blog

New meaning for Wet Suit

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:20:38 +1300

Here's Des

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:25:32 +1300

Today's News

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:41:34 +1300

Is that there will be no news, until Friday at the earliest. the boss is going sailing - Yeeeeeeehaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BoI Wrap Up

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:39:45 +1300

Saturday January 28, 2012

Perfect timing – a few showers graced our shores at 1700 hrs Friday evening January 27,2012; boats were safely back in harbour at the end of four days of on-the-water rivalry in the Bay of Islands. The final race day was just about perfect with 12-15 knot winds gusting 20 or more.

As ‘Bicky’ from North Sails commented “Getting all nine races completed over the four days is fantastic; even arranging a perfect weather pattern with the Beach Party at Roberton Island on Thursday when the wind dropped off. That’s what I call organisation”.

There were nine protests overall, but perhaps that shows the intensity of competition on the water. Peter Montgomery, our presenter at Prize giving made this point when he said “The Bay of Islands Sailing Week is special to New Zealand yachting. Where else can you sail to a tropical island for a Beach Party during a race week; where else can the some of the ‘biggest and best boats” competing in the same regatta as such a variety of yachts in C,D and E Divisions, the Sports Boats, Cruising boats, Young 88, Elliott 5.9s , need I say more.”

Generous Spot prizes were donated: A Cotton Blossom Cruise – Great Escape Charters x 3 – Tanoa Hotel Paihia accommodation at the luxury Russell Cottages – and a pack of goodies from Burnsco. Not to forget the Westpac spinnaker won by Bandit (Elliott 5.9).

And so it’s time to pack up; take down the tents on the Opua Marina, return the race huts to store at Carters; toilets, trash pickups all organised, dismantle the bar and the stage. Fold away sponsor banners - and it’s time for the committee and volunteers to go home. First Committee Meeting is in June 2012 to prepare for Bay of Islands Sailing Week 2013 – see you there.

All results – photos (still being loaded Saturday) – video link etc on the website: www.bayofislandssailingweek.org.nz

BoI Sailing Week

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:25:18 +1300

Friday January 27, 2012 And so the racing on this 10th anniversary of Bay of Islands Sailing Week has come to a close. Today was another great day for competitors, a little cloudy but still a reasonable breeze - NW 12-15 knots. Visiting Aussie Judge Stephen Merrington is full of compliments about ‘this Kiwi regatta’ - “it’s very similar to Airlie Beach. The new tent setup is perfect, it feels really tropical. This is always a top regatta with friendly people and good racing. Can Rosemary and I come back again next year?” Said Paddy Sims Race Officer from Taipa Sailing Club, “we’ve got quality and competent racing this year, none of that ‘follow the leader stuff’ – we’ll work on getting more local boats to join in next year”. Very tight racing today in A Division in particular between Kia Kaha and Wired, but happy to say both boats came out of the skirmishes with no new paint jobs required. Very fair competition – they’ll certainly have something to talk about over a drink tonight. Unfortunately Boating NZ (Sports Boat Division) had to pull out today sacrificing two races. Edwin Delaat hurt his back, apparently for the second time. Edwin is a 15 year old ‘world yachtsman of the future’ – not to say he isn’t already well on his way. This young man has seamanship and yachting credentials to take your breath away. We’re sorry you had to miss out on those last two races Edwin – we hope to see you back here again in 2013. There will be more to report after an evening at the Prize Giving listening to tales of the day from one and all.

Here's Des

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:11:00 +1300

BoI Sailing Week

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:15:44 +1300

Patience pays off at Bay Regatta Race Day 3

Beach Party at Roberton Island

There was zero wind at the scheduled start of 1030 hrs. Little puffs frustrated the boats as they watched for an expected notice of delay. Gerry Martin (Race Officer) waited patiently (about one and a half hours), when sure enough the local sea breeeze kicked in. A Division started with a N.E. of 5-8 knots, a bit patchy, but the breeze picked up to 10 knots by the top mark. The course for all boats on ‘Beach Party at Roberton Island Race Day’ was finally set - with a 2 mile beat to the top mark – then 1.5 mile reach to Long Island - 1 mile to the finish just off from Roberton. Gerry was proud of his patience and his course “This could have been a disaster; the boat skippers were getting pretty edgy. But we’ve given them a ‘bxxxxy good race finishing at their party on time”.

