Past Clinics

Past Clinics - these Clinics were held in winter 05:

Weather and Navigation - May

Nick White is a Whitbread winner, Volvo Ocean Race Navigator and America’s Cup Weather Man. His accurate weather forecasts and routing for coastal races are a popular function of the Crew.org.nz website. Nick will talk about how weather and tides affect racing in and from Auckland, and how you can use your knowledge of conditions to improve your race results

Boat Handling and Boat Speed - June

Topics that this Clinic will cover help you sharpen up your technique during manoeuvres such as spinnaker hoists, drops and gybes. This Clinic will be co-hosted by two top Auckland racers, Mike Lanigan of the Gulfwind Sailing Academy, and Cameron Thorpe, who is recently returned from the two-handed Round North Island. Apply their knowledge to your own regime. This Clinic will include 30 minute session on short-handed racing technique, to coincide with the beginning of the popular SSANZ series.

July – Tactics and Rules

Without sound tactics, and knowledge of rules the benefits of boat speed and boat handling cannot be realised. This session will be hosted by international racing umpire John Rountree, and Brian Trubovich who is well known for his skills as a tactician. Starting at the startline and taking into account a wide range of scenarios commonly found in Auckland racing, our guest speakers will discuss how to take advantage of opportunities that become available to you.

September – Performance Sail Trim

Team NZ head sail designer Burns Fallow, Josh 'Boo Boo' from North Sails & Maximus, and Cameron Thorpe will co-host this two hour session about acheiving optimal sail trim, on all points of sail.

October - Auckland to Russell, ASAP

The next Crew.org.nz Race Clinic is a panel discussion by Philip Hart
(Owner, Sundreamer), Brian Trubovich (Owner, Higher Ground),
Cameron Thorpe (Tactician, Hard Labour), Nick White (professional
navigator, and Y88 owner), and Vaughan Robertson (Navigator,
Sababa).

What all these guys have in common is a fantastic track record of
coastal racing success in different types of boats, and they are going
to teach you how to beat them over the line this Labour Weekend.

Those that come will be deemed “in the loop” and eligible for an email
tactical update based on likely weather conditions, 2-3 days before
the race from our experts.

November - Sailing 101

In conjunction with the Ponsonby Cruising Club, this Race Clinic is specifically for women in their first two years of racing who want a sound introduction to the sport, with all their questions answered. You will benefit from the experience of one of our top female sailors, Penny Whiting, and three local female sailors doing the same type of racing that you do. The Clinic will start off in the classroom where you will learn about the fundamentals of sailing. We will then demonstrate some simple functions on a moored keelboat, such as effective use of a winch, headsail changes, poling out a spinnaker, and trimming a mainsail when it's under load, before heading back to the club to get a grib on various aspects of a race from the start, to mark roundings and the finish. $10 entry fee + pizza funds.

Apr 06 - Rules of Racing

Port, starboard, windward, leeward, overlapped, not overlapped and what exactly does that two boat length zone mean at the windward mark? Often the rules of racing are not 100% clear-cut and it helps to have an interpreter.

This is where John Rountree, international racing umpire with the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron, comes in.

John's plain-English descriptions of one of the most complicated aspects of sailing is invaluable to both complete beginners and those needing a refresher or tune up.