Issue date
The Young 88 national championships have moved forward in the calendar in the hope of enjoying more breeze than the past few years.
The Harken-sponsored regatta will take place on the old America's Cup course off Auckland's East Coast Bays on March 4-5. The move to an earlier date was precipitated by the fact the traditional April date often saw light winds for this battle of New Zealand’s largest keelboat class.
The national championship trophy and Tanaka Cup are wide open after last yera's top two boats chganged hands during the year.
Slipstream 3 has been in solid form and will be campaigned by Mark Bond fresh from the Stewart 34 class, and Flash Gordon by Roger Eaton and James Corbett is also showing good speed. But on current form Zane Gifford with Raging Hormones will be favourites along with the current North Sails Sprints series leaders, Rick Hackett’s Skitzo campaigned by David Hazard.
Ed Masseys Undercover has been very consistent so may threaten the podium and one of the Half Moon Bay crowd could be the surprise package.
As late entries will be accepted up until March 2, there could be further strong challenging teams yet to show their hands.
The internationally-qualified race management team from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron will oversee the regatta and, off the water, the RNZYS will host the prizegiving in their Quarterdeck Restaurant.
The Young 88, about 30 feet in length and with a fractional rig, is a popular multipurpose boat that offers speed and agility for racing, with space and comfort for cruising. The first mould was built by Roger Land in the 1980s, and 159 have been built since then. Of these, 77 are still in the Auckland area, 9 in Northland, 13 in the rest of the North Island, 19 in the South Island and 38 have been exported.
The national championships are contested annually along with the Tanaka Cup for first owner-driver. An Owner’s Champs, Shorthanded and Twilight series are other examples of this active class.
For all the event documents see here
To learn more about the Young 88 Class see their website or email info@young88.org.nz