Pre-race fun and games: V5 took out one of their floor boards and crew members water skiied – at a fast pace. Diving from high places took place all over the bay. Some boats took the time to ‘canter and clean’. It was a busy place.

Roberton Island Beach Party was a hoot. The Wind Warriors provided lots of shore-side entertainment. Food and refreshments were offered from the barge – while the Furious Three played their hearts out with lively music to satisfy the mass.

Friday’s weather looks to be a bit livelier. Maybe not so good for the photographers but the boats are here to race – so ‘bring it on’. And don’t forget to check out YouTube…..

So Long Bob

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:55:33 +1300

After 40 years Bob McDavitt is retiring from Metservice.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/videos/6316862/Bob-McDavitt-retires

Here's hoping he really enjpoys many long years of retirement.

Port Expansion Plans

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:13:52 +1300

Here's an idea of what tehy are suggesting for Auckland Harbour. Lots more plus discussion here.

Auckland Tauranga Race

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:28:48 +1300

Full NOR here

BoI Sailing week

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:24:08 +1300

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WEDNESDAY 25:

Another beautiful day in paradise. All divisions got their first races away before noon with winds fluctuating between 4 and 9 knots SSW. Racing yachties always want more wind and the breeze did pick up in the afternoon.

Each year we look out for our youngest competitor. This year Tony and Nina Kiff’s boat ‘Wetherley’ is the winner with their apprentice tactician pictured below – In this shot he’s not happy with the foredeck work and is making it known……

BoI Sailing Week

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:18:54 +1300

Another beautiful day in paradise. All divisions got their first races away before noon with winds fluctuating between 4 and 9 knots SSW.

Passage Divisions had some tight racing around the 9-Pin Rock – footage of this is on our YouTube link where you can see for yourselves the very clever ‘inside manoeuvre pulled off by Charles St Clair Brown on Antaeus – he’ll tuck that one away for future story-telling. Results for the day are also on the website along with photos – the day’s racing photos viewable from the link to Ocean Photography. www.bayofislandssailingweek.org.nz .

David Nathan on V5 is thoroughly enjoying the regatta - today winning their share of line honours. Interviews with Skippers on today’s racing will take place in the North Sails Tent – and forwarded later this evening.

Takapuna readies for another World Championship

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:46:39 +1300

Takapuna Boating Club is about to host their fourteenth world championship event: The 2012 470 Junior World Championships kick off on 26th January 2012. With the Pre-worlds event now done and dusted, this popular sailing club on Auckland’s North Shore is ready for the main event to start.

Photo by Christine Hansen

“We’re quite accustomed to running large scale world championship events, but this one has been during a more difficult funding environment than most due to the Rugby World Cup.” Takapuna Boating Club’s commodore Evelyn Johnson is satisfied that now everything has now fallen into place before the event begins.

“We’ve been very fortunate to gain some sponsorship and this event wouldn’t be happening without the support of our volunteers, the Auckland Council, SPARC, Victoria Cruising Club Trust and Lion Foundation in particular.”

The 470 Class Junior World Championships begin for more than thirty boats from thirteen countries on Friday 27 January, including three NZL women’s entries and six NZL open entries. Full racing commences Saturday 28th January and continues through until the medal races on Friday 3rd February, 2012.

As at any world championship event, the competition is predicted to be fierce. Many of the teams entered for this event have just finished the ISAF World Sailing Championships in the 470 class (all ages) in Perth.Several of the New Zealand entrants have previously represented New Zealand at the ISAF Youth Worlds, including James Turner, Ben Goodwin, Sarah Berry, Emma Berry, Vicki Francis, Erica Dawson and Bianca Barbarich-Bacher.

Sarah and Emma Berry, sisters from Wellington’s Worser Bay Boating Club have been quiet on the local scene lately, but have medalled at a World Championship in the 420 class off Takapuna Beach in 2007.

“I love sailing at Takapuna, it’s one of my favourite places and there’s always a great breeze”. Emma Berry is looking forward to getting back into the 470 class for this event with her sailing partner and sister Sarah. “We’ve both been concentrating on University lately... I am going into third year of Law and Sarah is going into second year of design.”

These two young women have a long record of sailing together both within New Zealand and internationally and much of their success is due to the strength of their relationship. Emma explained: “It’s really good sailing with my sister. In 2007 at the Takapuna 420 World Championships we sailed our best because we got on ridiculously well and we’re getting along quite well at the moment too.”

