Four Sailors from Auckland and three from Napier competed in Hansa Libertys at the Mighty River Power Regatta, held by the Lake Taupo Yacht Club on 8 and 9 March. While lake levels were low this year, making into boats awkward, it was good to see this event supported after the even lower lake levels last year prevented Hansa Class participation.
Taupo is a central location for all North Island sailors, and the regatta has other classes competing on the same course. This year it was well timed as a warm up event for sailors competing at the Hansa Nationals which were to be held at the Waitara Boating Club in Taranaki. Auckland sailors Helena Horswell, John Buchanan and Max Stacey filled the podium
Yachting New Zealand is delighted to announce Kate Stewart (Wakatere Boating Club) and Taylor Balogh (Naval Point Club Lyttleton) as the recipients of the 2014 St John’s Rotary Scholarship.
18 year old windsurfer, Xanthe Bowater is one of two Cantabrians to represent New Zealand in the 2014 NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team.
She was selected after winning the girl’s youth division at both 2014 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland and the 2014 RS:X National Championships.
Sam Meech has won Gold in the Laser class after a stunning final day performance in Medemblik at the 2014 Delta Lloyd Regatta. Making a return to Laser campaigning after a break Mike Bullot made it a double-podium for New Zealand winning the bronze medal.
Glamour weather and tricky winds dominated the third day of racing at the Delta Lloyd Regatta. The day looked perfect for sailing, but the word from the sailors coming shore was of shifty, gusty winds that kept everyone on their toes through the day.
Autumn is the season that most clubs to hold their Prize Giving ceremonies and it is great to see some familiar names in the disabled sailing community being recognised with awards.
On the 10th of May, The Napier Sailing Club awarded Mark and Katy Kenah the Sainsbury Logan and Williams Salver for Club Yachting Personality of the Year. Possibly the youngest people to achieve this award in the 123 years of club history!
On the same night in Auckland, the Royal Akarana Yacht Club named Helena Horswell their Yacht Person of the year
The Australian Hansa Class Nationals were held in Goolwa, South Australia between 18th and 21st April, with classes for 2.3s, 303s and libertys. The event was affected by both light and strong winds, so a full programme of racing was not able to be completed. An event report and final results can be found at http://www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-10087-0-0-0&sID=303953&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=29272552
On 11 May 2014, four more sailors were classified by Yachting New Zealand’s Chief Classifier, Helen McKenzie. A special thanks is extended to Helen who volunteered her time on Mother’s day for this, and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron who gave YNZ one of their highly sought after club rooms at short notice.
Being classified allows sailors to be certain that they fit the eligibility criteria for the type of boat they are sailing in Paralympic events.
Helen McKenzie will also be traveling to Halifax in August and Sail Melbourne later this year to assist with classification, after receiving a PM Scholarship for this earlier in the year
New Disabled Sailing Coordinator Helena Horswell has been appointed by Yachting New Zealand to replace Kristine Horne, who has moved into the role of Communications & Commercial Support.
Representing Auckland’s North Shore Clubs’ Murrays Bay Sailing Club and Takapuna Boating Club Patrick Haybittle is the second youngest member of the 2014 NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team.
Patrick was selected after performing well at the selection events including Oceanbridge Sail Auckland and the RS:X National Championships in what is his first season on the RS:X board after progressing from the Techno 293 class.
An almost complete programme of races was completed on the second day of the Delta Lloyd Regatta despite the best intentions of the fickle weather to disrupt proceedings. After Tuesday’s near perfect start to the regatta, Wednesday didn’t quite go to plan with light winds delaying racing by five hours.
A new record was set in New Zealand Teams Sailing with Kerikeri High School’s open team winning their fifth consecutive national title, which has never been done in the regatta’s 30 year history.
Competitors at the 2014 Delta Lloyd Regatta are very happy that summer has arrived in Medemblik in time for the regatta, in contrast to last year's cold and wintry conditions. On Tuesday 20 May, the 350 sailors from 49 nations enjoyed some close, tactical racing in light to moderate winds and very warm temperatures.
In the build up towards the Rio Games, Paralympics New Zealand’s Rio 2016 Chef de Mission Ben Lucas declared he is impressed by the progress made toward staging the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games after visiting the city for the first National Paralympic Committee Open Day in the history of the Paralympic Movement.
Lucas joined more than 40 delegates from 17 countries spanning the five continents and spent two days in Rio last week being updated on the project by the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and visiting competition sites across the city.
Ben Lucas said “I left assured that Rio is on track to deliver a great Games in 2016. I was particularly impressed with the Paralympic Village which will have its own distinct atmosphere and accessible facilities.” He continues, “Construction concerns have decreased as we saw evidence of progress across the sporting venues as well as transport infrastructure.”
PNZ and Ben Lucas will continue to monitor progress as we move towards the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games start date.
This is Finn sailing at its most athletic and powerful best. There is raw power, consummate skill, intense competition and incredible boat handling – it is extreme Finn sailing in near extreme conditions from some of the best Finn sailors in the world; even some of the best athletes in the world.
The 2014 Secondary School Team Sailing Nationals were held at Sandspit Yacht Club, Algies Bay.
32 teams entered and were seeded into three fleets, to sail a series of Round Robins on two courses, with repechages available to allow teams to progress up the point’s ladder.
In teams racing starting is one of the most important parts of the race. A team with a strong advantage at the start can quickly turn this into a stable combination, effectually winning the race off the start line.
Here’s a look at the up-coming sailing related events around the country for the next couple of month. See the YNZ on-line calendar for full details of these events and those on beyond that.
Are you organising an event you would like to see included? Don’t miss out on some free promotion for your sailing events by adding them to the YNZ on-line calendar here.
Every two years, Yachting New Zealand runs a Conference for all Commodores of Yachting New Zealand affiliated Clubs. The last national Commodores' Conference was held in May 2012, and was attended by Commodores’ from close to 100 Clubs; this year's is anticipated to be even bigger and better.
Reuben Corbett is a professional sailor and coach who spends his time split between New Zealand and Sweden. For the last few years Reuben has been working for Yachting New Zealand as a Have a go instructor for the summer, then sailing on the match race circuit and coaching in Europe for the winter. Reuben is also the coach of the Kerikeri High school sailing team who just won their 5th back to back national title.
Alex Maloney and Molly Meech have won silver at 2014 Vela Garda Trentino – the opening 2014 EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup which has just wrapped up in Lake Garda, Italy.
Finn Europeans ends with a blast in La Rochelle as Scott extends lead to 50 points
Giles Scott (GBR) wrapped up the 2014 Finn Europeans in La Rochelle in the perfect way with a win in the medal race to take the championship by an impressive 50 point margin. The defending champion Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) took the silver, after a very close medal race, by just one point from Ed Wright (GBR).
Though he didn't have the best of days, Giles Scott (GBR) did enough to wrap up his second European Finn title, and with a day to spare. Friday's lighter and patchy conditions were probably the most challenging of the week, with race wins going to Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) and Andrew Mills (GBR). Defending champion Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) is in second and guaranteed a medal, while Ed Wright (GBR) is back up to third.
Giles Scott (GBR) again produced a superlative performance on the fourth day of the Finn Europeans in La Rochelle, with two more race wins giving him a 36 point lead with just three races to sail.
The Auckland Junior winter sprint series has been very successful in past years and it is back!
It moves this year between Kohi, Murrays Bay, Wakatere as well as Manly and this year we add a visit to up and coming club French Bay.
