Open contest
A record fourteen teams will contest the 2020 Theland NZ Open Keelboat National Championship this weekend.
Photography by Andrew Delves
30 September 2020
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Beating the previous record of eight teams in 2016, a record 14 teams will contest the 2020 Theland NZ Open Keelboat National Championship on Waitematā Harbour in Auckland.
It will be a busy and competitive weekend of fleet racing in the MRXs. The line-up is impressive, too, with past champions coming back for another go as well as a healthy mix of male and female sailors, youth, and some old guns going around again.
The main highlight on the entry list is the Theland Race Team, helmed by Olympic bronze medalist Sam Meech. The team also includes Olympic silver medalist Alex Maloney, who is joined by accomplished sailors Brad Marsh, Laurie Jury and Matt Steven.
The defending champion Nick Egnot-Johnson is racing and will be hard to stop as he chases back-to-back titles with his RNZYS Performance Program Knots Racing Team.
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“We’re pumped to get back into some competitive sailing and can’t wait for this weekend, said Egnot-Johnson.
“We had a great time last year and sailed well, so hopefully, we can replicate that again. The competition is going to be even tougher this year and there are a lot more teams vying for the title, so it’s not going to be an easy run.”
Another sailor who will be looking to grab his second title at this regatta is 2017 champion Peron Pearse. Pearse is a graduate of the RNZYS Performance Program (PP) and is a regular on the club racing and skiff sailing scenes.
Pearse said, “I’m looking forward to being a part of the Theland NZ Open Keelboat Nationals this weekend. It’s going to be fun to mix it up with the top teams again, and hopefully put on a good show.”
Holding up the flag for the girls are two talented all-female teams. The first is the 2019 Women’s Keelboat National Champion Sally Garrett, who will be looking to make a statement ahead of the Barfoot & Thompson NZ Women’s National Keelboat Championship in late November. The other is the 2.0 Racing Team helmed by RNZYS PP sailor Megan Thomson.
“We’re super excited to test ourselves against some really talented teams! We have lots of keelboat racing coming up with the Barfoot & Thompson Ladies Summer Series starting next week and the Barfoot & Thomson Women’s Keelboat Nationals in November.
“It’s going to be good to get out there and push ourselves as much as we can.”
Talented keelboat sailor and last year’s runner-up Matt Bouzaid is on a quest to go one better than last year. This will be Bouzaid’s sixth time competing at this regatta – experience that will make him a genuine threat this weekend.
Niall Malone and Jordan Stevenson are our two other RNZYS PP skippers taking part, and they are joined by Mastercard Youth Training Program skippers Robbie McCutcheon and Oakley Marsh.
Rounding out the entry list is Peter Sumich, sailing for the RNZYS, and Rob Hielkema, who is representing the Bay of Islands Yacht Club.
Racing will take place near Northern Leading Buoy from 10 am on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October, with the long-range forecast looking very positive to provide for some epic racing.
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