There is another team of siblings to look out for at this event, Australian juniors Matthew and Robert Crawford were the winners of the pre-worlds event which ended on January 22nd. The Crawford brothers were closely followed by New Zealand’s two selected Olympic 470 teams, Paul Snow Hansen with Jason Saunders, and Jo Aleh with Olivia Powrie.

Both of these high performance teams from the NZL Sailing Team are older than the age allowance for this event. To be eligible to compete in the 470 Junior Championships, athletes shall not have attained his or her 22 birthday before the end of the year of the Championship.

New Zealanders Luke Stevenson (Tauranga) and Sam Bullock (Takapuna) are another one of the NZ crews to watch, having gained one of the top junior results at the 2011 470 Class World Championships at Perth in December, and a fifth place finish at the Takapuna pre-worlds event despite some gear breakage. Gareth Moore (Christchurch) and Ben Goodwin (Napier) are in a similar situation coming back from Perth, and straight into a fourth place finish at the regatta this past weekend. A new combination of James Turner (Auckland), who also competed in Perth, has teamed up with 420 World Championship Class Silver medallist Finn Drummond (Auckland) will also be a team who could make an impression as the regatta progresses.

Planning for this event has been approximately 18 months in the build up, and could not be possible without the support of numerous sponsors and volunteers. There will be a team of approximately 80 volunteers assisting on and off the water led by Principal Race Officer Ian Clouston and Race Secretary Janet Watkins.

“This event simply could not exist without the support of Auckland Council, SPARC, YNZ, Oceanbridge, Harken, OKI and the Lion Foundation.” Takapuna’s Commodore Evelyn concluded “ We also wish to thank Murrays Bay Sailing Club and Torbay Sailing Club for the use of their RIB’s for Race Officers, and also to Sailutions, Harken and The Water Shed for their contributions toward prizes for the competitors”.

Schedule of events:
27 January: Practice Race 3:00pm
27 January: Opening Ceremony 7:00pm
28 January- 2 February: Racing commences, 11:00am daily
3 February: Medal Race
3 February: Closing Ceremony 5:00pm

Head down to Takapuna beach and enjoy the atmosphere or watch the action 27th Jan – 3rd Feb 2012! Or follow the action live online the 2012 470 Junior World Championships Facebook Page.

BoI Sailing Week

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:04:24 +1300

You Should Have Been Here

Sailing Week 2012 day #1 was blessed with a clear blue sky, a South Easterly at 10 knots, and sixty eager crews ready to take on the world.

The working crew on Westpac One started THEIR day with engine failure in both engines – rectifying one engine pretty quickly to do the job. Engine #2 took a bit more work with all things back to normal soon after the first start.

As the writer – my day was pretty special; a working experience on the RIB Oceanphotography. I can assure you muscle and tummy exercises are not necessary after a day chasing racing yachts at speeds of up to 30 Knots - in a variety of flat and very bumpy seas. I can now understand the effort and exerpertise shown in photos taken by Will Calver. Thank you Will.

At pin end Division One Race One, V5 stepped out with both Wired and M1 Snapping at her heels. As the first major race for Kia Kaha, she showed a conservative stance at the start.

At first rounding Wired had the lead, Ice Breaker and V5 both working hard and fast in ‘catch-up mode’. The fleet of 8 speeding yachts were a major part of the spectacle of our Bay of Islands.

Next mark Wired had a good lead – still with V5 on her tail. Kia Kaha and Ice Breaker had a close encounter at the mark, Kia Kaha obviously starting to find her form.

The breeze had increased during the race, but slowed to 6-8 knots for the finish. V5 tipped the scales coming in first over the line, Kia Kaha 2^nd with Wired in 3^rd place.

We slipped across to shoot the ten competing C and D Divisions. The breeze down to 3-5 knots – puffs at 6-7 knots. A clean start with Stratocaster leading the fleet, Simply Red and Tongue Twister hot on her heels. Solveig, a modified Soling, competed in the Regatta two-handed. Well done Steve Hardcastle and mate. Results from opening day are on www.bayofislandssailingweek.org.nz

Anniversary Day Regatta Salutes Auckland’s Maritime Heritage

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:58:04 +1300

Two waka hourua, the Spirit of New Zealand, “Little Toot” tugs, elegant sailboats, waka ama, tall ships and flying “cats” will be part of the huge flotilla celebrating Auckland’s maritime heritage on the Waitemata Harbour on Anniversary Day on Monday January 30.

