Issue date
Entries are now open for October's NZL Sailing Foundation New Zealand Youth Championships and there will be a number of Aon youth clinics to get youth sailors race sharp.
The biggest date on the calendar is the New Zealand Youth Championships at the Manly Sailing Club on October 7-10. Normally the youth trials are used to help select the NZL Sailing Foundation Youth Team to compete at the youth sailing world championships but this year's youth worlds, due to be held in Brazil in December, have been cancelled.
A New Zealand youth sailing team will still be selected from the New Zealand Youth Championships as a way to recognise this country's top youth sailors in each class.
Windfoilers and kitefoilers will compete for the first time and the age limit for these two classes has been extended to under-21s, although only those under 19 will be eligible for the NZL Sailing Foundation Youth Team.
Find more information, including the notice of race and entry form, here.
The event will be preceded by a handful of Aon youth clinics involving some of this country's top coaches.
A series of Aon national youth clinics will be held on September 5-6 (Manly), September 19-20 (Royal Akarana Yacht Club) and September 28-30 (Manly).
A new to youth class clinic will be run by Yachting New Zealand coach Matt Thomas for 29ers at Manly on September 12-13 and on the same weekend an Aon regional clinic will be held in Wellington by Rosie Chapman and Peter Soosalu for Laser Radial and 420 sailors.
Yachting New Zealand recently initiated a regional support plan to help fund sailors to attend Aon national youth clinics in Auckland.
"We are extremely busy through the next six-week period," Yachting New Zealand youth coordinator Sam Mackay said. "This is an awesome opportunity to support youth sailing in New Zealand and it will involve some of this country's top coaches.
"We have a number of ideas to make the NZL Sailing Foundation New Zealand Youth Championships a really cool event for everyone, including volunteers and families."
You can learn more about Yachting New Zealand's youth programme here, including information on how to register for clinics.
All of the clinics and the youth championships will comply with the relevant government guidelines surrounding Covid-19.
