Sonar sailors David Barnes, Rick Dodson, Andrew May and John Weston are in Kinsale, Ireland, for the 2013 IFDS Combined World Championships to be sailed later this month. At a well attended send off function with supporters and friends on July 31st, the team confirmed their intentions to aim for the podium in Kinsale, kicking off their campaign for selection to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

After finishing a close second in the previous regatta, Mike Sanderson with his FMJ Racing crew of Matthew Steven and Ash Hammond (Auckland) ran away with their first title in the 2013 Elliott 5.9 Traveller Series - finishing a comfortable first overall in Stratis Icebreaker with four race wins from six heats.

New Zealand sailing’s Olympic gold medal girls Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie are one of four kiwi crews getting set to contest the 470 World Championships where racing kicks off at La Rochelle, France next Monday - August 5th. Head-lining the New Zealand men’s’ crews are NZL Sailing Team pair Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox.

Zhik is extremely pleased to have the opportunity to support the NZL Sailing Team in their quest to win the Youth America’s Cup. The team has been supplied with a full set of on water technical apparel to help them perform at their peak for the event which begins on 1 September in San Francisco.

Amid the controversy of the AC72 America’s Cup and the small turnout for the 2013 event, one of the elements that stands out as a distinctly positive development is the youth event in the AC45s. With its clear nationality rules and the obvious appeal of opportunities for young sailors, this Red Bull-backed event provides a simple format with plenty of fleet-racing action close to the foreshore. It should prove a popular spectator drawcard

The Notice of Race is online and entries are now being accepted for ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne, the second regatta of the 2013-2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup series. The regatta will run out of the world acclaimed Sandringham Yacht Club in Melbourne Australia, from 1 to 8 December 2013.

Postcards from Valencia - Final Day and Prizgiving, 420 Worlds.

Coach Jim Maloney updates from Arhus, Denmark where a team of young kiwis are competing at the 29er World Championships… First day of finals racing completed. Tough day at the office as they say.

Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders have delivered an encouraging top ten result at the first ever Nacra 17 World Championship ending the regatta in 9th place. Across eight races sailed the kiwis were in the top ten in five of those and if the final day had provided wind they were within reach of further improving their final placing.

Angus Haslett reports on the final day of the 2013 Optimist World Championships sailed last week at Lake Garda, Italy… The final day of racing has produced a mix of highs and lows. We were hoping for three races today but by mid morning it was evident we'd struggle for two. The race committee decided not to sail early which may have been a pity as a nice peler breeze stayed in until about 11am.