Young man of the sea takes yachting trophy

NICK TOLERTON | 20th January 2010

Fourteen-year-old Jayvee Buchanan has just won one of yachting's most historic trophies at his first attempt - and it's not even his priority this year.

The Christchurch Boys' High student is Christchurch's first P class Tauranga Cup champion since Derek Scott in 1995.

His victory at Lyttelton in his first season in the class stunned yachties, although the lightweight skipper, just under 40kg, got assistance from uncharacteristic sou'west weather that suited him.

Although he'd also won the Canterbury, North Island championship at Napier, and the coveted Peter Blake regatta in Auckland this summer, few expected him to roll his much more experienced rivals in the national event.

"I thought I'd may be 10th or so!" he said.

Buchanan's main aim this year is to represent New Zealand at the Optimist world championship in Malaysia in December. He did not sail the local P class trials and competed at the nationals only because they were on home waters, using a new boat built by R class maestro Dan Leech.

Young enough to compete in three more P class nationals, he has been sailing Optimists since 2004.

He's competed in Singapore, Japan, and Italy in international contests, finishing 29th in the latter, the European championship, in 2008.

However, his best result came last winter when he was 13th in a fleet of 198 in the North American championships in the Dominican Republic. "With the big starts in contests like that, you learn a lot," he said.

His weather at Lyttelton last week was some reward for his disappointment at the Opti nationals last year. In very strong winds at Worser Bay he finished sixth - one place off qualifying for the worlds - and went to the North American series instead.

Buchanan led overnight every day in the 12-race Tauranga Cup, but when it blew up on the final day gusting to 25km/h he managed only 16th and 23rd, but still won the series by a comfortable seven points because of his earlier consistency.

A member of the Charteris Bay club, he's not only a champ on the water - he's also a high academic achiever at Boys' High.