Opti Winners in for great prizes at 2012 STACK Winter Champs. Optimist sailors competing at the up-coming STACK Winter Championships are in for some terrific prize packages thanks to The Water Shed and North Sails.

Peter Burling’s Olympic silver medal has opened the door to an exciting opportunity to helm Team Korea’s AC45 for the coming round of the America’s Cup World Series set to start in San Francisco on October 2nd.

New Zealand 470 sailors Olivia Powrie and Jo Aleh, who won gold at the London Olympics last month, will join the thousands of boating enthusiasts at this week’s Auckland On Water Boat Show. Running from 27 to 30 September on and around Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour, the Auckland On Water Boat Show features a wide array of motor, sailing and recreational boats and equipment, including one of the 470 class yachts raced by Powrie and Aleh in recent months.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) have released a Guide to Offshore Personal Safety for Racing and Cruising, available to purchase now.The ISAF Guide to Offshore Personal Safety for Racing and Cruising will provide essential reading for sailors undertaking the ISAF Offshore Personal Survival Course, which equips them with the knowledge to be safe at sea and prevent and deal with emergencies. The handbook provides important information to accompany the course.

The Murrays Bay Sailing Club STACK Winter Champs’ 6-8 October will be the start of the 2012-13 Kendall Cup Racing Season. There will be seven regattas held throughout the New Zealand including the major dinghy regattas such as Sir Peter Blake, North Islands, South Islands (Inaugural trip), and Auckland Champs.

Here’s a look at the up-coming sailing events around the country for the first half of October.

Olympic Gold Medallist Tom Ashley tells us what he likes most about the proposed National Ocean Water Sports Centre and what it'll offer the Takapuna, North Shore, and Auckland communities. See this youtube clip to learn more about the NOWSC and hear the perspective of a high performance sailor who knows what it takes to get to the Olympic podium.

Over 200 kiteboarders, including a four person New Zealand team, will descend on picturesque Cagliari, Italy over coming days for the 2012 Kiteboard Racing World Championship. Kiwis Dave Robertson, Matt Taggart, Ben Turner and Justina Sellers are in Italy for the regatta which runs from the 3rd-7th October with racing on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th.

The Stack Winter Champs is returning to Murrays Bay Yacht Club and entries are now being accepted both for racing on 5, 6 and 7 October, and for two days of intensive coaching next Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 October.

Yachting New Zealand is sad to learn that Dave Gautrey of Wellington’s Muritai Yacht Club passed away September 20th at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK, aged 52 years.