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November 2005 NewsThe following items were placed on Crew.org.nz in November 2005 and have been archived without links or photos. Please use the 'search' function on the homepage of this website to find further info on a particular topic: More of that...: 29 Nov - The Sydney based Dibley 46, ‘More Witchcraft’, has recently entered the 2005 Sydney Hobart under her new sponsorship colours of ‘Fincorp’. Now called ‘Fincorp More Witchcraft’, owner, John Cameron, will start the race with a seasoned crew of Hobart veterans including sailing master Robbie Burns who will be doing his 27th Sydney/Hobart and John who will be doing his 15th. John has achieved some excellent results with this boat, including a 1st and a 3rd in the PHS division of the Sydney Gold Coast Race and a 2nd in PHS in the Sydney Mooloolaba Race. The designer, Kevin Dibley, has optimised the 14 year old design with a new bulb & keel and she’ll be entering the IRC division for the first time. Posted 29/11/2005 Wham BAM: 29 Nov - And thank you South Atlantic. ABN Amro One (Mike Sanderson beat its own 24 hour record again last night, in a breath-taking dash to Cape Town. The final tally was 546 nautical miles the 24 hour period to 1910 GMT yesterday, averaging a speed of 22.75 knots. Not to be outdone, the ‘young fellas’ on the second ABN AMRO (Sebastien Josse) boat also broke the 24-hour record, covering 539 nm at an average speed of 22.45 knots. ABN AMRO ONE’s record will now be presented to the Word Sailing Speed Record Council for official ratification. Powered by North Sails NZ, of course. VOR > Posted 29/11/2005 Mini Transat - a sailmaker's perspective: 28 Nov - by Gautier Sergent, Designer, North Sails NZ - I started designing for Adrien Hardy four years ago when he was doing a 470 campaign. When he moved on to the Mini 650 last year Adrien contacted me to see if North Sails New Zealand would be interested in providing his sails and carrying the relationship. Of course we were very keen. Those mini 650 opens are little replicas of the Open 60 and are fascinating boats. You can imagine that crossing the Atlantic single handed on a 6.50m boat is quite an adventure … Full story at northsails.co.nz > Posted 28/11/2005 Double Dutch: 28 Nov - VOR media - So much for throttling back, both ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) and ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) have their foot to the floor, and both boats have broken the monohull 24-hour world speed record of 530.19 nautical miles set by movistar on her delivery from Australia earlier this year. At 1600 GMT today, ABN AMRO ONE had sailed 538 nautical miles in the preceding 24-hour period and ABN AMRO TWO had covered 533 nm. The speeds and distances of both boats are still climbing and both records are subject to official ratification by the Word Sailing Speed Record Council. The best place to find out more? The official race website > Posted 28/11/2005 Barker retains title: 27 Nov - Dean Barker retained the title of NZ Champion yesterday at the NZ Matchracing Champs. In the semis Barker opted to race the 22 year old up Simon Minoprio, and the battle went to the wire: the first two races resulted in a win each, and in the third, the decider, Barker only finished first when Minoprio was forced to take a penalty in the last few seconds of racing. In the finals Dickson & Barker went head to head for 5 straight matches leaving the decider to the 5th and final match. The lead changed numerous times but Barker sailed home to win the final race by 12 seconds and the New Zealand championships for the 3rd time. There are some great shots of the day's events (like this one to the right) at Ocean Photography. Posted 24/11/2005 Got adrenalin to burn?: 24 Nov - The second race in the Steinlager Performance Classes regatta will be held on this Saturday Nov 26th from Royal Akarana Yacht Club. Club spokesperson Penny Grayson says the first regatta of the series suffered slightly from lack of wind and only two races were completed. "We are hoping for some breeze for Saturday," she says and they are likely to get it because the forecast is for WIND. Classes racing are Tornados, F18s, A class Cats. Hobie 16s, 49ers, 29ers, 420s and 479s and the 12, 14 and 18 foot skiffs. Posted 24/11/2005 On the Waitemata now...: 24 Nov - The New Zealand Matchracing Championships 2005 commenced on the Waitemata Harbour this morning. Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Dean Barker is back to defend his title against fellow America’s Cup skipper Chris Dickson (BMW Oracle racing). All 10 skippers will go head-to-head twice in the double round robin. The top four go into semi finals and finals concluding on Sunday. Interestingly, 30 of the 50 sailors competing are graduates of the RNZYS Youth Training Programme including six skippers. The winner will receive an invitation to compete in the Auckland Match Racing Cup – Grade 1 Match Racing regatta to be held in association with the Auckland Harbour Festival between 25 – 29 January 2006. Offical race updates > Posted 24/11/2005 Turangi International: 22 Nov - From Steve McDowell - Sixteen sailors made the trip to Turangi this past weekend to compete in one of the longest running regattas of recent times. This was the fourth event of the OK Dinghy Summer Series, run by the Turangi Yacht Club. Saturday saw the competitors on the beach for the first hour while the breeze built to 5-8 knots. The sun was out and in the 22+ deg temperatures, memories of the snow and what seemed like -20deg temperatures of last year quickly faded. The regatta got off to a great start with five races been held in the first day. The racing was extremely close with almost every boat in the fleet having lead at some stage during the racing. Full story > Posted 22/11/2005 Enduro challenge: 22 Nov - Following the success of the biggest-ever SIMRAD Barrier Triple Series in winter 2005, the Short Handed Sailing Association of New Zealand has announced a new, one-time-only event to take place on Waitangi Weekend, February 3-5, 2006. The Waitangi Two-Sail Enduro is designed to test the courage, endurance and navigational skills of two-handed sailing teams. Courses vary in length from 70 miles to 170 miles, with skippers selecting whether they wish to depart on Friday night for a longer course, or Saturday morning for a shorter one. Full story > Posted 22/11/2005 Olympic sailor injured: 22 Nov - Condolences to Olympic 470 sailor Jamie Hunt, who was seriously injured last week. Andrew Brown explains: "Jamie was hit by a truck while cycling and was in a coma and on life support overnight last Wednesday, and has suffered head injuries but no brain damage." The pair placed 26th at the Athens Olympics and launched a new campaign for Beijing with the 470 Worlds in San Francisco this August, where they were the top placed Kiwi boat. While Jamie recovers, Andrew intends to continue his campaign and will now be seeking a new crew-member to sail with him. Posted 22/11/2005 It's a match: 21 Nov - Congrats to Chris Dickson, Cameron Appleton, Simon Dickey and Brian Trubovich who qualified for the NZ Matchracing Championships in very light airs - just five races over three days were held. Sara Roberts says, "Race Officer for the event Megan Kensington & her team tried desperately to set a course in the light winds on Saturday morning getting one flight away at 9.30am before the breeze died out. Then three flights were completed on Saturday afternoon with Chris Dickson leading on 4 wins / 0 losses and both Cameron Appleton & Simon Dickey on 3 /1. This left the 4th place qualifier spot wide open to Graeme Sutherland, Brian Trubovich or Jan Dawson and left the officials with 1 flight to sail to complete the first round robin." Only a single round robin was completed on the Sunday. The four will be joined by Dean Barker and Chris Dickson for the Champs which commence this Thursday. Posted 21/11/2005 Classic Trust seeks crew: 20 Nov - Like to sail on a classic yacht of crew on a heritage towboat? The Classic Yacht Charitable Trust is seeking enthusiastic people to join those who race and help maintain Waitangi (Logan 1894) and Frances (Logan 1905). The trust also wants crew for Te Hauraki, the 1920 former Harbour Board towboat that is to provide support for the racing yachts. Anyone interested should e-mail Tony Blake with a brief CV to:. a.d.blake@ezysurf.co.nz Posted 19/11/2005 Blow my sailboat down: 19 Nov - Wind.co.nz is the website for sailors who need real-time weather info, right now. Much of the content is free to use, and it gives you detailed now-cast info in a graphical online, or TXT