Sailing Office Report

From the Sailing Office

Done and dusted, well almost anyway. What a great summer we have had. The weather really played ball and the critical decision of running the America’s Cup start later in the afternoon really played out well, with only one day lost to weather.

The Royal NZ Yacht Squadron hosted the course marshal team for the America’s Cup. This consisted of 130+ volunteers. The vessels used were 12 brand new 8m Protectors, which were built for this purpose and are now being donated to the Coastguard. The RNZYS fleet of four Smuggler Ribs, John Street’s personal 5.5m Avon (which was actually a marshal vessel for the 2003 America’s Cup) and eight members’ yachts anchored at the corners of the course boundaries were all deployed as well. This was a massive undertaking and a very important part of running this fantastic event, especially with the number of spectator vessels on the water.

Club racing has continued to run in the background around the America’s Cup events. We had our first ever New Year’s Eve Race to Kawau and the RNZYS Great Barrier Cruise, both successful events. Weeknight racing is being well attended, with only a few nights being postponed or cancelled due to AC clashes and Covid lockdowns. The weather has been kind and there has still been plenty of racing.

The RNZYS ran the Starling Match Racing National Championships in January which was a great event and perfect way to introduce young dinghy sailors to the club and recruit them into the Mastercard Youth Training Programme. Well done to Jack Mannering on the win! 36 Degrees Brokers Squadron Weekend was once again well attended. It was a long night on the committee vessel waiting for the last couple of boats to finish – one of which eventually required a tow to their mooring after their engine wouldn’t start.

RNZYS ran the first Mastercard Superyacht Regatta at the end of February, which was a huge success. The entry numbers were down due to immigration restrictions, but with seven boats there was some great racing and fantastic after-match functions. We managed to get the event in by the skin of our teeth with a Covid lockdown announced during the prize giving and coming into effect the next day.

Due to this lockdown we have had to reschedule both the Bridge to Bean Rock dinghy race to the 17th April and the Harken Schools Keelboat Nationals to 7-9th May. These events both have big entry lists with 170 in the B2B and 18 teams (72 sailors) in the Harken Schools regatta.

As of writing this, we are about to start the Auckland Regatta. We have a great fleet of 40s with 11 boats lining up, which should provide some great racing. There is also a big sports boat division, which has always been well supported. The other divisions have not been well attended, but for the first year we have also got a passage division, which we hope to see grow in the future.

On a personal note, I have been out racing the Etchells again and, after two years, finally won my first event at the Auckland Champs. I cannot believe how high the standard of racing is in this fleet and how helpful and welcoming all the sailors have been – a big thank you to Charles Maud for lending us his boat.

Unfortunately for us, Rochelle Seagar, who has been our dedicated Race Manager for the past several years, is moving to enjoy the sunny beach life in Tauranga. Her enthusiasm and passion for the role will be sorely missed. Laurie Jury, RNZYS Sailing Director