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| Graham Cross wins 2006 Auckland IOM Champs. |
| Consistant and at times brillant sailing saw Graham Cross once again stamp his dominance on the IOM scene here in Auckland. Making and designing his own yachts and sails in the vain of Geoff Smale makes Graham the complete sailor. Great temperment, a quiet and unassuming air, if it wasn't for the fact every time you look up it's Graham's boat leading the pack, you would hardly know he was there! It's great to have the above two sailors in our local fleets, but now it apprears we might even have three top designer sailors. Stepping up to be counted in this latest regatta was Glenn Cochrane with his first design and build IOM aptly named "Ice Breaker" Glenn did battle with Graham all through the first day of the competition to hold a narrow points lead over night, only to have Graham take over again after three straight wins on the second morning. Glenn is still relatively new to R/C sailing which is a scary thought for the rest of us in the fleet, and his new yacht had only been on the water a few times before this regatta! |
| Graham Cross's IOM "Crossbreed" did I hear him say he was putting together a new boat? I hope it's not because he thinks he can go faster! |
| Nice finish for a home build. Glenn Cochrane's "Ice Breaker" the boat to look out for in the future! |
| another aspect of Glenn's design is that it was aimed at performance in the top end of each rig rather than lighter conditions. The fact that this regatta was sailed only in light airs is an added worry to the rest of us mere mortals! |
| New N.M.M.S club Commodore Grant Lane has a hot new paint job on his Cockatoo "Hot Lips" It's great to see Grant back on deck again and enjoying his sailing as well as taking on the new club position with a smile. Thanks Grant we sure need the man power and help at club level. |
| Top ten finishers in the Auckland IOM Championships |
| 1 Graham Cross Crossbread 2 Glenn Cochrane Cochrane 3 Geoff Smale Crossbread? 4 Alec Newald V5 5 Mike Garden V5 6 Grant Lane Cockatoo 7 Jim Brown Cockatoo II 8 Leon Talaic Pi R2 (Talaic) 9 Geoff Davies ?? 10 Roger Booth ?? |
| I would also like to thank Mike Garden for traveling all the way up from Wellington and adding some depth to the field and pushing me a little harder in the process! |
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