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Two bullets and a 3rd from Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie sees the Olympic champions take the early lead in the Women’s 470 class at Delta Lloyd Regatta which got underway overnight in Medemblik, Netherlands.

With little respite in the weather, the Finn World Masters in La Rochelle, completed two more great races in moderate, cold winds. After four race two kiwis are lying top ten including Karl Purdie (pictured, from Worser Bay Boating Club) in 5th and Ray Hall (Waiuku Yacht Club) in 7th.

Response to the 2013 YNZ Yacht Club Survey has been terrific. Chief Executive Dave Abercrombie says; “I want to say a big thank you to Yacht Clubs which have provided a completed 2013 Yacht Club Survey return to us, I know it takes some time and effort and I really appreciate your cooperation.”

Nine young kiwi sailors are off to Cyprus this year for 2013 ISAF Youth Worlds. Take a look at this great preview video to see what's in store for the 2013 NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team this July... Find.. Team announcement here. Team profiles here. More about the 2013 ISAF Youth World Champs here.

With our magnificent summer finally coming to an end it is time to start looking at getting into the nice warm classroom and do some theory courses during the long dark winter evenings. This winter here at Wellington Ocean Sports we have a variety of Coastguard Boating Education courses that will make your boating next summer (and on those nice winter days) that much safer and more enjoyable.

With no two boats being alike in the Auckland to Musket Cove, Fiji Ocean Race starting on 1 June, every member of the fleet will be racing the clock. Starting with the quickest, the fleet’s only multihull, TeamVodafoneSailing set the race record of 103 hours and 20 minutes two years ago, but conditions were light that year, and the big red trimaran hopes to shave hours if not days off its best time on the Musket Cove course in 2013.

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.

Yachting New Zealand congratulates all the Class Associations and Yacht Clubs who contributed to the success of the Sailing Central Hall at the 2013 Hutchwilco Boat Show which attracted a huge public crowd to the Greenlane venue in Auckland over four days last weekend.

They said come to France, it will be sunny and hot. They said the water will be warm and they said it never rains here. They lied. However they were right about one thing. The racing on the opening day of the 2013 Finn World Masters in La Rochelle was simply fantastic. Despite the cold inclement weather, with low cloud, non-stop drizzle and temperatures around 10 degrees, about 95 per cent of the fleet went racing and a grand time was had by all.

The 2013 EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup rolls on with day one of the Delta Lloyd Regatta about to get underway in Medemblik, the Netherlands. Four NZL Sailing Team crews including Olympic champions Jo Aleh and Olivia ‘Polly’ Powrie are in Medemblik for the five day regatta where racing is scheduled to start at 11am local time on Tuesday 21st May – just a few hours from now.

Second stage of the Eurosaf Champions Sailing Cup, the Delta Lloyd Regatta has taken on the challenge to bring the event to a new dimension where media presentation is playing a big part. For Event Director, Arjen Rahusen, this is the way forward “ We are concentrating our efforts to take sailing closer to the public especially through social media. All the boats will be equipped with trackers with the help of Swiss Timing. We have two video teams, who will feed daily news via the social media network and highlights. We want to give the sailors the best exposure they deserve. It is vital for them and for us!”

In just days' time racing will be underway in Japan at the 2013 IFDS Blind Sailing World Championships, where again a strong team of New Zealanders are looking to defend their world championship title.

Subsidized flights thanks to American Airlines, free boat charter, a race clinic, the hospitality of the Chicago Yacht Club... are you convinced?

To reflect its goal of introducing people of all ages and from all backgrounds to sailing, Access Sailing Systems Pty Ltd has had a name change to Hansa Sailing Systems Pty Ltd and has adopted the Hansa sailing brand for its range of small keelboats and accessories.

The Yachting New Zealand Qualified Coaches Facebook Group has gone live. The facebook group is for any YNZ qualified coach from LTS through to Olympic Coaches. On the site you will find drills, pictures, videos, upcoming events and courses.

The NZL Sailing Team with Emirates Team New Zealand has confirmed that all plans to race in the the inaugural Red Bull Youth America’s Cup are on track. “This last week after Artemis’ tragedy in San Francisco have been tough on everybody, but we’re still just as motivated to continue working toward flying the flag for New Zealand in September” says team skipper 22 year old Peter Burling.

