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School and national pride came to the fore at last week's Secondary Schools Team Sailing National Championships amid a cacophony of colour, competition and camaraderie.
Two first-time winners took out the national titles, with Takapuna Grammar winning the open division and Nelson College for Girls victorious in the girl's division.
The top three teams in each division also went on to help New Zealand comfortably win the interdominion trophy 24-12 over their trans-Tasman rivals. Napier Boys' High School and Glendowie College joined Takapuna in the open division and Whangarei Girls' High School
and a Christchurch Combined team joined Nelson in the girl's division.
A total of 29 teams, including six from Australia, competed in the five-day regatta at Algies Bay. Team sailing is a rapid-fire format in which teams of three battle for the best winning combination and about 350 races were completed over four days of competition (one day was lost to strong winds).
The Nelson College for Girls team sailed impressively over the final stages, winning nine of their 10 races against the best of New Zealand and Australia in the interdoms to come out on top.
"It was a phenomenal achievement," said team manager Heather Arnold, whose daughter Ella captained the side. "It was a reflection of the girls in the team, who are real go-getters. They set the goal to do well and achieved it.
"They really enjoyed the experience of sailing in the interdoms because they don't get to sail against just girls teams very often - it's usually against boys and mixed teams - so it was quite special to be in their own league. It elevated their sailing to another level."
Takapuna Grammar were the strongest open team throughout the week, qualifying top in the double round robin gold fleet and then winning nine of their 10 races in the interdom series. It meant they also finished as the top school in the open trans-Tasman competition.
For team captain Dylan Forsyth, it was a great way to round out his secondary school sailing career.
"We hadn't competed at the nationals before so didn't really know what to expect but it was really cool to pull it off," he said. "We worked really well together because, with team racing, you need everyone on the same page. I think our communication separated us from the rest of the teams.
"We were really excited to sail against the Aussies, so that was a cool experience. The New Zealand teams supported each other and we were quite good friends by the end of it."
Next year's national championships will revert to its traditional dates of the April school holidays - this year's was delayed due to Covid - and six teams will travel to Queensland to compete in October's interdoms.
Last week's regatta took an enormous amount of work from the New Zealand Team Sailing Association and for development officer Jamie Catchpole it was heartening to see a freshness to the lineups.
"It was really good to see some teams who hadn't come to nationals before or had been dormant for a few years," he said. "We are starting to see a few schools getting back into it.
"If some of those schools who missed it this year return, we could see more than 30 teams taking part in 2023."
Standings from the Secondary Schools Team Sailing National Championships sailed at Algies Bay:
Open
1st: Takapuna Grammar School
2nd: Napier Boys' High School
3rd: Glendowie College
Girls
1st: Nelson College for Girls
2nd: Whangarei Girls' High School
3rd: Christchurch Combined Girls
