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Royal Akarana Yacht Club

Resene Regional Roundup - the northern region

Issue date

There has been a lot of action in the northern south region already and the summer sailing season has officially only just begun, writes regional support officer Raynor Haagh.


Opening Days

The weather has been kind for many of the region's club opening days over the last month.

The Royal Akarana Yacht Club held their 124th opening day in September, which was a fantastic day of sailing as well as checking out the club's newly-opened facilities. You can read more about it here

Royal Akarana Yacht Club
Photo: Rachel Von Zalinski / Live Sail Die.

The Kohimarama Yacht Club enjoyed a gorgeous Sunday last weekend for their opening day, which consisted of club racing and the first day of the club's popular learn-to-sail programme.

Kohimarama Yacht Club
Photo: Luke Jenkins

A great fleet of 20 Starlings battled it out for opening day honours at the Glendowie Boating Club’s 70th opening day in September, when the rain fortunately held off.

Glendowie Boating Club
Photo: Glendowie Boating Club

Women and girls sailing

A small sample of some sailing opportunities for women and girls this season in the region.

Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club’s Women on Water sailing kicks off their 18th season this spring. The WOW divisions consist of cruising and racing divisions catering to experienced sailors and those new to the fun of sailing. It is run every second Thursday through the summer and is supported by club members with the use of a variety of club keelboats. See here for more. 

Women on Water

The Waikato Thames Yachting Association have announced the start of a new Women on Water programme running out of the Ngaroto Sailing Club on Tuesday evenings in club 420s. WTYA youth development coach Kirsten Moratz has designed a programme to welcome females of all ages and experience to join in on the fun.

Bucklands Beach Yacht Club coach and Olympian Melinda Henshaw is part of the team hosting a female RS Feva training session on November 3 (8.30am-11.30am). 

Bucklands Beach Yacht Club

Auckland Commodore’s Meeting

This evening marks the continuation of a great initiative instigated by former regional support officer Kim Admore a few years ago. The Auckland-based regional support officers are hosting the Auckland-based commodores for an evening of sailing and networking. This year a unique opportunity was proposed by the New Zealand Sailing Trust to host this gathering aboard Steinlager 2.

The purpose of the evening is for commodores to connect and develop old and new relationships across clubs in the region.

Steinlager II

Double Trouble Multihull Regatta

The Mercury Bay Boating Club are hosting their inaugural Double Trouble Multihull Regatta this season (Nov 29-Dec 1). The club have a strong fleet of multihulls with 10 Hobie 16s, three Hobie 14s and even a lone Prindle 16 and invite any other Hobie or multihull sailors to join them in their fabulous sailing waters for a fun, social weekend in Whitianga.

  • Registration and social gathering on Friday, November 29 at the club
  • There will be 3-4 races on the Saturday, followed by a BBQ and beach party
  • Two races and prizegiving on Sunday 
  • Mercury Bay have the perfect sailing waters for scenic round-the-bay races, large triangles and sausages, windward leeward and destination sails

Please click here to register your interest and to receive updates on the event, or email committee.mbbc@gmail.com

Hobie Cats
Photo: Mercury Bay Boating Club

Young 88 Owners Association

This enthusiastic and proactive owners association are helping keep the Young 88 fleet one of the most active in the country. They have a central class calendar, communicate regularly and have some exciting initiatives. They also encourage owner’s participation in specific events and their support of series at a range of clubs reflects their membership spread in both the North and South Islands.

The class hosted a successful Dock Rally on the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's visitors' dock recently when six Young 88s were open for viewing. Designer Jim Young, class boat builder Mike Pearce and class suppliers joined the festivities for owners to meet and discuss opportunities.

Secondhand sail swaps were encouraged and many owners enjoyed checking out the different set-ups for cruising and racing, taking away ideas to enhance their own boats. The event stirred enough interest for a few potential Young 88 owners and crew to take the opportunity for a closer look as well.

Find out more about the Young 88 Owners Association on their website

Young 88
Photo: Young 88 Owners Association

Environmentally sustainable regattas

The idea to host an environmentally sustainable regatta has seen interest from a few clubs. Major regattas run at the Wakatere Boating Club, Tauranga Yacht & Power Boat Club and Royal Akarana Yacht Club have registered this year to work to a Sailors for the Seas clean regatta standard.

Clean regatta standards start at bronze level where you start with establishing a green team, reduce water bottle usage, have recycling in place and apply four of 25 best practices recommended. 

At the other end of the spectrum, the platinum level is designed for large world-standard events and you apply 95 percent of the best practices recommended, which is what the organisers of the upcoming Hyundai 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17 world championships are working towards.

If you are interested more in the clean regatta concept, check out the Sailors for the Sea website, keep a close eye on the upcoming Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 world championships, or reach out to me for more information (raynor@yachtingnz.org.nz).  

Sailors for the Sea