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The four Yachting New Zealand regional development managers take a look at what has been happening in their areas.
Many took advantage of the few days of nice weather to cruise during this festive season before the weather turned.
Photo credit: Wayne Holdt / Anna Ganley
Napier Sailing Club - Paper Tiger Nationals
Photo // Napier sailor Robbie Morrison
Napier Sailing Club played hosted the Paper Tiger National Championships between the 3rd and 6th January. The sailors were met with a challenging swell that tested the 25 strong fleet.
It was the legendary Paper Tiger sailor Dave Shaw from Nelson Yacht Club who showed how it’s done, winning 7 of the 8 races. The battle for second place was a lot closer with Derek Scott from Torbay Sailing Club narrowly edging out local Scott Pederson representing Napier Sailing Club. The first female in the fleet was Jane Thomassen from Evans Bay Yacht and Motor Boat Club.
See here for the full results.
Murrays Bay Sailing Club
Over 100 competitors are expected at next week's HPCA Chartered Accountants 2023 ILCA National Championships in Auckland. Host club Murrays Bay Sailing Club will see competitors from across New Zealand, as well as international sailors from Australia, Fiji, and Samoa in attendance.
For the New Zealand competitors, this regatta is also the selection event for the 2023 World Championships in the Netherlands in August.
The national title for the male Olympic class ILCA 7 open division is up for grabs. Top contenders for this years title include Caleb Armit, Luke Cashmore, Matthew Rist, Luke Deegan and Dylan Forsyth, as Tom Saunders (2022 Champion) and George Gautrey are away competing in Australia.
In the female Olympic and Youth ILCA 6 division Greta Pilkington, Olivia Christie, and Annabelle Rene-Younger will be battling it out with a number of youth females in contention, including Teghan Denney, Daniella Wooldridge, and Maddie Rist.
The youth male ILCA 6 is another division to watch with Louie Poletti, George Pilkington, Ethan Fong, and Zach Stibbe all sailing well and enjoying close competition leading into this regatta.
Ten-time master world champion Scott Leith will be competing as well as running the regatta and is pleased to be back in his boat after missing last year's nationals due to injury. He is pleased for his club to be hosting such a prestigious regatta and has everything crossed for some good sailing weather next week.
The Murrays Bay team has been working closely with the ILCA class association to ensure the regatta will be run like a well-oiled machine and thank class president Nick Page for his contribution. Excellent support for the regatta is being provided by Fishing Boats NZ and Yamaha, along with NZSailing.com, The Watershed, and Harken.
Entries close this Thursday 12th January. See here for more information on the regatta.
Pigeon Bay Boating Club
Photos: Pigeon Bay Boating Club
Pigeon Bay Boating Club ended 2022 in style with a club regatta from 10-11 December that attracted sailors from across the region. There were over 17 boats on the water both days in a large variety of classes that included Noelex 22’s, Lasers, Finns, Weta’s, Paper Tigers and Hobie 16’s. A fabulous two days was had by all with perfect weather, great competition, loads of comradery, topped off with a delicious Christmas dinner and party.
Torbay Sailing Club
Torbay sailing Clubs Optimist development sailors enjoyed being able to participate in the 2022 Sir Peter Blake regatta held in December last year. This was the first time that the clubs recent graduates of learn to sail were able to experience racing in the bay and be included in the regatta as an orange fleet that ran close to the beach. A lot of fun was had and the club looks forward to building a new Orange Fleet division for recent learn to sail graduates inr this year's 2023 regatta.
Torbay would like to thank Barfoot and Thompson for their ongoing support and for supplying the new sails. For more information on Torbay's sailing programmes contact: lts@torbaysailingclub.org.nz.
Manly Sailing Club
Whangaparaoa Peninsula will be a hype of activity this summer with the Manly Sailing Club running multiple National events.
- Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta 2023 - O'pen Skiffs, RS Fevas, Zephyrs & Cherubs
- Windfoil Class National Championships 2023 - 17th to 19th February 2023
- Starling Nationals - 11th to 15th April 2023
- Auckland Zephyr Champs - 29th & 30th April 2023
- Wingfoil NZ Champs - 13th & 14th May 2023
Bay Of Islands Yacht Club
Start the New Year out right and register for the 2023 O'pen Skiff Nationals in the Beautiful Bay of Islands which will take place on February 10th-12th. This is going to be an amazing regatta for the gold, silver and development fleets.
Bridge of Doom with fun activities is planned to complement racing. Charters are available (contact secretary@openskiff.org.nz for availability and pricing). Don't miss this one!