format. Much like Crew.org.nz, wind.co.nz was founded by a keen windsurfer, who could see that others, like him, wanted good, reliable info, in this case about what the wind was up to, all around the country. He developed the technology, got it online, negotiated with Metservice and Auckland Coastguard (whose members get 50 free weather txts a year from wind.co.nz, and now has a great little site that's an awesome service to the marine community. Have a look > Posted 19/11/2005 Weekend reading: 19 Nov - A couple of new feature articles have been added to Crew.org.nz today: one is a profile of the man who is arguably going to be, if he isn't already, NZ's premier designer of sports boats. The other is an essay on new generation boat anchors, by Peter Smith, founder of Cavalier yachts in the 1960s. To have a look click on the links to the top left of this page. Posted 19/11/2005 Club champs: 18 Nov - Congrats to Beneteau and Zanzamah, winners on ORC and PHRF respectively in the Squadron Club Champs last weekend. Conditions were moderate with some good squalls and fluctions across the course, so Jono Gravit has kindly provided an idea of what the results would have looked like excluding Race 1 in which the lead boats were disadvantaged. There were 16 boats in PHRF and 9 in ORC, a good cross section of boats for competitive racing, says Jono. Results > Posted 18/11/2005 Explorer visits Wellington: 18 Nov - from RPNYC - Early in the new year one of the world's most decorated blue-water sailors will stop over in Wellington on his way to Antarctica. Nikolay Litau has already taken his 56-foot steel ketch, Apostol Andrey through the Northern Route along Russia's Arctic coastline, and Canada's Northwest Passage. Now he intends to make the first-ever circumnavigation of Antarctic waters by yacht. Last summer, Litau and his crew completed just over half the voyage before breaking their rudder in the Ross Sea. This year Litau will try to reach the Bay of Whales, an indentation in the Ross Ice Shelf which is the southern most latitude ever reached by sea. Posted 18/11/2005 Still wrapped: 16 Nov - One lucky boat owner is about to unwrap a very exciting present. This is a photo of the new Bavaria 46 Cruiser waiting to be taken to the Viaduct. She arrived on the Emerald on Fri 4th November and is now being commissioned in the Viaduct harbour. As one of the new model Bavarias, her interior is finished in new light mahogany and combined with attractive new upholstery and more portlights, she's airy and light down below. David Rhodes of Seaspray has done a sea trial on Rod Carr's vessel, and the new boat review will be out in the next issue. International Marine Brokers Posted 16/11/2005 Experience a Tracker: 16 Nov - The Tracker 7.7 Association are holding their annual Open Day on Sunday 27 November, from 10am to 3pm at X pier, Westhaven, Auckland. Andrew Neame says the Open Day is a great opportunity for people interested in small keelers to come on board, have a look around, and talk to the owners. Some of the Trackers present will be for sale. The Tracker is a 26 foot keeler, which is both affordable and easy to sail. They are great for cruising and racing. Trackers make an ideal first yacht, or a nice step up from a trailer sailer. For more information contact Andrew on 09 473-1979, or see www.yachtingnz.org.nz/tracker Posted 16/11/2005 Pretty Please: 15 Nov - By voting for Crew.org.nz as 'best sports website' in the Netguide Peoples' Choice Awards, you can help keep our momentum going. Other suitable categories for Crew.org.nz are Best new site/relaunch, Best media site, Best sports site Best community site, and Site of the year. Click here to vote > Posted 15/11/2005 Anniversary Weekend: 15 Nov - The Mayor of Auckland today launched a new event for Auckland. The inaugural three-day Auckland Harbour Festival will take place on Auckland's Anniversay Weekend in January, co-inciding with the final of the Auckland Matchracing Cup, in which six of the top ten internationally ranked matchracing skippers have confirmed their attendance. The event marks the 166th Anniversary Day Regatta and it will include an on-shore display of tall ships and classic yachts, music and the world's tallest ferris wheel. The briefing was a little light on details of the actual on the water plans for sailors, but we'll keep you posted as details of the race program emerge. Posted 15/11/2005 Gulf Alone: 14 Nov - Pictured is Grant McK sailing Grunty Chicken with great aplomb in the first race of the BBYC Gulf Alone solo series yesterday. 