Issue date
The 420 class is in good health if the recent 420 national championships in Evans Bay is anything to go by.
The top five place getters overall and in the female category both came from around the country, something that hasn't happened for some time.
National teams are currently being considered for the 2017 open world championships in Fremantle in December and the 420 team could include representatives from Wakatere Boating Club (Robbie McCutcheon/Jonathan Weston 1st), WBC/Muurays Bay Sailing Club (Xanthe Copeland/Annabel Cave 2nd), Naval Point Club Lyttelton/Charteris Bay (Zachary Scheiwe/Benjamin Baynes 3rd), Plimmerton (Andre van Dam/Fin Georgeson 4th) and New Plymouth/WBC (Jonathan Barnett/Sam Street 5th).
Within female teams, the first five were from WBC/MBSC (Xanthe Copeland/Annabel Cave), WBC (Ella Gladwell/Alice Haslett), Naval Point (Cara Higinbottom/Jessica Lee), Queen Charlotte (Alice Overend/Emily Overend) and Plimmerton (Darby Georgeson/Helena Terry). Half of the fleet at the national championships was made up of females.
New Zealand crews have a good opportunity to do well in Freemantle, given the conditions there will be similar to what many experience in New Zealand and crews attending the world championships will have the opportunity to attend the Australian national championships beforehand.
There are also a number of other big regattas on the horizon with this year's Youth Sailing World Championships in Sanya, China (December 9-16) and the 2018 world championships in Newport in July 2018.
The New Zealand 420 Association, with the support of Yachting New Zealand and the Aon Youth Clinic programme, is excited to assist teams’ development. For development Have a Go days, entry level or race development, please contact Angus Haslett via angus.h@xtra.co.nz.
