Schneider Electric Hunter Nationals 2006

The 2006 Hunter Nationals were held at Henly Midmar Yacht Club from 18 to 21 March. A great turnout of 35 boats gave the evergreen fleet its seventh consecutive year of over 30 boats, underlining the fact the the Hunter still enjoys the biggest keelboat fleet in the country. The class attracts a wide variety of competitors due to its great affordability and social sailors.

As always, the racing was close, with the top podium position only being decided on the final race. The teams of Bruckman/Martinson fought closely with Frost/Stockhausen who seemed to have an edge over the following four boats that only had 5 points separating them.

The regatta got off to a very light wind start in a breeze that swung and faded resulting in Race Officer Dave Rushton abandoning. The first completed race of the regatta resulted in Frost/Stockhausen winning, with Bruckman/Martinson in second position. The following race placed Karolius/Boshoff in the mix with a second.

Day Two would prove to be a tough one for Rushton, with a fading morning wind squeezing out just a single race that resulted in Frost/Stockhausen first and Changuion/Fleming second. During lunch the breeze blew consistently from the dam wall, only to turn into a squally thunderstorm which resulted in the race being abandoned.

Day Three presented the most consistent wind of the regatta, with a light breeze providing mixed results and throwing the ‘heavies’ into the middle of the fleet. The remainder of the day’s racing kept the top contenders, Frost/Stockhausen and Bruckman/Martinson, in first and second positions.

During the final day’s racing Frost/Stockhausen had to defend their lead against Bruckman/Martinson. However, with great sailing from Bruckman/Martinson, who attained two seconds and a first, the title was clinched from the defending champions, Frost/Stockhausen. The other teams that achieved wins during the day’s racing were Cockerill/Pike and Tarboton/Verbeek.

A special mention must go to Luke Wagner and Matt Beaker who were first in the Juniors and to Fritz von Klemperer who is still sailing competitively at the grand old age of 88.

Special thanks must go the Henley Midmar Yacht Club and class sponsors, Schneider Electric.

The next Hunter event is the Provincials, which are to be sailed during MSC week in July, an event not to be missed. Next year’s Hunter Nationals will be held at Witbank Yacht Club from 25 - 29 March 2007.

 

Rank	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	Nett
1	2004	John Bruckman	David Martinson	WYC	14.0
2	2011	Chris Frost	Mark Stockhausen	RNYC	18.0
3	182	Herbert Karolius	Gerrie Boshoff	DAC	35.0
4	145	Rob Tarboton	Julian Verbeek	HMYC	37.0
5	40	Tony Cockerill	Hank Pike	HMYC	38.0
6	2013	Paul Changuion	Matthew Fleming	HMYC	40.0
7	444	Brandon Smith	Julia Spurdle	ZVYC/UCTYC	55.0
8	404	Rob Edwards	Andrew Edwards	DAC	57.0
9	261	Steve Hegerstrom	Reg Ross	HMYC	61.0
10	265	Lester Johnstone	Vaughan Owen	LDYC	69.0
11	299	Mike Dann	Robert Dann	FYC	79.0
12	409	Mike Hayton	Malcolm Orren	WYAC	95.0
13	2008	Colin Hay	Craig Hay	WYC	100.0
14	2001	Jessica Lenz	Birgit Johnstone	VCA	102.0
15	215	Barry Ogilvie	Chris Emery	WYC	104.0
16	773	Simon Farrington	Terry Pratt	LDYC	107.0
17	181	Luke Wagner	Matt Becker	HMYC	114.0
18	213	Dylan Emmett	Tielman Burger	LDYC	119.0
19	1	Anthony Donkin	Garth Hollins	PYC	129.0
20	179	Graham Genlloud	Matthew Ross	WYC	141.0
21	460	Robin McIntosh	Samantha McIntosh	HMYC	159.0
22	446	John Latilla	Brandon Latilla	WYAC	160.0
23	440	Tim Duguid	M Duguid	HMYC	169.0
24	452	Rob Barker	William Crockett	HMYC	170.0
25	739	Mark Summerton	John Boswell	HMYC	190.0
26	268	Warren Confait	Niel Ellinson	HMYC	191.0
27	767	Anthony McMillin	Lauren Ross	HMYC	192.0
28	736	Sean van Rensburg	Pierre van Rensburg	DAC	201.0
29	222	Peter Metcalfe	Errol Agnew	HMYC	214.0
30	273	Fritz von Klemperer	Roger Eshmade	HMYC	219.0
31	761	Dave Wagner	Stephen Wagner	HMYC	223.0
32	414	John Price	Bryan Price	Witbank	247.0
33	725	Hans Schroeder	Dirk Schroeder	HMYC	261.0
34	766	Rose Hamilton	Jay Hichens	HMYC	263.0