It’s time to plan your entry for the 2013 NZ Women’s Keelboat National Championships.

New Zealand's Alex Maloney and Molly Meech have set the early pace in the 49erFX having taken back to back golds at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne and Sail Sydney over the weekend.

Nathan Handley needs no introduction, he has a sailing cv which includes Radial World Championships, 49er Olympic representative and America's cup sailor. While coaching the laser team at sail Melbourne I chatted to my room-mate Nathan about the Olympics, coaching and why he loves coaching at an elite level. You have just won the coach of the year, is it good to be recognized when the sailors are getting all the awards?

Over the weekend Tauranga played host to some of New Zealand’s top board sailors including both windsurfers and kite-board racers vying for the 2012 North Island Championships held off the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club base at Sulphur Point.

The Yachting New Zealand Auckland office will be closed over the Christmas and New Year break with most of the team taking some well earned annual leave to spend with family. We are closing up midday on Friday 21st December 2012. And we will be back from January 7th 2013. We wish you all a safe and merry Christmas and New Year.

Two championship sailing titles will be contested at Auckland Anniversary Regatta on 28 January 2013.

London 2012 Olympian Stephanie Hazard (Women’s Match Racing) and Paralympan Tim Dempsey (SKUD 18) have started training in their epic pairing for the 2013 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland Regatta.Together they will sail in the SKUD 18, a high performance skiff which is often sailed by sailors with a disability, but it was designed to be an integrated piece of equipment for people of all abilities.

Proud sponsor of Emirates Team New Zealand, Nespresso have teamed up with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron to support the next generation of America’s Cup sailors. As principal partner of the National Youth Training Week at Kawau Island, Nespresso are investing in the best young sailors in the country with ten teams of four sailors in attendance from clubs stretching from Kerikeri to Wanaka.

Both Wellington's Seaview Marina and Evans Bay Yacht & Motor Boat Club continue to Buzz with Sailability Wellington's ongoing activity; Annabelle Tye gives us the full update:

The Ron Norton trophy race is this Saturday at Tamaki Yacht Club. This is a pursuit type handicap race (Mark Foy) where the handicaps are ‘guestimated’ beforehand. The slower boats start first and then at pre-determined intervals the rest of the fleet start. Hence there’s a chance for anybody at any level to win this prestigious trophy.