28 boats showed up in the moderate Westerly conditions which saw as much as 28 knots and as little as 10 through the around Motuihe course. The next race is an overnight event to and from the bottom end of Waiheke, in February. Read what happened > Posted 14/11/2005 Volvo 70s set off: 13 Nov - Up to 1million people gave the Volvo Race fleet a spectatular send-off yesterday from Vigo, Spain. The crowds included 70,000 dockside and 2,000 spectator craft. The first 24 hours of the race is due to be a physical one as the forecast is likely to build and for the crew’s first night they could have 30 knots of wind. Already the wind has increased and there are 2-3 metre high waves which the boats are crashing through. There is much talk of 24 hour records being broken on the first Leg and only time will tell if this prediction is true. www.volvooceanrace.com Posted 13/11/2005 Haslar named Sailor of the Year: 11 Nov - Ray Haslar was named T3 Navigant Sailor of the Year at the 2005 Yachting New Zealand Excellence Awards tonight. Ray's achievements in ocean racing, most recently aboard 'Jive Talkin'' have extended through the decades and his skill and results as an ocean yachtsman were described as superlative. Young Sailor of the Year went to Paul Snow-Hansen. www.yachtingnz.org.nz Posted 11/11/2005 Blind couple do Pacific crossing: 11 Nov - The Northern Advocate of Whangarei reports that an American couple have become the first blind people to sail a yacht across the Pacific. The paper says that Ms Habek, 43, and Mr Duncan, 39, have 10 per cent of normal vision. Mr Duncan started sailing Lasers at age 13 and owned an 8.5m keeler before acquiring the Tournesol. He has special navigational aids such as a talking GTS system, a video magnifier to read charts, and a talking computer. He and his partner had no trouble sailing the craft, although they frequently sought help "parking" it in ports. They intend to spend up to a year in New Zealand, fixing the motor and making other boat repairs and visiting schools for blind children to get across the message that blind people can achieve just about anything. Source: Northern Advocate Posted 11/11/2005 Speed maniacs: 11 Nov - The 18 foot skiff season opened last night at Auckland Sailing Club. Seven boats took to the harbour for a spin around two windward leeward courses, and Crew.org.nz cameras captured the action. We thought we'd let the photos tell the story, so without further adieu: Click for 18 feet of photo action > Posted 11/11/2005 Animal Crackers: 11 Nov - This photo is a sneak preview of 'Animal Crackers' the new Rob Shaw designed 7.5m sport boat. Rob says the boat is the next step on from his own boat, Manic. It's carbon and foam (compared to Manic's cedar and glass) and was built by Craig Partridge of Keri Keri (ex Gorilla Biscuits). It's got smaller racks than Custard Truck but its two spreader carbon rig is very similar to that boat. The centreboard and bulb is 2m deep. Photos from tomorrow's launch and an indepth interview with Rob will be published shortly. Posted 11/11/2005 Au revoir Noumea, Bula Fiji: 10 Nov - Changes are afoot for the Akarana's annual offshore race. The race will now be finishing at Momi Passage in Fiji, instead of the intended destination of Noumea. RAYC spokesperson says the change is due to a 'strong ground swell of opinion'. The race will also include a 'Corinthian' division, determined by a combination of waterline, PHRF and boat age, which departs three days earlier to enable boats such as Cavalier 32s or Lotus 10.6s to take nine days getting to Fiji and still arrive in time for Friday night festivities. Posted 10/11/2005 Ups and downs: 10 Nov - by Charles Winstone - 23 yachts took part in the first of the Canon Cup Stewart 34 championship races, beginning on Monday 7 November with three windward leeward races. The evening's conditions were light 5-8 knots from the North East, with flat water and moderate tide. In the spinnaker division, line finishes went to Pioneer, Prism and Playbuoy. The most consistent sailor however was Rick Royden on Psyche who finished 2nd in every race and now leads the Canon Cup points