Sailing: Top three, but races abandoned

This is pretty special ... it's my first Hartley 16s nationals, my first time crewing for Rob and we were in a borrowed boat.Josh Weeks, sailorHawke's Bay sailor Josh Weeks was a man of mixed emotions after the Napier-hosted national Hartley 16s championship regatta's final two races were abandoned courtesy of Cyclone Wilma on Saturday.
Weeks, 21, was naturally disappointed he and skipper Rob Hengst couldn't get a crack at the title after jumping from 10th to second place in the 14-boat regatta with two wins and two second placings the previous day. However, the Thirsty Whale bartender was thrilled to be able to celebrate his first top three finish at nationals level after 12 years of sailing.
"This is pretty special ... it's my first Hartley 16s nationals, my first time crewing for Rob and we were in a borrowed boat," said Weeks, referring to Tickled Pink, which is owned by retired Napier Sailing Club clubmate Ian Cameron.
Weeks had raced regularly against Hengst in the OK Dinghy class during the past four years and the nationals, which began on Thursday, was the first time they had teamed up.
Hengst had tackled the Hartley 16s nationals once before and secured a third placing. Whether or not they compete again together at next year's Whangarei-hosted nationals will depend on whether or not they can borrow a boat again.
Tickled Pink finished three points behind Pronto skippered by Aucklander Gareth Insley. Another Napier boat Tramp, raced by skipper Paul Dunford and Steve Turpin, which was first equal with Pronto after Thursday's two races finished third, five points behind Pronto after discarding a 13th placing in Friday's second race.
Cyclone Wilma's 30-knot winds also ended any chance of a race being completed in the Noelex 25s 30th anniversary nationals on Saturday and the Kiwi Cup and New Zealand Access Class championships.
Lake Rotoiti's Que Sera Sera skippered by Derek Dunbar won the 18-boat Noelex 25s regatta by seven points from Tamaki's Craig Coulam on his father Barry's Napier boat Mykonos. Gisborne's Peter Millar skippered Citrine to third place and Barry Finlayson, racing Blueprint, was the best of the host club skippers, with a fourth equal place with Lyttleton's Outnumbered skippered by Bob Coultas.
In the nine-boat Access 303 class, Aucklander Tess Connell, who was assisted by Napier's Briar Mannering, took title honours with six straight wins. Hawke's Bay's vision-impaired sailor Dennis Hebberley was fourth.
Wellingtonians Alexander O'Connell and Genevieve McLachlan were second and third respectively.
Wellingtonian Michael Jones won the Liberty fleet title by one point from World and European champion Magali Moraines. Aucklander John Toole was third.
Aucklanders Tim Dempsey and Jan Apel won the five-boat SKUD 18 class, which saw Jovin Tan and Desiree Lim of Singapore finish third.
Napier Sailing Club manager Lyle Tresadern was impressed with the manner in which the disabled sailors coped when the cyclone hit on Saturday morning. While there were no major injuries, one sailor got extremely cold and recovered after a hot shower.
"Because of the westerly blowing their boats in the wrong direction it took us awhile to get them to safe water," said Tresadern.