The Oceanbridge Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta is the oldest sporting event in the country, open to all sailors in different classes of craft from the professional workboat skipper, a sea scout, an all out racer waiting to gun the engines in the Harbour Blast, a youngster in his first dinghy or an enthusiast who has spent thousands of hours restoring one of the great kauri- hulled classic sailing boats that Auckland has retained and maintained.

“The regatta is history on parade to be celebrated on the water and on land with excellent vantage points around the harbour for everyone to enjoy this unique display,” says organising committee chairman, Eric Mahoney. “The event provides a spectacle of the best of yesteryear and the promise of a bright future for our sailing, boatbuilding and seamanship. We have a proud heritage and a world-class reputation for excellence for all to see in a salute to our province’s history.”

The regatta organisers are especially thrilled that Starling dinghy sailors, the up and comers, are incorporating into the programme their North Island Championships, organised by the Maraetai Sailing Club at Maraetai Beach. The Sunburst National Championships, organised by the Wakatere Boating Club at Wakatere over the long weekend, will also form part of the regatta activities.

One of the brightest stars racing on Monday in the classic division will be the recently restored Rawhiti, a 107-year-old Logan Bros. 54-footer, which was the runner up in a recent international competition judging sailboat restoration.

“There is a growing interest in these sailing crafts of such rare beauty and functionality with individuals and philanthropic trusts undertaking their preservation and continued upkeep for the next generations,” says master boatbuilder and restorer Peter Brookes. “There is huge interest internationally in the Auckland classic yacht fleet as we have the artisan skills, commitment and passion to bring them back to life which is a tribute to the quality of the original design, materials and craftsmanship.”

The classic yacht fleet will be moored in the Viaduct on the Sunday evening, January 29, and lit up Mediterranean-style for sightseers to look at them at close quarters before races on Monday morning.

The sailing boat races start at 11:00am off Princes Wharf with keelers, modern classics, tall ships, waka starting at five minute intervals before the Harbour Blast at noon when the fastest craft of the harbour race down the channel.

There will be dazzling aerobatic displays over the city skies from the Red Checkers starting at noon too followed by the Warbirds and the whole of the downtown viaduct area will have entertainment for all the family.

Flagship for the day is HMNZS Otago with the Governor General and dignitaries on board. The family of regatta sponsors is headed by Oceanbridge Shipping Limited, Auckland Council, Ports of Auckland Limited, Classic Hits 97.4FM, Lion Foundation and the Spirit of Adventure Trust and Southern Trust.

For more information and entry forms go to:

www.regatta.org.nz or phone 0800 REGATTA (0800 734 2882) or checkout our Facebook page

It costs $15.00 for centreboard yachts and radio controlled yachts to enter and $25.00 for tugboats, keelboats and multihulls.

BoI Race Week

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:33:34 +1300

And a response from Reliance

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:16:49 +1300

Dear Sir

A refreshing and unbiased piece of writing.

I have put the link on http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reliance-Yacht-Management/118413514860609

Reliance has delivered thousands of yachts over 25 years and worked with hundreds of captains. All our Captains are experience, qualified professionals. I trust the judgement of each and every one of them. If I didn’t then I wouldn’t use them. They create the passage plans. It is not created for them. Many have questioned the actions of the Captains involved but I do not want to judge those that cannot be here to defend themselves. We were not there.

Our policies and business practices are ISO9001 accredited. We have a good safety record and fortunately such events are very rare.

Any loss of life is a disaster and our ultimate thoughts must be with the families.

Regards

Nick Irving

Who's in Charge of a Vessel?

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:26:42 +1300

From Latitude 38:

January 18, 2012 – Waters Everywhere

We always assumed that it was a captain's decision whether to put to sea or not, particularly if bad weather is approaching. But that doesn't seem to be the thinking of British Admiralty Registrar Robert Jervis Kay.

In December of '06, delivery skipper John Anstess of Plymouth, England, and Southern Californian crew Dave Rodman and Richard Beckman, died when the 44-ft Voyage 440 catamaran Cat Shot they were delivering for Reliance Yacht Management of Farnborough, England, got caught in a horrible storm off the coast of Northern California, capsized, and washed up on the beach. Apparently the boat was in something of a rush to be delivered in time for the Seattle Boat Show, although the show was nearly two months away.