Two New Zealand teams are off to Busan, Korea for the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championships on from 4-9 June. Twelve teams will compete for the title including kiwi entries skippered by Claudia Pierce (Infinity Racing) and by Susannah Pyatt.

Next week, the Finn class returns en-masse to La Rochelle, France for the 2013 Finn World Masters. To date some 307 sailors from 27 countries have pre-entered and if all show up it is destined to be not only the largest Finn Masters ever, but also the largest Finn event ever.

On the back of a great effort in Qingdao in the Extreme's FMJ came out with it all to play in the first match race event of the year! Racing in the harbour of Hong Kong, the city made for what can only be described as an amazing backdrop! The competition was world class with tour card holders Waka Racing and Ian William's GAC Pindar in the mix and also a lot of local talent.

Volvo Cars New Zealand have come on board as sponsor of YNZ's flagship and inclusive school sailing programme Volvo Sailing… Have a Go! YNZ members will soon have their chance to be able to access benefits from this relationship making it easier for them to get into their own Volvo.

In early May, a young Kiwi team headed over to Japan for the annual three day youth regatta – the ‘International Friendship All Japan Junior Yacht Club Regatta 2013′ from the 3rd – 5th of May. The team of three young and upcoming Kiwi sailors and was led by North Sails New Zealand Purchasing Manager Hayden Whitburn who himself has competed in the very same regatta back in 2000.

Lake Garda… what a cool place to train, race and hang out at for a few weeks. From the picturesque lake we sail on, the awesome hills to cycle up, to the old towns with narrow alleys running in all directions, Lake Garda is truly up there as one of my favourite places to visit. I also have to mention the tasty local cuisine specialties, which make this place even better; pizza and gelato!

We got to Riva del Garda – at the north end of Garda Lake on the 2nd of May, and as luck would have it the Italian 470 National Championships were scheduled to take place two days after we arrived.. so we entered and took part as a bit of a warm up to the EuroSaf event which we had come here for (or cool down as it is absolutely freezing on the water here).

With only eight days left, the Delta Lloyd Regatta is about to start! The Delta Lloyd Regatta team is busy organizing the last things to make the 2013 edition a great success. New Zealanders on the entry list include; Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox James Turner and Carl Evans Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie Andy Maloney Sam Meech Natalia Kosinska

New Zealand has sailed away with three gold medals at Vela Garda Trentino – the first of five regattas in the inaugural EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup. The five day regatta wrapped up overnight in picturesque Lake Garda, Italy where yet another new format for scoring was being trialled.

UK sailmakers have created a rules quiz programme explaining some of the key rules in yacht racing. The quiz programme has a free demo, afterwards you can buy the programme containing over 30 rules scenarios. Clicking on the video, will play out the race situation. You can add buoy room, stern lines and comments. Clicking on the tab answer will provide a breakdown of the situation, rule by rule. A conclusion of the rules that were broken is explained and outcome provided.

Kiwi sailor Conrad Colman, winner of the 2011-12 Global Ocean Race, is teaming up with Eric Lecoq, founder of Lecoq Cuisine, to race a brand new generation 3 Verdier designed 40 in the 2013 Atlantic Cup.

This Race Coach Course will be held at Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club on Monday 24th June, Monday 1st July and Monday 8th July. 24th June 5-9pm 1st July 5-9pm 8th July 5-9pm

This Race Coach course will be held at Gisborne Yacht Club on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th June. 14th June 7-9pm 15th June 9am - 3pm

This Learn to Sail Coach Course will be held at Worser Bay Boating Club on Monday 12th, Sunday 18th and Monday 19th August.

One of New Zealand’s most renowned sailors – Grant Dalton has given his support to the A2B Ocean Race, speaking about this major new yachting event, while preparing to head to San Francisco for America’s Cup racing.

The annual round Mana Island Trailer yacht series was held from Plimmerton Boating Club (PlBC) on Sunday 14 April. The series is traditionally an interclub feature but with the general demise of interclub trailer yacht racing in the Wellington region has not recently attracted outside entries. Nevertheless a fleet of 10 yachts turned up on the starting line, reflecting the strength of the division at PBC and the way it has developed over the last few years.