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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Two more race wins for Giles Scott (GBR) at the Finn Europeans in La Rochelle extends his lead to 18 points, and allows him to discard a second place from the first race of the day to leave him with four race wins out of five sailed. Andrew Mills (GBR) has moved up to second while Ed Wright (GBR) has discarded his BFD from race 1 to climb into third.
The Young 88s have a racing and cruising capability to suit all comers. Last Sunday’s single handed champs is the annual running of one of the more left field events.
The 2014 AGM of the International RS:X Class Association will be held during the RS:X European and Youth European Championships at Cesme, Turkey.
The exact location and time of the meeting will be published on the Class website later.
Download the Agenda and the Submission Template
Giles Scott (GBR) leads the 2014 Finn Europeans in La Rochelle from defending champion Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) and Tapio Nirkko (FIN) after two great races on the second day of the competition.