Today belonged to the NZL Sailing Team’s top Olympic skiff sailors both on fire in their quest for their respective 2014 European Championship titles in Helsinki.

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie are leading at the 2014 Women’s 470 European Championships which got underway today in Athens. Meanwhile, in Helsinki at the 49er and 49erFX European Champs Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech knocked out three great races to lift their overall rank, and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke returned a couple of bullets in exhilarating conditions.

Coastguard Boating Education is holding a Boating Safety Conference at the Voyager NZ Maritime Museum in Auckland on 28 August 2014. Please find the agenda and flyer available for download below.

Counting no worse than second places World Champions Billy Besson and Marie Riou lead the overall standings after five races at the Nacra 17 European Championships at La Grande Motte as the fleet split into a 40 strong Gold fleet and 31 Silver fleet. Two further races were sailed in very variable, shifty offshore and cross offshore winds which rose and fell between 5 and 25kts. Besson and Riou were the most consistent in the fleet posting two secure second places, matched for best aggregate tally for the day by Australian cousins Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darman who scored 1,3 to qualify in fourth, just ahead of compatriots Euan McNicol and Lucinda Whitty and Spain’s Iker Martinez and Tara Pachecho.

Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders were the only NZL Sailing Team sailors to hit the water for racing today at the 2014 European Champs for the Olympic Nacra 17 multihull in La Grande Motte. Light winds postponed and then cancelled racing in Helsinki at the 2014 49er and 49erFX European Champs.

While many of the more active sailors have been involved in sailing with their local clubs over summer, adapting to change has been the name of the game with others, as Blind Sailing is no longer centred in Auckland.

For those amongst us who have made this a regular event on their calendar, it is worth noting that The 2015 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland will be held about a month later next year. The dates will be 26 February - 1 March 2015, and it will include, amongst others, Hansa 303, Liberty and SKUD18 classes, 2.4mR and Sonars.

The 2015 New Zealand Hansa Class Nationals, incorporating The Kiwi Cup are going to be hosted by Sailability Wellington from 17 – 19 January 2015 (Wellington Anniversary Weekend) and will operate out of the Lowry Bay Yacht Club at Seaview, Lower Hutt.

I am a lot of things, a father, husband, adventurer, skier, sailor and dare I say it disabled person but none of these define me more than being a dad.

Nominations for the 2014 Attitude Awards are open until 5 pm on the 10th July, except for the Attitude Sports Performer Award, which will remain open until 15th October.