Sailing: It's a Sure Thing for composite trio

Boat owner Barry Coulam (left), of Napier, skipper Peter Millar, of Gisborne, and crew member Nigel Stilwell, of Napier, after winning the Noelex 25 Nationals in Napier. PHOTO/Barry Kerr

Peter Millar knew he was on to a Sure Thing but what wasn't a done deal for the Gisborne sailor was claiming a fourth national crown.

As it turned out, Millar need not have fretted after the Barry Coulam-owned yacht was enough to stamp his authority during the Noelex 25 Nationals at the Ahuriri waterfront yesterday morning.

"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 the skipper who had veteran Coulam and another Napier sailor, Nigel Stilwell, as his crew on Sure Thing during the Waitangi Weekend Regatta that offered competitors an opportunity to warm up before the Noelex and Flying Fifteen World Championship, which Napier Sailing Club is hosting in a fortnight.

Millar was helping out at the New Year's Regatta here when he discovered Coulam needed a crew member and he a vessel.

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

Millar and his crew prevailed in a fleet of 14 yesterday with the Derek Dunbar-skippered Que Sera Sera (Mt Maunganui) coming in second, Bob Witham at the helm of Elderberry (Napier) third and the only South Island entry, Outnumbered (Christchurch), with Nick Coultas as captain, fourth.

The Southerners faced quite a task to drive up with road closures after the Kaikoura earthquake amid suggestions it would probably have been easier for them just to sail up to Ahuriri.

Not having sailed together before, Millar said Sure Thing was anything but about coming out on top after nine races.

But the composite crew, opting for three although some can have four on board, surprised themselves when they opened with a victory and amassed four all up, three as runners-up and two fourths.

The lights winds meant the almost 8m long trailer boat was travelling at speeds of up to 4.5 to 5 knots.

"We were favoured with light winds and I was hoping for it when I left Gisborne," Millar said, revealing a major part of racing in the class was finding cohesiveness with the crew.

He underplayed his role, adding the bloke at the steering wheel "just needed to put the boat in the right place".

"If it blows too hard people can have injuries."

Millar said the Bay weather had turned it on for someone who visits the club every so often for a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Because he has already made the commitment to be with his 10-year-old twins at the optimist nationals, he won't be back for the world champs.

While Millar has sailed abroad he hasn't entered a world championship.

The Noelex 25 is a later model of the Noelex 22 and in the late 1970s became 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 cruise with ease and which also offered ample comfort in accommodation for families.