The body of Anstess, 55, was never found. His sister sued Reliance in British Admiralty Court in September of '10. Some of the details of the case were just released, but to our mind not the most pertinent stuff. In justifying his decision, Registrar Kay said that Reliance had "pressured" Anstess, who had apparently suggested leaving the boat in San Diego for the winter, into continuing on toward Seattle. Kay went so far as to absolve Anstess, who everyone agreed was a highly trained and extremely experienced mariner, of even partial responsibility for setting sail into a tremendous storm.

Reliance responded angrily to the ruling. "Anstess was a true professional, and it would be a sleight to his character to suggest that he would allow himself to put the crew and boat in undue danger for financial reasons or was pressured to do so by management or non-sailing administrative staff."

We wish the nature of the "pressure" on Anstess had been revealed in detail by Registrar Kay. Perhaps a gun to the forehead of Anstess' oldest son, if he had one, or a knife held to the throat of his mother. With all due respect to the dead, had we been in Anstess' Topsiders, and had we had the weather information he had, we can't imagine anything short of preventing the murder of our family members that could have pressured us to put to sea from San Francisco Bay that morning. "Kiss our ass!" would have been our last words to Reliance after we secured the cat to the dock and left town for somewhere warm.

We have no idea what Cat Shot crewmen Rodman and Beckman were thinking, and if they had objections to continuing. But according the report in the January 2007 issue of Latitude, the weather forecast showed a huge storm was on its way out of the Gulf of Alaska and was due to hit Washington and Oregon in just a few days. You just don't knowingly go out into stuff like that. Particularly in catamarans, which are not immune to flipping in severe weather. After all, it hadn't been that many years before when a Lagoon 42 catamaran departed the Northeast on a delivery to the Caribbean in winter. She got into a bad storm, and neither she or her crew were ever heard from again.

Another consideration is that it's generally easier to go north from San Francisco to Seattle in the winter because heavy weather is more predictable and there are often generous periods of calm between storms.

Clouding the situation is a previous incident that would seem to suggest that Reliance may have asked their delivery skippers to do unsafe things. Just two months before Anstess and his crew were killed, delivery skipper Steve Hobley of Newton Abbot, England, died when the 38-ft catamaran he was delivering across the Atlantic for Reliance was overwhelmed by 45-ft waves and capsized. The two crew, American Kevin Klinges and Ollie Templeman of Poole, England, hung on for 11 hours before the U.S. Coast Guard managed to rescue them. The cat was initially to be delivered across the Atlantic to Miami but part of the way across, Reliance told the captain to change course for the much more northerly Annapolis.

Any seasoned skipper knows that you don't deliver a boat across the Atlantic to north of Miami in the winter, and only to Miami because you can almost always quickly dive to the south if trouble starts heading your way. Call us chicken if you want, but had we been in Hobley's shoes, and Reliance had told us to change destinations to Annapolis, we'd have had a simple two-word answer for them. The first would have started with an 'F', and the second would have ended with a 'U'.

According to news reports, crewman Klinges testified that Reliance told Capt. Hobley that if he didn't divert to Annapolis, he wouldn't work for the company again. Shame, shame, shame on Reliance if that's true. But that should have been an idle threat, because who would want to work for a company that would request such a change in route at that time of year? Once again, had it been us, Reliance would have gotten the same two-word response. We would have sailed the catamaran to Miami as originally planned, then chained the boat to the dock until we and our crew got paid in full.

It seems to us that the principle here is who is in the command of a vessel — and we're somewhat surprised to learn that a British Registrar apparently believes it's not the captain, but rather someone — perhaps not even a sailor — in a warm office thousands of miles from the boat itself. Does that seem as weird to you as it does to us?

We want to emphasize that we mourn for those mariners who lost their lives or suffered in these incidents, repeat that we're not privy to all the evidence, and acknowledge that hindsight is 20/20. Nonetheless, if the loss of these sailors' lives is not to be in vain, it will be because all other sailors will have learned that it's the captain of the vessel who should call the shots on the vessel he/she commands. After all, it's the life of his/her crew, as well as himself/herself, that is at stake.

- latitude / richard

Here's Des

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:41:05 +1300

Important last Minute Message from BoI Sailing Week

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:40:51 +1300

There will be a WIND WARRIOR REGATTA at the Beach Party and we will (with help from officials or the barge) get the boats to Roberton so they don't have to be carried on the race yachts.. People who intend to race their WWs should contact me with their radio frequency so I can pre-sort any clashes. 'Grant Mckinnon' <gmck@xtra.co.nz

“Look forward to leaving the rest of the world behind – and enjoy racing at Bay of islands Sailing Week”