Nelson Weekly
News
Locally Owned and Operated
TUESDAY 26 April 2016
19
Noel sails away with story to tell Jacob Page Members of the Nelson Suburban Club junior pool team from left; Alex Rose, 17, Jamie Hunter, 14, Wiremu Maxwell, 17 and Zaurie Wood, 14, who competed at the Clubs New Zealand junior nationals 8-ball tournament at the Upper Hutt Cosmopolitan Club last week. It's the fourth year Nelson has sent a team and it is the highlight of the year for the players. The team is sponsored by Roadmarkers NZ Ltd. Photo: Andrew Board.
NELSON BRIDAL EXPO Nelson’s largest Bridal Expo Over 50 Exhibitors
21st August 2016 The Rutherford Hotel Nelson 10am - 3pm
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Bridal Fashion Show bridal cat walk showcasing latest in bridal fashion Nelson's Noel Eichbaum and crew mate Justin Fletcher sail Blackout. The cruise racer usually has a crew of seven but had just four for its Coastal Classic race near Auckland.
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Image by Geri Sheppard Photography
win with
Image by Geri Sheppard Photography
Noel Eichbaum loves competition. He and his yacht have regularly won trophies for the most races competed in Nelson during a season, but this summer was a different story. A desire to race in Auckland’s Coastal Classic saw him exceed his own expectations in the event, only for bad weather to force him to wait several weeks before he could sail home. He missed a majority of the local season. His effort in finishing second on the line and fourth overall in the Costal Classic from Auckland to Russell in October was one of the high points noted at the Tasman Bay Cruiser Club’s end of season awards. His 30-foot Murray 9.14 race cruiser Blackout battled unfavourable south-west winds for much of the race, but that wasn’t the tricky part. “Getting home was harder,” Noel says of October expedition. “We had to wait for favourable weather and didn’t get to sail it home until December.” Noel says the experience was amazing and a far cry from his humble beginnings as an inexperienced adult sailor. “I’d always had an interest in sailing and the water, and I’d been overseas for my job and done a bit of various yachts around Singapore and things and decided, when I got back to New Zealand, I’d get into it more.” Noel started in keel boats and has progressed ever since, it even made him move to Nelson. “I was down in Nelson looking to buy a Young 88 with my wife and we just loved Nelson so much we decided to stay. “I was originally from Christchurch but always had fond memories of Nelson from my childhood.” Noel says, while the race in Auckland was a great experience, the planning involved and the time it took to get home meant it was unlikely he would race it again. “We used to enter every race we could over the summer here and because we were up in Auckland so long we missed pretty much the entire summer series. Noel says he is hesitant to part with Blackout. “It’s such a quality boat and I believe, and so do the crew who sail it, that we still have more to learn and get out of her.”