table. More > Posted 10/11/2005 Out of the estuary: 10 Nov - Weiti Boating Club has a very full and varied race schedule over summer which includes 30 - 70 mile races for fully crewed yachts, and a short handed series including two single handed races and one his and hers race. John Stewart says "We would like to encourage people to come out of the estuary and join us the way we come to town to join you guys. Weiti racing is competitive and we welcome all comers to race and then join us for a bbq afterwards at the clubrooms. Marina berths can be rented casually at Gulf Harbour." See you there. Posted 10/11/2005 Tell us about it: 9 Nov - Just a quick reminder to clubs, teams, competitors and even cruisers that you are our eyes and ears about what's going on out there on the water and we are always keen to publish your news, updates and photos. Whether it's a blow-by-blow account like Steve's one below, a great photo, or just a quick telephone call-in is fine too. Email zoe@due-north.co.nz or call 09 376 5100. Posted 9/11/2005 Steaming: 9 Nov - by Steve McDowell - The Worser Bay Hurricane Classic was the third regatta in the OK Dinghy Summer series and it would be fair to say that the wind lived up to its reputation! Or as one of the competitors put it; “it just blew steaming monkey nuts”. Saturday saw the wind come from the north and Sunday from the south. Competitors were assured by the locals that this was an “easing breeze” however in Wellington double-speak the phrase “easing breeze” really means that the wind will eventually ease off, but not until it has increased to such a level that the aero-dynamics of the OK rig completely break down, several boats are broken and the whole fleet is battered and worn and sitting in the clubhouse having a few beers. Full story > Posted 9/11/2005 No squirt: 9 Nov - Divers searching ports and marinas around Northland and Greymouth for the invasive sea squirt, the clubbed tunicate, have come up empty handed. To date it has been found in areas throughout the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, in Lyttelton Port and in one location in the wider Lyttelton Harbour. In Northland, the NIWA contractors examined the Whangarei town port; the Marsden Point wharf and oil refinery wharf; the Whangarei Town Basin and adjacent marinas; the Portland Wharf; and Mangawhai Harbour. Posted 9/11/2005 Flat out: 7 Nov - Pictured is yacht designer Kevin Dibley of Dibley Marine Ltd in 'flat out mode' during a delivery from Port Vila to New Caledonia to Sydney (1500nm) in eight days, including two 220-mile days. This is one of Kevin's designs which was built five years ago, and looks a cracker. Posted 7/11/2005 Sailing 101: 7 Nov - Approximately 60 women attended the sixth Crew.org.nz Race Clinic aimed at female sailors in their first year or two of racing tonight at the Ponsonby Cruising Club. Representing a good mix of skills and experience levels, the girls were initiated into the Penny Whiting philosphy of sailing (i.e. if it is hard to do then you are doing it wrong), spent an hour at the dock learning the ropes aboard six different boats, and polished it off with pizza and a session on basic race tactics. Crew.org.nz Race Clinics are taking a break over Christmas but will be back next year. Full story > Posted 7/11/2005 Blue Dude arrives in Noumea: 7 Nov - For a while now rumours have been flying around that Blue Dude, the amped up Young 8.4, had been sold to Noumea. Well we can confirm it is true and also that the new owner, Patrick Baldi, sailed it back to his home nation in just six days, single handed. "Arrived in Noumea yesterday after six days sailing. Man and boat in good condition," he says in an email. Patrick and Blue Dude's co-owner had earlier tried to deliver the boat home, departing Auckland on 'that' weekend when Chayah went aground in the first Gold Cup race. However the boat was damaged and they had to give up up the delivery. Patrick returned by himself at the end of October. Well done mate. Posted 7/11/2005 Marine industry shows up: 7 Nov - 25 Kiwi companies exhibited at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show last week. Ian Cook, Managing Director of Yachting Developments, says losing the America’s Cup has reminded Kiwi marine companies that marketing at global trade shows is crucially important. “The industry is