The first book about Sir Peter Blake for younger readers Sir Peter Blake was a New Zealand hero – sailor, adventurer, leader and environmentalist.
With the passing of over 10 years since his tragic death, the time is ripe for children and young adults to know more about his life and legacy.
In The Story of Sir Peter Blake, award-winning author Tessa Duder tells Sir Peter’s life story for young readers, revealing what made him an inspirational leader and sailing legend.
With summer kicking in and a lot more people getting out on the water it is timely to remind boaties to keep an eye on others out on the water.
For those of you yacht racing, remember “Rule 1.1 Helping Those in Danger – A boat or competitor shall give all possible help to any person or vessel in danger”
This is also a good rule for anyone else out on the water, cruising, fishing or otherwise if you see someone in danger, stop, see if you can provide any assistance and contact Coastguard on *500 from your mobile phone. Report all serious incidents requiring assistance on VHF Channel 16.
Here’s a look at the up-coming sailing related events around the country for the next couple of weeks. See the YNZ on-line calendar for full details of these events and those on in January and beyond.
Don’t see your event in there? Don’t miss out on some free promotion for your sailing events by adding them to the YNZ on-line calendar here.
It is an exciting time of the yachting year – event announcements, local yachting now in full swing and Awards recognition for many deserving yachties.
Heading into the festive season I’d like to wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas whether cruising or racing. If you happen to be parked in a nice bay somewhere on our fantastic New Zealand coastline take a minute to remind yourself that we all need to continue to actively protect and preserve those magic spots for all recreational users – at Yachting New Zealand we certainly put it high on our priority list.
Sailability Auckland held their annual have a go day on December 1st, and despite the rescheduled date and conflict with other community events, 16 new sailors turned up to embrace the opportunity to try sailing.
The Notice of Race for the 2013 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship, the 43rd version of the championship being held in Limassol, Cyprus has been released.
The 11th edition of the Sir Peter Blake Torbay Regatta hosted by the Torbay Sailing Club was another great success over the weekend of 1st and 2nd December 2012.
With over 360 competitors in 19 different classes competing over three courses the event is a great tribute to New Zealand’s greatest ocean sailor.
Conditions were challenging with westerly winds gusting to 30 knots on the Sunday. A number of capsizes, broken masts and rescues tested the competitors and the vast number of volunteers and helpers who make this massive regatta possible. Certainly the fortitude and determination of Sir Peter Blake was needed by all sailors to complete the event.
Dunedin is getting set to get up close and personal with an Olympic medal with Peter Burling, silver medallist in the 49er and Jez Fanstone, Olympic Programme director winging south to catch up with yacht club locals on Friday and Saturday.
A group of Starling sailors for the Otago Harbour headed up to Wanaka last weekend for the Wanaka Yacht & Power Boat Club’s Spring Youth and Junior Regatta held over Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd December.
What has made the travel possible for the Starling sailors is a purpose built trailer that parent, Graeme Bennett had built at Toko Engineering from Milton. The tandem trailer can carry 12 Starlings or other combinations of other yachts.
Timaru Yacht & Powerboat Club invites all Optimist sailors to participate in the 2013 Toyota Open Fleet National Championships and Sail One Green Fleet Championships.
On over the Easter break the regatta runs from 29th March until 2nd April with a new Optimist National Champion for 2013 to be decided.
New Zealand has an exciting new high profile yacht race on the calendar with the launch of the A2B Blue Water Classic Yacht Race announced today at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club.
The opening edition of the race is set to take place in February 2014 and its anticipated the A2B will become an iconic kiwi blue-water ocean race.
Wairoa Yacht Club hosted the Wairoa River Regatta and East Coast Championships last weekend with great weather and wind for both days of the event.
Junior training officer Jill Metz-Mayhead said it was one of the biggest regattas since their 50th in 2008.
Its Awards season and New Zealand’s yachties have been scooping the annual regional prize-giving celebrations around the country.
Most recently yachting came under the spotlight again at the 2012 Sport Auckland Awards and the 2012 Northland Sports Awards.
Four Flying Dutchman yachts have just returned to New Zealand from the World Flying Dutchman Championship held in Santa Cruz, California.
Andy McKee and Mathew Bismark were 5th overall, ahead of the Australian and USA competitors. They also received the trophy for the fastest Flying Dutchman over 20 years old. This is one of the best results ever achieved in this class by a New Zealand team.
The first of this season's YNZ Paralympic Sailing Development Clinics took place in late November, attended by seven potential paralympians. Keen to know what these clinics are like? Read on for the full report from YNZ's new Coach Development Officer Charles Baillie Strong
Nail-biting Speed! Hair-raising action! Fun for the whole family! (As long as you don't mind being shown up by your kids, that is.)
Optimist Match Racing at Opua Cruising Club is back. It's the hottest event on the OCC Calendar (as long as the weather is sunny, of course).
Oceanbridge Sail Auckland 2013 is pleased to announce a progressive travel rebate for Olympic and Paralympic class competitors from outside the Auckland region. The rebate is to encourage New Zealand wide Olympic and Paralympic sailors to join in New Zealand’s only ISAF Grade 1 regatta at Royal Akarana Yacht Club 2-5 February 2013.
Windsurfing and Kitesurfing – the extreme windsports!
Six classes, three events, one week - fun and action for all.
From complete beginners to Olympic athletes!
A whopping 163 young sailors descended on Lake Taupo for the Optimist North Island Championships November 16-18 in extremely challenging weather conditions. A wide range of wind strengths and cold temperatures did not get in the way of completing a full programme of twelve races.
10,000+ lifestyle items and marine apparel must go in this final pre xmas sale from Events Clothing. This monster sale will be held over three full days: Saturday 8th - Monday 10th December. Eftpos and credit card facilities will be available on site.
It was great to see all 14 entered boats make the start line. Only Marilyn (sunburn) and Farrago II (mast damage) didn’t quite make it.
Congratulations to Team Vodafone Sailing who set a new multihull race record. They beat their own record that they set in 2010 by just 3 minutes and 2 seconds. They completed the race in 27 hours 11 minutes and 58 seconds. Brilliant effort!
Sailors and spectators are invited to mark their diaries now for one of the world's oldest sailing regattas, incorporating events for all types of yachts big and small, dragon boats, tugboats remote controlled yachts, and more. Harking back to the days when sailing was a true national sport, Auckland Anniversary Regatta is a spectacle of a birthday present for a city that is encircled by water.
In just five days Melbourne will welcome the Olympic sailing world for the first ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta of the 2012-2013 series.
The 49erFX will be seen on the world stage for the first time at a major international regatta and with seven entries, five from Australia, one from Norway and one from New Zealand, it marks the start of the road to Rio.
Royal Perth Yacht Club is seeking a coach/instructor to undertake a leading role in its Sail Training programme. The successful applicant would be competent in the areas of both Dinghy and Keelboat learn to sail instruction.
The Sir Peter Blake Regatta at Torbay Sailing Club pays tribute to the legacy of a great New Zealander on the weekend of the 1st and 2nd of December this year. Held off Waiake Beach, Torbay since 2002, this regatta has grown to be a major event on the small boat sailing calendar and around 400 sailors are expected to participate in the 2012 edition this coming weekend.
