Issue date
The 15th edition of the Sir Peter Blake Regatta is less than two weeks away!
This largest dinghy regatta in the Southern Hemisphere has a strong tradition of encouraging sailors new to the sport to come to their first major regatta and to have fun, develop confidence and be inspired to continue in the sport of sailing. This year’s Blake regatta builds on the theme from the New Zealand Olympic Team at Rio 2016 which was “Be the Inspiration”. Given the great success achieved by the NZL sailing team at Rio, it is appropriate to acknowledge and celebrate that the inspiration for Olympic success has its origins in regattas like the Sir Peter Blake. Inspiration Starts Here!
The “Green Fleet” including Optimists, Starlings and others is always the largest at the Sir Peter Blake Regatta and this year these young sailors will be given the opportunity to engage with our Olympic sailors and to receive special prizes.
Additional features at this year’s Blake regatta will be the appearance of the new one-design foiling class the Waszp and an information session on Saturday evening with its designer and founder Andrew McDougall who is travelling especially from Australia to the Blake regatta. In addition, sailors from the Apia Sailing Club in Samoa will be competing and staying with local Torbay Sailing Club members.
The final prize-giving event on Sunday 4-6pm will feature a panel interview with our Olympians where questions from our young sailors will be asked on their behalf by Torbay Sailing Club patron, Peter Montgomery. As always there will be the awarding of special prizes; the PJ Montgomery Trophy for contributions to the sport of sailing, sportsmanship prizes, and the ultimate awarding of the Sir Peter Blake Trophy for the most outstanding performance of a youth sailor in the regatta. Past winners include multiple Olympic medal winners Jo Aleh and Peter Burling. Who will win it this year?
The Sir Peter Blake Regatta is proudly hosted by the Torbay Sailing Club in partnership with the Sir Peter Blake Trust and with the blessing of the Blake family. It receives the generous support of Gold Sponsor: Volvo Cars. Silver Sponsors: Barfoot and Thompson, Kiwi Yachting, Kerry Logistics and important support from the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board and the fabulous Royal New Zealand Navy.
For further information and to register go to: www.blakeregatta.co.nz
Written by Mark Orams, Torbay Sailing Club Vice-Patron.
