Six of our Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme sailors will get the opportunity of a lifetime tomorrow when they join the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for match racing on board two ex-America’s Cup yachts. Our six talented sailors have been hand-picked by Commodore Steve Burrett to sail with the Royals on NZL68 & NZL41.

What a weekend it was, the weather played the game and Evans Bay provided a full range of fantastic sailing conditions from no wind and beautiful sunshine (you can’t beat Wellington on a good day) through to a (more normal) cool 20ish knots on Sunday.

Weta Marine are passionate about showing people what a great sport sailing is. For the past two years we have organized Sailing Central at the Hutchwilco New Zealand boat show to encourage the wider boating public to check out sailing and hopefully give it a go. The next show is from May 15th to 18th and it promises to be a good one.

Do you have an old dinghy oar or set of oars that are no longer of use? Artist Justine Hawksworth is interested in buying any old oars and can collect in the Auckland area. Please phone 0274251459 or email jhawksworth@xtra.co.nz

Outstanding achievement across the sport and recreation sector has been recognised at the annual New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards, held in Christchurch on Monday night.

Giacomo has announced her entry into the annual International Paints Auckland to Tauranga Yacht Race beginning on Thursday 17th April at 1000hrs.

The 2014 NZ Women's Keel Boat Championships were sailed in perfect shifty south westerly conditions this weekend. A great improvement on previous years when the girls have been greeted with 20 to 30kn breezes on the first day. After 10 races over the 2 days Kylie Jameson's crew with 8 wins were deserved winners.

A cracking weekend of fine weather and close, competitive racing closed the curtain on a great summer of sailing. On day 1 the first four races had four different winners, including Lindsay Kennedy's Quantum (1314) - making a welcome return to the fleet after a long absence - class stalwart Phil Pryde's Split Decision (914) - who also took a bullet in Race 8 - and master helmsman Gavin Gerrard.

A brand new fishing tournament is being launched at Westhaven Marina in Auckland next month with the aim of encouraging more newcomers and kids into the sport.

I arrived in Palma with the other three Kiwi Laser sailors on the 24th of March, exactly a week out from the start of the first European ISAF World Cup event of 2014 – the Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta.