The Hamilton Yacht Club held its annual Optisail last week; OptiSail Co-ordinator and Club Coach Dave Smith tells the story…

With just over two weeks to go, the countdown is on to the upcoming 2014 A-Class Catamaran World Championships. With some of the biggest names on the global sailing scene signing on to join the already stellar line up, it is shaping up to be an event to remember.

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 beyond that.

Racing gets underway today at 2014 Bay of Islands Sailing Week – the winner of the 2013 Yachting New Zealand President’s Award. If you’re not lucky enough to be there you can follow the action through the regatta website or Facebook page where photos are being posted regularly.

President of the Kiteboard Racing Class, Mike Pepper has filed this blow by blow account of the first ever Kiteboard Racing National Championships held in December 2013.

It is run out of Willow Park Camp, which is right on the beach at Eastern Beach in Auckland. It is designed to support and advance our top Opti sailors as they develop their sailing and racing capabilities. It has a cap of 60 sailors with some of NZL’s top coaches assisting the sailors, as well as some guest speakers.

A record 15 New Zealand Optimist sailors made the short trip to Melbourne for the 2014 Australian Optimist Nationals. The Australian Optimist fleet has grown rapidly over the last few years, so with 350 entries across the Green, Intermediate and Open fleets, it was the largest one design regatta held in the Southern Hemisphere.

The quality of racing in both the men’s and women’s Olympic skiff events at 2014 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland is guaranteed to be world class with both fleets featuring not only both reigning world champions but the also men’s silver medallists from the 2013 Worlds, and top female 49erFX crews from the Netherlands, Japan and Australia.

Firstly- you may be wondering what IS a classifier? A classifier is a person with both a sailing and medical background that conducts functional testing on sailors with a physical disability, in order to determine their ‘class’ or points allocation for competition in Paralympic class boats. They are volunteers, like other race officials, and have a structured education pathway not too unsimilar to that of a Judge or Race Officer.

The NZL Sailing Team and Maersk Line are together putting on a Sausage Sizzle at Oceanbridge Sail Auckland, free for all competitors, volunteers and sponsors of the event. From 4:00pm (after racing) on Monday Februrary 3rd, you are invited to join the NZL Sailing Team for some casual food and drink at the Royal Akarana Yacht