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Have you been looking to try small boat sailing? Yachting New Zealand will be running the Volvo Sailing... Have a Go! programme for the duration of the Auckland Stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race from Saturday until 15 March. Come meet us outside the Viaduct Event Centre for a free sail in one of our four Topper Omega sailboats! Everybody over the age of 5 is welcome, and we will provide the lifejackets. No experience required.

On 19 February, the New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards Judging Panel met in Auckland to select winners in six categories: Event Excellence, Community Impact, Communication Excellence, Innovation Excellence, Commercial Partnership and the C.K. Doig Leadership Award. Yachting New Zealand and Aon New Zealand have been named as one of three finalists in the Commercial Partnership Category.

Wakatere BC hosted a combined NZ Nationals for the 470 and Nacra 17's classes this weekend. A fleet of five took part in the 470 class, notably Olympic gold medalists Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, and top men’s crew Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox who teamed up two years ago. Three Nacra 17 crews competed with hot favourites being Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders who have had good results on the international circuit in this new Olympic class.

Sailability Wellington hosted the 2015 Hansa Class National Championships, Kiwi Cup and Kiwi Ability Regatta at Lowry Bay, Wellington from 17th to 19th January 2015.

On 31 January Sailability Auckland followed in the wake of trendsetter Sailability Wellington and opened its new satellite branch at Whangaparaoa.

Unless you have been living down a very deep dark hole, you have probably heard by now that sailing has been excluded from the 2020 Paralympics to be held in Tokyo.

Wakatere Boating Club hosted a combined New Zealand National Championships for the 470 and Nacra 17s classes this weekend. A fleet of five took part in the 470 class, notably Olympic gold medalists Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, and top men’s crew Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox who teamed up two years ago. Three Nacra 17 crews competed with hot favourites being Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders who have had good results on the international circuit in this new Olympic class.

Yachting New Zealand was saddened to learn that Past President, David Cook has passed away. David was a Tamaki Yacht Club man, and served as Yachting New Zealand President from 1995-96. He was awarded Yachting New Zealand Life membership for his services to the organisation.

It is hard to believe we’re into February 2015 already – but it is certainly a busy month in lots of ways.

The winner of the Volvo National Sailing and Boating Day photo competition, earning $1000 for the Club is… this photo taken at Kohimarama Yacht Club by Jason Morgan. Congratulations!

Oceanbridge Sail Auckland gets underway on Thursday 26 February and to date there are 177 boats who will line up to take on the four day event.

On Sunday 15th February, Howick Sailing Club hosted a 3.7 Class Regatta. Eight 3.7 Class sailors from Auckland and Waikato Clubs raced off for the 3.7 Howick Championship Cup with Hamish Hall-Smith from French Bay taking the honours.

The new face set from Opti & Starling brought exciting challenges to the fleet of eleven 420s.

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 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.

The RNZYS Harken Schools Regatta starts this Friday with a full complement of 20 teams!

Alex Bruce won the inaugural Farr 6000 Match Racing series recently held at the Port Chalmers Yacht Club. Alex has been having some great success in his Noelex 22, Charade, and he quickly came to grips with the Farrs to ultimately take the series despite getting off to a slow start in his first heat.

We are delighted to announce the Ross 930 Squid Vicious is our first entry to the Jack Tar Auckland Regatta and Charleston is our first multihull entry. Former owner of Django Andrew Reid has entered his new boat Anarchy which is yet to be launched. Now that’s impressive! Check out pics on our Facebook page.

Yachting New Zealand has an opportunity for sailors to get involved behind the scenes at the Auckland stop over for the Volvo Ocean Race.

20 year old Harry Price representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia with his crew of Ben Robinson, Cameron Gundy and Murray Jones have won the Nespresso Youth International Match Racing Championships.

After a two week Stopover in Sanya, China, the fleet of six VO65's raced out from the Serenity Marina last Sunday for the 5,264-nautical mile testing Leg 4 to Auckland.

Barbara Kendall was recognised at last night’s 52nd Halberg Awards with a Sport New Zealand Leadership Award and was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.

The Men’s Rowing Pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray have taken the supreme honours at the 52nd Halberg Awards at Vector Arena in Auckland tonight. The 2014 World Rowing Male Crew of the Year was named the ‘Halberg Disability Sport Foundation Team of the Year’ before claiming the Halberg Award honours.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) is asking sailors across the world to unite on behalf of all disabled sailors.

The weather may not have cooperated as much as we would have hoped for but we certainly had a fun time giving more than fifteen members of the public the chance to have-a-go in Sunbursts. From about 10:30am to 1pm, courtesy of the five Sunburst skippers on the water, young and old had some thrilling rides. Thankfully there were no spills. The smiling faces were a joy to see, and several came back for multiple rides.

Howick Sailing Club celebrated the Volvo National Sailing Day with its annual “Have a Go” day on the 1st February. Over 30 new sailors braved the drizzle to join us down at Howick Beach to have a go on one of the Club’s training Optimists, Junior Jollys or to experience the thrill on a Club member’s Paper Tiger.

Wellington Ocean Sports will be running an Advanced Sea Survival Course over the weekend of Saturday 28 February and Sunday 1 March 2015. Advanced Sea Survival is a comprehensive theoretical and practical course required by crew competing in Category 1 offshore races. The course is ISAF and Yachting New Zealand approved and held over one weekend.

The Lotus Owners Association advises that a Special AGM is to be held at the Lowry Bay Yacht Club, 100 Port Rd, Seaview, Lower Hutt on Thursday 19th February at 7pm.

It’s been a decent four months since I last updated, and we are now well and truly into a new year. Happy 2015 everyone!

Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron race officers today had to use a countback of wins to decide the order going into tomorrow’s finals of the Hardy Cup match racing regatta after three skippers and their crews ended with 15 wins each after the two round robins.

At the 2014 420 General Assembly Meeting, delegates gave endorsement to increasing the number of teams an National Country Authority (NCA) may enter to 420 Championships within a new under-17 age division for the 420 World and Ladies World Championships and the 420 Junior European Championships.

Its been a busy start to 2015, by the end of January we have already been to Miami and back, competed in and subsequently won the first World Cup event of this year.. Not quite the cruisy NZ summer approach we have taken before, but its been great fun!