Labour weekend saw the 24th running of the Aviemore Classic sailed on Lake Aviemore out of Otematata Harbour, organised and run by the Timaru Yacht & Powerboat Club and this year supported by Trust Aoraki. The South Island Otago Trailer Yacht Championships attracted 70 entries and were sailed on Saturday along with a fun race in a variety of winds from flat calm to a brisk southwesterly wind. Yachts travelled to Lake Aviemore from as far afield as Picton and Invercargill with some people flying in from Wellington to crew on local yachts.

The Service Awards are all about exemplary or selfless services to the sport of yachting – and this list of ten all truly deserve to be recognised. They’re generally the type who don’t seek fanfare, don’t like a fuss, they just get on and get the job done. Giving year and after year of service, the total collective time given to yachting by this group of Service Award winners is extraordinary. It was a tough year for the Judging Panel as many more very dedicated individuals were nominated and they were required to select this year’s ten winners. Come November 23rd each will step up to receive a Yachting New Zealand Service Award at the 2012 Yachting Excellence Awards. This year’s Service Award winners are…

Sport Auckland has announced the nominees and finalists for the 2012 Sporting Excellence Awards and two yachting crews are among the finalists. Andrew McKenzie is a finalist in the Junior Sportsman category, and Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie are finalists in the Team of the Year category. In all categories a large number of quality sportsmen and women were nominated. The announcement of the winners of each category as well as the overall winner of the 2012 Sport Auckland Sporting Excellence Awards will take place on Thursday November 29th at 6pm at Top of the Park, Alexandra Park Raceway.

A new series of championship regattas will be organised in Europe next year, under the name EUROSAF Champions Sailing League® using the above logo. The new series, which incorporates all Olympic disciplines, had previously been announced in May of this year. These regattas will incorporate new innovations in race formats that will make sailing easier to follow and more attractive for sailors, media and spectators alike. The EUROSAF Champions Sailing League® will be staged over five professionally organised events, starting in May 2013 at the Fraglia Vela Riva, Lake Garda, Italy. The Dutch Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik is next, followed by Sail for Gold at the 2012 Olympic venue of Weymouth & Portland in the UK. Kieler Woche in Germany will be the fourth event in the series, which will conclude later in the year with the Semaine Olympique Française, at La Rochelle, France. The first four events take place in the ISAF defined ‘European Window’ and all five events qualify for ISAF ranking points.

Whaingaroa Fisheries Company Limited has applied for a significant area of space inside Whangaroa Harbour for marine farming. The area is absolutely inappropriate for aquaculture and it is important that boaties and clubs put in a submission to the Northland Regional Council voicing their concerns otherwise the bay may be lost.

Hudson Andrews is a 14 year old lad who has cerebral palsy and is mad keen on sailing. Recently Chris Andrews and her son, Hudson, got in contact with Bluff Yacht Club to see how to get Hudson into the sport of sailing. The team at the club has embraced the idea and is totally committed to seeing him on the water. “Chris has recently purchased an Access Dinghy 303 and has been out for a few sails so far,” reports Graeme Wall, Yachting New Zealand Regional Support Officer.

The first of the season’s Zone Development Clinics for the Otago Region took place over the weekend of the 13th and 14th October at the Macandrew Bay Boating Club on the Otago Harbour. The Zone Development Clinic was targeted at the growing fleet of Starling sailors in the area at present. The goal was to see these sailors competing with confidence at the Nationals in Picton later in the year as well as other significant regattas both within the region and the greater South Island.

At the opening of the 2012-13 Summer Sailing season recently the Port Chalmers Yacht Club was able to display some yachting history, both of regional and national significance. Two miniature trophies awarded by the late Mr George.A.Wiseman were shown to members for the first time in many years. The trophies date back to 1925 and are exact silver replicas of the actual trophies that Mr Wiseman won that year.

Several new records, including one standing for 16 years, were broken or set in the Coastal Classic Auckland to Russell Yacht Race, organised by the New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club this weekend.

Specialists in marine medical training and supply Yacht Lifeline has two medical courses scheduled in Auckland, in November.