Millar twins to the fore

SKILFUL SAILOR: Lucy Millar (centre) winner of a yachting silver fleet series in Wellington this month, ahead of Liam McCarrison and Zoe Ham. Picture supplied

Gisborne's Lucy Millar took the silver fleet top spot in a yachting regatta at Wellington and her brother Jake was just outside the top three.

Between them, the 12-year-old twins won seven of the 12 races.

Thirteen silver fleet and eight gold fleet sailors travelled from as far as Wanaka in the south, Kerikeri in the north and Gisborne in the east to compete in the 2019 Wellington O’pen Cup, sailed in Bic O’pen Skiffs this month.

Twelve races were held across the weekend, with the two worst performances discarded from the end result.

Jake and Lucy Millar were both in contention after eight races on Day 1, sailed in testing conditions.

Both carded two first placings, with the top four boats separated by five points.

Northerly winds gusting up to 20 knots with a short chop kept all sailors on their toes, with many capsizes and the odd cartwheel as the fleet raced two sets of four races around a well-earned lunch break.

Jake Millar won the opening race on Sunday morning in cooler southerly winds coming on to Evans Bay in shifting gusts from over the airport runway.

Lucy Millar improved with placings of 3, 2, 1 and 1 to take the regatta by two points from overnight leader Liam McCarrison and Zoe Ham, both from Paremata.

The Evans Bay Yacht and Motor Boat Club hosted the event.

The venue allowed America’s Cup-type courses, with starts and finishes on the Sunday a stone’s throw from the yacht club ramps, which allowed for grandstand viewing for supporters and parents.

Aaron Hume-Merry from the Russell Coutts Sailing Foundation also ran a coaching day.