest crew (just two of them).

Match made in emailsMillar was helping out at a New Year regatta in Hawke’s Bay when he found out Coulam needed a crew member for the 2017 champs.

“After about three emails we decided it was all go,” he said.

The trio prevailed in a fleet of 14. The Derek Dunbar-skippered Que Sera Sera (Mt Maunganui) was second, Bob Witham’s Elderberry (Napier) third and the only South Island entry, Nick Coultas’s Outnumbered (Christchurch), was fourth. The Southerners faced quite a drive, considering the road closures after the Kaikoura earthquake, and it was suggested it would probably have been easier for them to sail.

Not having sailed together before, Millar said coming out top after nine races was far from their minds. But the composite crew, who opted to have three on board — some can have four — surprised themselves when they opened with a victory and went on to amass four wins, three seconds and two fourths.

Favoured with light windsLight winds meant the almost eight-metre-long trailer boat reached speeds of up to five knots.

“We were favoured with light winds and I was hoping for it when I left Gisborne,” Millar said. “If it blows too hard, people can get injured.”

He underplayed his role, saying the bloke at the steering wheel “just needed to put the boat in the right place”.

The Noelex 25 is a later model of the Noelex 22 and in the late 1970s was the fastest production trailer yacht in New Zealand. In 1980, the brainchild of designer Alex Trethewey became a national class, sharing the distinction with the Hartley 16 and Noelex 22. It was championed as a vessel that a husband and wife could handle with ease and which also offered families ample comfort accommodation-wise.

Heading to optimistMeanwhile, Millar will return to Napier at Easter but with a different focus. His 10-year-old twins — Jake and Lucy — and fellow Gisborne Yacht Club member Aaron Gaskin will be competing in the optimist national championships.

“The optimist is the one of the world’s largest classes of junior boats,” he said. “The nationals usually draw entries of around 200 and will be sailed for at Napier Sailing Club in two divisions — open and green fleet. The green fleet format is aimed at newer sailors while the open is a more full-on contest. Boys and girls compete against each other at both levels.”

The optimist was introduced to New Zealand about 40 years ago, originally as trainer boat to the more famous P class. But with worldwide contests available, including a world championship, the P class has tended to play second fiddle.

Millar was New Zealand’s first optimist rep in 1977 while also contesting the iconic P class.