Life’s a breeze for young sailors
There was local success for the Timaru Yacht and Powerboat Club during its annual agegroup yachting regatta at Caroline Bay.
About 60 yachties competed across a number of a number of classes at the weekend, with the ages ranging from eight to 18 with most competitors from outside the region.
The best performed Timaru competitor was Aylwen Berger, who overcame a strong field of 14 to comfortably win the P-class. Co-organiser Helen Berger said 14-year old Aylwen is a strong sailor, winning South Island competitions, and faring similarly well in national competitions. Berger’s recent trophy haul includes the Graham Mander Trophy in the Canterbury P class championships and the Harken Trophy in the South Island P class champs.
‘‘She has three brothers, and three cousins who also sail, and she’s naturally competitive. When she started sailing she was a little afraid at first, but now she loves it. She especially likes to go fast.’’
The Berger family dominated the P-class with Eran Berger second and Rowan Berger third. Another top performing Timaru yachtie was Alex Croft fourth in the Optimist green fleet competition. Other popular events included the open fleet optimist, which was won by Charlotte Palmer of Christchurch,
Berger said the conditions were close to perfect, the atmosphere was equally good, with about one-fifth of the entrants competing for the first time.
‘‘More than half of the competitors came from Christchurch, and they were impressed with the facilities.’’