Hosted by Manawatu Blokart Club.
NZ BAI Open. October 2019
This year’s event was held at the Sanson track and Ohakea.
Quite a contingent arrived on Wednesday for weigh in and scrutineering, it was cold and damp with conditions making parking at the domain a bit dodgy.
So to Thursday with fine but cold conditions, cars and campers arrived in mass and were guided to there parks and the show got under way.
Sailing began around 10-30 am at the Sanson track with the course set for a North West wind but the course had changes as the wind increased to around 32 knots making sailing challenging for many sailors. There were several capsizes, and a bit of kart damage as some ran in to the fence turning into that wind with a flapping sail and no steerage. Sailing was stopped for a while as the lights and production struggled. The day finished early with the heavies and super heavies.
Many went to the Sanson community hall for the NZ BAI AGM followed by drinks and nibbles an estimate of about 75.
Friday saw fine but cool conditions with a light to moderate breeze. The breeze started from the NW and ended the day SW and light, with some wheeling. The course was changed several times to suit the wind. Over all a pleasant day without any dramas.
Saturday we headed to Ohakea. After a slightly delayed start, sailing started in a anti clockwise direction but after a few races, was changed to clockwise as the wind shifted , to have a good tacking leg. The wind was steady around 25 to 30 km, making for great sailing on the 2.5 km circuit of smooth asphalt. 78km was recorded. The first round was run in weight divisions then doubled up with a 2min delay between groups, with 8 and 10 min races. This continued through the day. At the end of sailing most went to the Ohakea lounge for drinks and nibbles.
Sunday saw the same program as Saturday, followed by a prize giving dinner where 95 enjoyed a tasty meal and the worthy place getters received their medals, well done to you all. The Sanson community hall, had a make over with fancy table clothes, shrubs, balloons and a back lit screen showing the names of each place getters. Well done to all who had the vision for it all. Very impressive!!
It was obvious that if tacking was your strong point,. your results tended to be good, for the rest of us more practice is needed. Over the four days it highlighted the fact that the sailing rules need to be taught in clubs with the hope that there would be less frustration amongst sailors
Thanks to the hosts MBC, and those who worked hard to make this event a success. If the wind conditions are similar to this event, then the world’s event next year should not be missed, so put it in your diary.
This will be held over the dates Thursday 24th October – Sunday 27th October.
There will be 2 days of racing at the Sanson Track and 2 days of racing at Ohakea Airforce base.
RESULTS: (Full Results for each Division are Linked to the Titles below)
Light’s 1st Deb Davidson 2nd Amanda Norris 3rd Dave Pearson
Middles 1st Trevor Register 2nd Bob Louden 3rd Rudi Dekker
Heavies 1st Alex Morris 2nd John Nicholson 3rd Russell Harray
Super Heavies 1st Theo Vondervoot 2nd Terry Helm 3rdDavie Norris
Production Lights 1st Bryn Wooding 2nd Frank Csizmark 3rd Donald Palmer
Production Heavies 1st Ian Timperley 2nd Brett Fitzgerald