just as buoyant and innovative without the Cup,” he says. Stuart Robinson of Robinson Marine Interiors and the marine industry export group, said “we are doing a lot of business in the United States and this is a perfect opportunity. Deals don’t happen overnight but being there is another step in the process of securing new projects – you have to be visible on the international circuit to bring things to fruition.” While the New Zealand companies are competing for global marine business Stuart Robinson says there is enough business out there for everyone. Posted 7/11/2005 New national champion: 6 Nov - Phillip Douglas won the 2005 National Keelboat Championships today, with Laurie Jury placing second. While yesterday a ban was put on spinnakers because of the heavy conditions, today's racing was completely the opposite, described as good sailing conditionss, with a shifty sou'wester that saw the range between 8 and 15 knots. All boats carried #1s. Phillip was 10 points clear of Laurie, scoring two race wins and four seconds out of ten races. Pic by Ocean Photography. View report from Kiwi Match or Full results > Posted 6/11/2005 18's in launch mode: 6 Nov - Chris Skinner, Andrew Stone and Brad Marsh have teamed up to form a world championship contending 18 foot skiff team. They have a new boat which has recently arrived from Australia and have spent the last month and a half personalising the systems and creating a portfolio of sponsors to keep them on the water. The main goal for the 18' class in NZ is the World Championships in February in Sydney. NZ has secured four entries and are very hopeful of filling these four entries with some world class teams. Full story and more photos > Posted 6/11/2005 Brasil 1 shows light air speed: 6 Nov - Ericson won the warm up 30nm 'round the buoys' event for the Volvo Ocean Race, but Brasil 1 (the Brazilian boat with sails made in NZ by North Sails) showed very strong performance in light airs. The short inport race is designed to provide spectator action before the real thing starts in a few days, and is considered an important form guide. But the conditions were very light and flukey and the event website says that both the ABN Amro boats will be hoping they don't meet too much of it on the around the world race. As line honours winner, Ericsson claims 3.5 points for her efforts. full report > Posted 6/11/2005 It's like riding a bike...: 5 Nov - Your 'ed' took a walk on the dark side today, jumping onboard a speed machine multihull in the form of the giant catamaran Sundreamer. The NZ Multihull Yacht Club's around Rangitoto race was downgraded to a harbour course because of the rough conditions, and Sundreamer, hitting speeds of 25 knots reaching and 15 on the wind, took line honours, followed by X-Factor, the big yellow cat which was slow off the blocks but demonstrated impressive reaching and upwind speeds. Timberwolf was leading at the bottom mark. Pictured is Push Play. Posted 5/11/2005 Glidden leads nationals: 5 Nov - It was a day for clashes of wills and clashes against mother nature for the first five races of the National Keelboat Championships. Early results, provisional on the outcome of three protests, indicate that James Glidden is leading so far with Cameron Horne in second. Following an eventful race 2 in which nearly every boat had a skid or chinese gybe, the 'caution' flag was raised after the second race limiting the sail wardrobe to #2 and no spinnakers. The legs were approx 1 mile long and winds sitting at 25 knots and gusting more. An outgoing tide for most of the day's racing ensured flat seas. Tomorrow's forecast indicates less breeze. Race website > Posted 5/11/2005 Nationals: 4 Nov - Weigh in is tonight and the National Keelboat Champs start tomorrow at Royal Akarana Yacht Club, with nine crews entered, including one from Noumea. Competitors will race in the MRX fleet and the forecast is for SW20 knots building to 35 in the afternoon with high tide at 10.30am. We'll keep you posted. Posted 4/11/2005 Helicopter fundraiser launches tonight: 4 Nov - A massive fundraising effort for the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Foundation (ARHF) is being launched on TV1's Close Up programme tonight at 7pm. The objective of the campaign, 'RESQBBQ' is to raise funds for a bigger and better rescue helicopter for the greater Auckland community (including us sailors, should we ever need it). Due North, is helping out with organising the West Auckland version, 'The Great Westie BBQ' on the evening of Sunday 18 Dec. www.resqbbq.org.nz Posted 4/11/2005 Tail wind!: 4 Nov - If you read the Business Herald you may have seen a story about Crew.org.nz and our continued success as one of the country's most visited sports websites, thanks to sponsors like International Marine Brokers, Takapuna Sailing Centre, and North Sails NZ. