The last two days before the 2013 Optimist World Championships has seen plenty of activity and the town of Garda, Italy has filled with opti sailors, supporters and all their gear - there are certainly some great sites to be seen with teams all loaded up and truly set to travel around Europe. Several teams have been 'in camp' for two months doing a circuit around Europe and the confidence amongst these teams is high.

The Sail First ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships on now in Limassol, Cyprus has passed the mid way mark and all five of the 2013 NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team remain in the top six places in their fleets.

The Day that almost was. Bright sunshine, gentle breeze, excited sailors ready for the first real day of competition. One of us out on a patrol boat ready for duty when the AP went up and an ominous dense , white mass approached very quickly.

The 2013 NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team have returned more solid results from day two of the Sail First ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships on now in Limassol, Cyprus. The New Zealand crews are now all within the top six of their respective fleets with Isaac McHardie (Hamilton Yacht Club) and Micah Wilkinson (Ngaroto Sailing Club) still leading the SL16 event and Sam Barnett and Zak Merton (pictured above) (Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club) improving to 3rd overall in the boy’s 420.

Looking for a new job in the sport of yachting? On our Situations Vacant webpage you will find a number of positions available around the country that might be of interest including…

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. 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.

The 2013 New Zealand International Film Festival will feature a sailing movie around Laura Dekker and her solo sail around the world. Showing at SKY City Monday 22 July, 6:30pm and Monday 29 July, 12:00pm, you can visit the film festival website for more information. Here’s the brief…

The Keelboat Coach course will be run September 7 & 8 out of RAYC, involving 2 days of theory and practical. Coaches are assessed but the course is also a workshop bringing together coaches to learn off each other and discuss ideas on coaches.

Racing is underway for the 2013 NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team at the Sail First ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus with day one (of five) just wrapped up. New Zealand has representative in five of the eight classes racing, and after day one all the kiwis are laying inside the top nine with Isaac McHardie and Micah Wilkinson leading the SL16 multihull fleet.

Alastair Gifford and Henry Haslett were the first of the team to arrive and they managed a catamaran sail on their first day followed by two days of training in light conditions. Nick Egnot-Johnson and Leonard Takahashi-Fry arrived fresh from their racing in the Queensland Youth regatta and Tom Fyfe landed safely after a sail on Artemis's AC45 in San Francisco Bay. Coach Susannah Pyatt has settled the team into a routine of fitness, strategy and sailing.