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Last week saw one of the busiest college summer tournament weeks on record, with college teams racing qualifying and ranking regattas in six regions.
The Northern (Sandspit YC), Auckland (Kohimara YC), Central North Island (Taupo), Wellington / Lower North Island (Evans Bay YMBC), Southern (Queen Charlotte YC) and the Bau of Plenty Cup (Tauranga YPBC) were all held last week as college teams attempted to qualify for this month's national championships at Sandspit.
Many events saw record entries, with 16 teams in Taupo (including four new teams) and 15 in Auckland (three new teams). Wellington’s lower North Island regatta had nine teams, the Southern event had four new teams among the 14 who entered, with some travelling from as far as Wanaka and Dunedin, and even the stronghold Northern event saw new teams and increased numbers.
The Northern event was a tight battle between Wentworth and Kerikeri High School with the title going to Wentworth on countback. Westlake Boys' High School were third.
In Auckland, Kristin School were again victorious but had to fight hard to beat Westlake Boys' High School (2nd). Auckland Grammar A and Kings College also showed they had some significant capability at the Auckland event and will be strong contenders at the national championships.
(Kristin School won the Auckland teams event last weekend.)
Tauranga Boys' High School dominated the Bay of Plenty Cup, which served as a warm-up for the Central North Islands, but failed to fire in the latter stages of that event which was won by Taupo’s Tauhara College with Napier Girls continuing their strong history at the event to finish fourth.
Marlborough Boys' High School and Queen Charlotte College did the double, finsihing first and second respectively in both the Wellington and Top of the South (which in fact was all of the south) regattas.
Teams Racing is a great pathway into participation in the sport.
“It’s not all about the rock-star sailor in the school," Northern Region regional support officer Hamish Hey said. "It’s about the team, and the way the kids all have to work together. The younger or less experienced sailors, those who languish at the back of a big fleet race, find some focus and reward for their efforts that they might not necessarily see in a fleet race or in the fleet race coaching environment. The increased learnings in boat-on-boat positioning, rules and tactics are all things they can take back to their fleet racing.
“It’s also a great way of keeping the youth demographic together and dissolve the separate class split that starts to take over as weight and physique start to dictate what a youth will sail. So for regional towns, it can become a real focal point of activity.”
It's this focus on keeping the kids sailing together at home that is appealing to the likes of Taupo, Wanaka, Cambridge and Kerikeri as well as new teams from Waikato/Lake Ngaroto, Rotorua, Whakatane, Marlborough, Nelson and Otago.
The growth in school sailing follows a conscious effort by Yachting New Zealand to increase their support of school sailing and provide avenues for better recognition of sailor achievements within the school sporting framework.
All the growth has left the New Zealand Teams Sailing Association with one of those good problems – resourcing a national event with a record 36 entries.
Results
Northern
1st Wentworth
2nd Kerikeri High School
3rd Westlake Boys' High School
Auckland
1st Kristin School
2nd Westlake Boys' High School
3rd Kings College
Central North Island
1 Tauhara College
2 Napier Boys' High School
3 Tauranga Boys' High School
Wellington
1st Marlborough Boys' College
2nd Queen Charlotte College
3rd Wellington Combined
Top of the South
1st Marlborough Boys' College
2nd Queen Charlotte College
3rd Mt Aspiring College
