Young 88s punch above their weight in unpredictable Coastal

Slipstream picks up the "First Class" Trophy for First Young 88 and a brilliant third monohull overall on PHRF. Left to right Nick, Bruno, Todd, Owner/Skipper Jed Roberts, Joel and Erin (Coastal Classic Media)

by Helen Horrocks | 31/10/22

It’s often said the appeal of the Coastal Classic is not just the sheer scale of the race, which this year attracted some 170 entries. It’s also the races within the race that get the competitive juices flowing. That was certainly the case this time around, with battles among and between classes, clubs, regions and sometimes even formerly loving spouses making things interesting out on the race course, in what ended up being a pretty interesting race anyway.

The Y88 fleet numbered a tidy five, with some strategic shit-stirring by Suellen in the days before the race tipping War Machine as self-declared favourites, with a feisty Babe biting her ankles all the way to the podium.

Predictability is seldom a hallmark of class racing though, and not of the Coastal either, with results and conditions turning out to be anything other than predicted.

The long range forecast for strong and consistent south-westerly breezes, which had many expecting the toppling of long-held small boat records, did not materialise. Instead we were treated to a comfortable kite run over the start line and around the corner in 15 knots of sou-west, then a softening towards Omaha, followed by an agonising lull as far north as Tutukaka as we waited for the latterly forecast 20 knot south easterly to fill in.

Decisions about whether to go inside or out wide of the various midway course features would prove critical in many cases. With War Machine and Babe locked into a ghosting grudge match past Little Barrier and up to the Hen, Slipstream and Shiraee opted for the outside line and gained a valuable jump on the rest of the fleet.

Slipstream opened the gap and established a clear lead which put them in position for a home team win. Picking up the easterly soonest they crossed the line into their home port of Russell just after 5:06am on Saturday morning.

Against the odds, Shiraee - fresh from the shed after a gargantuan effort to make the start line in time - was next to finish some 20 minutes later, very closely followed by War Machine who had closed the gap between them down to less than three minutes.

Babe reportedly had issues hoisting their kite after rounding Cape Brett, and opted to two-sail the final leg to finish a few minutes before 6am. This gave War Machine a comfortable victory over their personal race nemesis, which they celebrated with no grace or humility whatsoever.

Mere minutes after Babe, Young Mischief also crossed the line just before 6am to bring the remainder of the fleet home.

The final results for a varied and technical Coastal showed the Young 88s continue to punch above their weight in a range of conditions, with the fleet all placing in the top fifth of overall results. On PHRF corrected time, Slipstream placed 3rd overall out of 139 monohulls, Shiraee 9th, War Machine 16th, Babe 22nd and Young Mischief 24th.

Other Photos Credit Suellen Hurling LiveSailDie & Young 88 Media

Results for Division 5

Overall results (monohull)