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out at the NZ Herald online. Crew.org.nz had more than 20,000 visits in October. Posted 4/11/2005 Extreme testing: 4 Nov - The Volvo Ocean Race starts on 5 November in Spain. North Sails NZ has supplied all of the downwind sails for ABN Amro 1, as well as a complete wardrobe for Brasil 1. And Jon Nash has supplied this great photography of ABN Amro 1, skippered by Mike Sanderson, and crewed by fellow Kiwis David Endean, Brad Jackson, Tony Mutter and Mark Christensen, getting up to speeds of 25-28 knots on downwind runs. Photos and story > Posted 4/11/2005 Back to school: 3 Nov - This photo is of pupils at the Gulfwind Sailing Academy learning on a sailing course aboard Share Delight with Mike & Sheryl Lanigan. The two day Start Yachting RYA course takes both new and more advanced sailors through a complete repertoire ranging from sailing fundamentals to meteorology and MOB. Mike says, "We cover the above in two days so people get an understanding of how a yachts sail on all points of the wind clock. Each time we change course they learn to trim the sails accordingly." Graduates can progress to RYA Competent Crew level. Posted 4/11/2005 Hard luck folks:: 4 Nov - The little New Zealand boat Nevenka which is competing in the 414nm Gosford to Lord Howe Island race as a qualifying event for the 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, retired almost 190 miles from the finish because of continued light winds. Skipper Phil Chisholm advised the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol radio base at Newcastle that Nevenka would continue to Lord Howe Island giving an ETA of 0800 hours tomorrow. Speculation is that his crew have flights to catch but that they will still have put in the pre-requisite miles required for the Hobart race on 26 Dec. It took eventual winner Yendys three hours to sail the last four miles to the finish line on the evening of 31 Oct. Posted 4/11/2005 Club wins foreshore court case: 4 Nov - A case against the Nelson Yacht Club, accusing it of illegally preventing public access to the foreshore, has been lost. The club was sued over private property signs at Port Nelson slipway which excluded the public from using the club's rigging, carparking and slipway area to access the sea. It cost the club several thousand dollars to defend the case. Also this month, a 200-berth marina project at Whangamata has been given the go-ahead by the Environmental Court. It has taken 15 years and $1million in costs to get the project this far but there are still two hurdles to cross. Posted 4/11/2005 North Sails teams up: 1 Nov - Over the next week you’ll be seeing the North Sails brand appear on the Crew.org.nz website. This is because they have signed up as one of our major sponsors. North Sails NZ is one of the world’s leading sailmakers for high performance racing, cruising and one design and it’s great to be working with them. They are also about to launch a range of Norths gear including t-shirts and bags, and we are working on a new website for them that's going to go live shortly. More info soon. Posted 1/11/2005 Hey, cool, check this out!: 1 Nov - For the second quarter in a row Crew.org.nz has received a Hitwise Award. We are officially ranked No. 2 by visits in the Sports - Yachting and Boating category against other New Zealand websites. The only NZ boating website ahead of us is Trade A Boat's buy and sell site, boatpoint.co.nz (just as well they are one of our partners, eh!?) Our visitor numbers also put us at #13 out of all NZ sports websites according to Netratings data which is compiled by AC Neilsen. The leaders are the biggies such as Xtramsn Sport, the All Blacks, NZ Herald Sports, Sunday Star Times Sports, TVNZ, golf, surf, snow, and Virtual Super 12. Yehaa! Long live Crew.org.nz! Posted 1/11/2005 |