Issue date
Eleven local Queen Charlotte Yacht Club sailors make up the nearly 100 strong Starling Class Open fleet on Queen Charlotte Sound starting Monday April 22nd through to Friday 26th. 12 races are scheduled with a late start to honour Anzac Day.
There are more than 100 entries so far with more expected before the close off date of April 19.
Taylor Burn, Callum Radford and Henry Gibbs should make up the leading QCYC pack followed closely by Hamish Clark and Alistair Gifford, fresh from their Optimist Class successes. Liese Belgrave will feature strongly in the Girls and should do well overall. Seren Adams, Suzie Griggs, Nicholas Gardiner, Kain Greenbank and Christopher Cameron are competing in their first National Championships and it will be a great learning experience for them, the largest fleet they would have been in as 'youth sailors'.
Fierce competition will come from from the South Island Champ winner George Gautrey, Arkady Edmunds, Jeremy Mitchell, Trent Rippey and top girls, Timaru's Lola Stoodley and Auckland's Libby Porter, amongst the many others. Last year’s National Champ was the first girl in the Class history, Erica Dawson.
The Open Fleet will sail outside Mabel Island and will be a great sight to be viewed from Victoria Domain hilltop or from on the water.
There is a Development Fleet of the very new Starling sailors not considered experienced enough to sail in the Open Fleet. This Fleet will be much smaller and sailed inside Picton Harbour.
The Event will be run from a large marquee next to Queen Charlotte Yacht Club with food and coffee available for the many expected parents, family members and supporters.
There is good viewing from Shelley beach and the walk out to Bob's Bay. The Club welcomes visitors to come a see the action.
The Event is under the direction of Principal Race Officer Gerald Martin and Event organiser Vice Commodore Ian Gardiner. The Protest Committee is a very experienced panel of national and International Judges chaired by John Bullot.
The Starling is a very pretty little boat that is fast and exciting to sail. It is a big step up from the Optimist or P Class and can be a hand full for the lighter weight or less experienced sailors. Lighter weight adults enjoy the boat as well with an Open Class trophy for those over 19 years old.
Most who sail the Starling come from Optimist or P Class as teenagers with an ideal weight range of 50-70kgs. Most of our current Olympians have sailed the Class and been National Champions, same with America's Cup sailors Russell Coutts and Craig Monk.
The Starling was designed by Des Townson and the first New Zealand National Championships was held in 1972.
Image by Deb Lee: QCYC Starling sailors coming home from racing, Liese Belgrave out in front.
