Yachting New Zealand has regulations in place for National Championship events and other major regattas to ensure there is value in the title of “National Champion”.
Guidelines for Organising Authorities on the steps and requirements to run a Yachting New Zealand approved National Championship event.
These regulations also aim to ensure National and World Championship events are sailed in accordance with the practices and procedures that apply to major events that shall be of a uniformly high standard of organisation on the water and on shore, and all New Zealand sailors can be informed of the opportunity to compete for the title of “National Champion”.
National championship events will be appointed a National Race Officer to review your race documentation and provide race management guidance if required. See Regulation 4.5.4 Yachting New Zealand approval of National Championships and Other Major Events for full details and criteria.
If an event fully complies with Regulation 4.5.4, the winner of a Yachting New Zealand National Event will be officially recognised as the National Champion. They will have their name published in the Yachting New Zealand Annual Report and the list of National champions as well as receive a Yachting New Zealand National Champion certificate. For all clubs wanting to run a National Championship event there are a few steps that must be taken meet the criteria set in Yachting New Zealand’s Regulation 4.5.4.
Step One: Submit an Application A National/Major Event Application Form to run the event must be submitted to Yachting New Zealand no later than 30th June. Once approved all dates will be published on the regatta calendar on Yachting New Zealand’s website.
Step Two: Submit a Notice of Race A draft Notice of Race and entry form must be submitted to Yachting New Zealand for approval before publication, 4 months prior to the event. The NOR must be written using the YNZ Standard NOR template. This template is designed for users to simply input their relevant event information, and ensures the NOR has everything that is required as per RRS Appendix J. Please make sure that you have the correct format and do not use a previous year’s version; it may have been superseded. www.yachtingnz.org.nz
Step Three: Submit Sailing Instructions Draft Sailing Instructions must be submitted to Yachting New Zealand for approval before publication, 2 months prior to the event. The Sailing Instructions must be written using the standard YNZ Sailing Instructions template. The intention is to provide the information in a format familiar to sailors, in the order in which they would need it, and in a language which has specific and accepted meanings. Please make sure that you have the correct format and do not use a previous year’s version; it may have been superseded.
Step Four: Submit an Event Report A National Event Report Form must be sent to Yachting New Zealand no more than two weeks after the event, along with a set of final results. This allows Yachting New Zealand to establish that the event has been run to the standards required, and officially recognise the winner as a National Champion. It is also a means of identifying and addressing any problems and any improvements noted for future occasions.
Other important criteria to note for running an approved national championship event:
- Regulations regarding the Organising Authority’s insurance requirements must be met.
- The race officer must be a Yachting NZ qualified National Race Officer.
- You must appoint a protest committee of minimum 3 people incl. at least one Yachting NZ qualified National Judge. Dispensation can be granted to allow a National Judge on telephone link if necessary.
- A minimum of 7 races shall be scheduled of which a minimum of 5 races are required to be completed to constitute a series.
- A minimum of six yachts must have started in any one race in the series (with the exception of the following classes: Skud 18, 2.4, Sonar, Hansa 2.3, Hansa Liberty, Hansa 303 – Single Handed, Hansa 303 – Double Handed where 5 yachts must have started in any one race in the series).
- All entrants and crew members shall be financial members of a yacht club affiliated to Yachting New Zealand, or be a member of his/her Member National Authority.
Note: contact YNZ if you cannot find an appropriately qualified Race Official as required to assist. We have a database of people who are often looking for events.
Downloads of the required documents and links to useful resources and information are all available on the Yachting New Zealand Race Official and Event Resources page.