News

I have just finished competing in the 2013 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland regatta, held out of the Royal Akarana Yacht Club. This year in the Laser fleet we had some great international competition with sailors from Australia, Ireland, Holland, Korea and Sweden all coming over to Auckland to race. Day one and two of the regatta were similar with 12-20 knot winds from the North East. After the six races held over the first two days, Ash Brunning (AUS) was leading by two points over myself in second place. Having not yet finished outside the top three in a race, I was sailing well but Ash too was on top of his game.

Palma de Mallorca, 5 February 2013.- The 44th edition of the Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia Mapfre for Olympic classes, the first European ISAF Sailing World Cup stop, will include Kiteboarding as invited class. The kites will sail for the very first time in the most international regatta held in Spain, sharing the racing area in the bay of Palma de Mallorca with the Olympic classes from 30th March to 6th April.

Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron sailor Jordan Reece has sailed back into calculations in the Hardy Cup on Sydney Harbour with four wins from four flights on a day of restricted sailing in light winds. Reece, who is competing as the Estate Master Sailing Team powered by Etihad Airways, was the top helmsman today in an unfinished second round-robin in the Under 21 ISAF Grade 3 match racing regatta.

Oceanbridge Sail Auckland 2013 came to a roaring conclusion, with strong winds again pushing the sailors to their physical limits on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour. All fifteen fleets sailed their final races on Tuesday February 5th in winds that gusted up to 30 knots. As anticipated, the only females entered in the 470 fleet, Olympic Gold Medallists Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie won the regatta with a margin of twelve points.

Local Dunedin brothers, Jake (25) and Ben Hawker (22) from the Macandrew Bay Boating Club, have for the first time up lifted the Sunburst National Champion title by an all Dunedin crew and boat. The Sunburst National Championships were sailed on the Otago Habour from the Port Chalmers Yacht Club during January, 18th to 21st January 2013. Conditions for the regatta provided a good test for all the 30 registered boats for the event.

Over the summer school holidays the Otago Yachting Association (OYA) ran a very successful Breakaway Sailing Programme over a period of four weeks. The programme ran one week prior to Christmas then recommenced for three weeks in January starting on the 7th January.

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 later in February and beyond. Are you organising an event you would like to see included? Don’t miss out on some free promotion for your sailing events by adding them to the YNZ on-line calendar here.

On Friday 25 January the Port Chalmers Yacht Club was host to the launching of a recently completed yacht by member Rob Wood. Rob has just wrapped up the build of his new yacht “Te Waka” a 650 Leech Carbon Fibre Sportsboat. Te Waka is the first new build launch at the club in recent years and quite a large turnout of members and friends came to witness the launching after a traditional Maori blessing conducted by local Kaumatua, Noi Hudson.

It has been another busy start to the season for our Sailing... Have a Go! programme. During term four 2012, 1475 students took part in the programme with more than 70% expressing an interest in learning to sail.