Call of the Pied Piper is as strong as ever

final result – RSC 1st, RNZYS 2nd and Sandspit YC 3rd.

“Racing was very competitive and especially hair-raising on the start line and first mark,” said Barry. “The vaka are incredible on a reach. Estimated top speed around 15 knots! Also, it was very tricky as the tide dropped dodging the coral bommies.

“It was the first time Holly had skippered a yacht in a race. She did exceptionally well dealing with blistering acceleration.

“Our accommodation, too, was great, just a short walk to the club. The regatta would be a fantastic annual event for the RNZYS.”

With the warm temperatures, crystal clear waters and willing trade winds, there really wasn’t a downside to competing as newbies.

It was fun – just as Barry anticipated. And definitely worth waiting for.

The Bizzarre crew, from left, Josh Martin, Holly Mills, Aiden Moffatt, Sue Histen, Dagma Bellamy and Barry Martin in front of the Rarotonga Sailing Club at Muri Beach. The Cook Islands’ oldest sports club celebrates its 82nd birthday this year.

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Close battles in Auckland Match Race champs, despite no wind

A lack of wind plagued this year’s Auckland Match Racing Championship supported by HARKEN, which saw the regatta’s final day abandoned – handing the title to the RNZYS team of Reuben Corbett, Robbie Li Bassi, Chloe Salthouse, Sophia Fyfe and Crue Ellis as the top round robin qualifiers.

“It’s always good to see the depth of New Zealand’s match racing fleet, and with plenty of the RNZYS Mastercard Youth Training Programme sailors competing in the Auckland Champs, it’s great to get the first match race regatta of the season out of the way,” said Corbett.

“It was a shame having no racing on Sunday as finals always bring out a more competitive side to our sailors, but that’s just the nature of sailing sometimes and the crew couldn’t be happier to have come out on top.”

After a two-hour wait for wind on the Saturday, the predicted souwesterly filled in at 1pm. The closest anyone got to Corbett’s team was New Zealand Youth Match Racing Champion Josh Hyde, who stretched ahead by seven boatlengths at the halfway mark in their match. However, gradually closing the gap, Corbett and his crew reeled in Hyde on the second upwind leg, before winning the downwind sprint home.

Hyde and his team of Jack Manning, Zach Fong, Cody Coughlan and Ryder Ellis claimed 2nd overall, with the loss to Corbett their only slip up.

“That race against Josh gave us a real scare,” said Corbett. “Seeing them in the finals would have been a great pressure test for both crews.”

Erin Kee and her young Kerikeri Cruising Club team had a fantastic day of racing, despite being the youngest crew competing. The 15 year old kept races against Corbett and Hyde close, while beating more experienced competitors to claim 3rd in a countback due to her crew beating Emirates Team New Zealand engineer Max McLachlan. 2020 HARKEN New Zealand Secondary Schools Match Racing Champion skipper Brayden Hamilton was able to claim 5th place ahead of his friend and former crewmate Mason Mulcahy on a countback. By Billy Woodworth

Ghosting around the track in superlight conditions.

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CELBRA T I E N G 40 YEARS OF SAILMAKING E X C ELLENCEEST 1982

Call of the Pied Piper is strong as ever

Words and Images by Ivor Wilkins

For more than six decades, the Pied Piper class has been a rite of passage yacht for young Kiwis, who use their newfound independence to maraud far and wide. Piedy sailors have built a reputation for racing hard, playing harder and generally making a lot of noise doing both.

So what, you may ask, possessed 67-year-old Tim Snedden to return to the class, having bought his first Pied Piper nearly half a century ago.

“In their day, Pied Pipers were bloody fast,” he says of the plywood 22-footers. “They were light, high-performance boats that could beat anything under 30ft.” With modern sails and materials revitalising these perky boats, his enthusiasm is fully revived.

Against reservations that he is 46 years older than the current class champion, Pierre Harrison, Snedden is delighted at the welcome he has received in the class – and that his racing instincts are as sharp as ever. His first two competitive events more than 47 years after first entering the class found him in the winner’s circle once again.

The first was the CBRE Auckland Regatta, where he sailed as tactician in Harrison’s crew. And the second was a 38-mile SSANZ two-handed event, where Snedden borrowed Harrison’s Motamouse and swept to a convincing victory, nearly 12 minutes ahead of the runner-up.

Harrison, who is away working shore crew with the Sled TP52 in Europe, was thrilled to see his boat’s champion status upheld by someone old enough to be his grandfather. “It just shows how these little old boats can bring youth and wise people together,” he says.

In fact, Harrison has played a large role in facilitating Snedden’s return to the fold. Beyond lending his boat while Snedden’s own Pied Piper is undergoing a refit, he has helped bring him up to speed on the latest techniques for getting the most out of them.

“Pierre is only 21 years old, but he is already a class veteran,” says Snedden. “He got his first Pied Piper at the age of 14 and he and his father did a full rebuild.

“Motamouse is his second boat and is probably the most successful

Tim Snedden helms a borrowed Pied Piper from the class champion while his own Animal House is undergoing a significant refit.

Piedy ever, with about eight national titles under three different owners.

“Pierre helped me find a boat to buy and also took me out sailing and doing a couple of races. We had a great CBRE result, with four wins, a 2nd and 3rd. And he was good enough to lend me his boat for the SSANZ race, where we had a blinder. It was a really nice day of sailing, quite light but never flukey.”

Coming off the downwind startline, Motamouse picked up an early puff, squirted into the lead and extended for the remainder of the course. “The boat was going like a rocket on all points of sail. I was totally chuffed with the day,” says Snedden. “To realise I was competitive was a real buzz.”

Initially, he had recruited another sexagenarian to crew for the doublehanded event in the form of Tony Rae, who has multiple America’s Cup and round-the-world races on his resume. Sadly, Trae, as he is widely known, contracted Covid at the last minute.

Snedden called on Ian Darby as a replacement. “Ian is a top bloke on a boat. Trae was incredibly jealous, but he is still signed up for the next two SSANZ events over the winter.”

Meanwhile, Snedden’s own Animal House refit is progressing at pace, which includes a new keel and a major overhaul of the existing mast. Snedden has also had a new mainsail and headsails built by Doyle Sails, which he was able to use to good effect on Harrison’s boat for the 38-miler.”

Sail dimensions, materials and annual replacements are class-limited,