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New Zealand’s 2013 sailing success has been recognised at regional sports Awards around the country with acknowledgement in youth sailing, Olympic class sailing and coaching in Marlborough, Bay of Plenty and North Harbour.

Kohimarama Yacht Club sailors were to the fore in the annual Auckland Intermediate (Year 7 & 8) Regatta held Thursday 21 November in Auckland. Remuera Intermediate won the event which totals the points scored in fleet racing of the best three sailors from each school.

Are you a disabled sailor looking to race overseas in a Paralympic class boat? Have you got a classification to ensure you’ll meet the criteria for the type of boat you want to sail?

This Friday, 50 years on from the inception of the New Zealand Sailor of the Year Award, the Sir Bernard Fergusson Trophy will be presented to the winner of the 2013 House of Travel Sailor of the Year.

After an arduous seven day series including twelve races for the gold fleet sailors the 2013 Laser World Championships have come to a close at Musannah Beach, Oman. Just one race was possible on the final day of competition the start gun firing only a few minutes prior to the 3pm final cut off time giving competitors just one more crack on the race track to determine their final fate.

It was a day of incremental improvements for all three New Zealand sailors racing in the gold fleet at the 2013 Laser World Championships drawing to a close at Musannah, Oman. With one day remaining Sam Meech has moved up one position into 9th, Andy Maloney up two places to 14th while Thomas Saunders has climbed one place into 19th.

Sailors Taylor Burn and Henry Gibbs won the Marlborough Sports Team of the Year at the 2013 Marlborough Sports Awards on Monday night. “It was a great night” says Taylor’s Dad Rob Burn. “330 people, John Macbeth was MC and Sir Graham Henry was the guest speaker. “Taylor gave a great speech off the cuff - even thanked his parents and Henry's. Unfortunately Henry wasn't able to be there.”

Yachting New Zealand is pleased to announce the appointment of a new NZ National Classifier for sailing – Helen McKenzie. After attending the IFDS Classification Seminar in August 2013, Helen was awarded this designation which enables her to give a national classification to sailors with physical disabilities sailing in Paralympic class boats.

It was light and shifty again in Oman for the penultimate day of the 2013 Laser World Championships where kiwi campaigners Sam Meech, Andy Maloney and Thomas Saunders are all fighting it out in the gold fleet.

Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute announced today the results of a pilot study demonstrating use of a virtual therapeutic sailing simulator as an important part of rehabilitation following a spinal cord injury (SCI). Auckland's Spinal Rehabilitation Unit based sailing simulator programme led by Sailability Auckland's Brendan Toruelle played a key role in gathering data, conducting the same measures and sharing data with the research team.

On 9- 10 November 2013 a keen group of first time sailors descended on Mount Pleasant Yacht Club for two days of sailing. Supported by the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation and Yachting New Zealand, 15 physically disabled people took their turn using an adaptive Hansa 2.3 dinghy on loan from Otago Yacht Club. In Otago, this boat enables an inclusive sailing programme also organized

After solid wind through the opening half of the 2013 Laser World Championships in Oman, day four provided sailors a new challenge with light and very shifty conditions at Mussanah Beach.

The 2013 Laser World Championships is proving to be an almighty battle as day three concludes and the six day regatta reaches the half way point in Muscat, Oman.

Seven individuals have been honoured with Yachting New Zealand Life Membership in 2013. The recognition will be celebrated at the 2013 Yachting Excellence Awards gala dinner on Friday November 29th at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

This year seven Youth Performance Awards will be presented at the 2013 Volvo Yachting Excellence Awards recognising sailing achievements since September 1st 2012. Sailors in this category must be under the age of 21 years on December 31 this year.

Just one race counted on day two of the 2013 Laser World Championships on now in Muscat, Oman where a handful of New Zealand’s best Olympic class sailors are competing for the world title.

Minoprio is crowned the NZ Match Racing Champion for 2013.

The final day of the Optimist North Islands got underway in the continued light conditions of 4-6knots so it was a true day for good clear thinking and strategic sailing and it was Kiwi, Scott McKenzie from Kohimarama Yacht Club in the Gold Fleet who led the way with a great display of skill in reading the shifts and good boat speed in the conditions, taking two firsts to pull away from Australian Otto Henry to take the title by three points.

Nominees for the Yachting New Zealand 2013 Service Award winners included, once again, a truly inspirational bunch of individuals. They are people that continue to give their time, services, and skills to the sport, and are well worthy of recognition for their tireless efforts.

The 2013 Laser World Championships are underway with two races sailed on the opening day of the pinnacle Olympic class regatta being staged on Muscat, Oman.

Day two of the North Island Optimist Champs dawned grey and overcast with a light drizzle and no wind. As the morning progressed the rain set in and any chance of wind disappeared so PRO Gerald Martin made a great call and postponed racing for three hours.

The four top seeded teams after Round Robin will go through to the Semi Finals of the RNZYS New Zealand Match Racing tomorrow morning after light winds caused racing to be delayed a number of times in the first three days of the regatta.

The NZIODA North Island Champs commenced today in light and shifty conditions for the Open Fleet in New Plymouth. With over 100 entries the fleet has been split into two and it was with a great deal of skill PRO Gerald Martin completed three races in the qualifying series before the end of the day.

The International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) and International Sailing Federation (ISAF) have both unanimously agreed to merge as the 2013 ISAF Annual Conference drew to a close in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

Australia is one of the top nations on the Paralympic sailing scene and as past International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) Vice President and current President of Sailability Victoria, David Staley, explains, a strong focus of Paralympic sailors leading to Rio will be on the ISAF Sailing World Cup - Melbourne (Sail Melbourne) over the next three years.

Australian Mathew Belcher and New Zealanders Jo Aleh & Olivia ‘Polly’ Powrie were named male and female winners of the 2013 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards during a ceremony held in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman on Tuesday 12 November.

As current Olympic and World Champions Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie have established themselves as the class act in Women’s 470 fleet racing. The pair announced their intentions to go for gold at Rio 2016 in January 2013 and they hit the ground running, never finishing off the podium across a busy year of racing.

Otago yachting identity and boat builder Darcy Price has passed away. “Darcy’s prime era was the 60s and 70s and a bit in the early 80’s, during which time he built something like 39 yachts which all were raced then changed hands and became part of the local fleet or ended up in the likes of Bluff (where I was a kid at the time) and elsewhere,” says Otago RSO Graeme Wall.

On Sunday the 10th November Wakatere Boating Club launched a fleet of six RS Fevers.

New Zealand Olympic class sailors Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie have been named Rolex ISAF Female Sailor of the Year for 2013. They were announced the winner, of four finalists, at a presentation ceremony just staged in Muscat, Oman (on Tuesday 12th November) at the end of year ISAF Conference.

Here’s an opportunity for those in Auckland to hear Ross Blackman, Business Manager for Emirates Team New Zealand, talk about behind the scenes at the recent dramatic America’s Cup battle in San Francisco.