blog

Iconic New Zealand Yacht Enters Sail Noumea

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:21:38 +1200

One of New Zealand’s iconic yachts, Steinlager 2, which recently returned home after several decades abroad, is set to race in the Royal Akarana Yacht Club hosted Auckland to Noumea race, Sail Noumea.

Steinlager 2 is best known as the yacht skippered by the late Sir Peter Blake, which won the 1989 Whitbread Round the World race. She won every leg over the line and on handicap, an unprecedented record which still stands. Steinlager 2 was then voted “Yacht of the Year” by the Yachting Magazine, and went on to clock up many more race titles.

Following the Whitbread victory, Steinlager 2 sailed under different names and colours such as ‘Safilo’ and ‘Barracuda’ for various owners in Italy. Her most recent Swiss owner Stefan Detjen had a passion for her iconic history and undertook a full refit, restoring her original colours and name. Stefan entered Steinlager 2 into the Volvo Ocean Race Legends Regatta in Alicante, Spain and had a mix of original crew on board plus supporters. Two of those supporters, Tony Stevenson and William Goodfellow were trustees for the NZ Sailing Trust and started the conversation with Stefan which has resulted in the return home.

Steinlager 2 enjoyed a grand entry back to the Viaduct on the 5th of May with original crew and their families on board for the final leg. She was escorted by a flotilla of yachts including several from Royal Akarana Yacht Club. She then had a formal Maori welcome, and Mayor Len Brown was on hand to welcome her into Auckland.

Steinlager 2 is now part of the NZ Sailing Trust, set up primarily to preserve the yachts Sir Peter Blake sailed on and to ensure the next generation has the opportunity to experience the thrill of maxi-yacht racing on these legendary boats. The Trust also enters these iconic yachts in race events to give people the opportunity of being on the crew, and to engage with the sailing community. The first major activity Steinlager 2 will be undertaking is the Auckland to Noumea leg of Sail Noumea and a great crew has assembled to be a part of the event.

The Auckland to Noumea leg of Sail Noumea starts on Saturday 2^nd June. The HMNZS MANAWANUI is the official start boat and traditional cannon will be fired at 1400 hours signalling the start of the race.

The start line will be off Orakei with the best vantage points being the Orakei Wharf, Tamaki Drive (near Kelly Taltons) and North Head.

The yachts will be fitted with satellite trackers with virtual spectators able to watch the fleet as they race to Cercle Nautique Caledonien in Noumea.

For the first time this race is being run in conjunction with Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron who will race from Brisbane to Noumea with the fleets meeting at the finish race.

For more information visit www.sailnoumea.com or www.facebook.com/sailnoumea

Vote for Tomo and Mily

Thu, 17 May 2012 19:59:57 +1200

From the forums:

Hey guys,
We're getting married and to afford the wedding party in Argentina, we've entered a contest to win $10.000!!!
The idea? bring the outdoors, Indoor, so we made a video and now we need votes to win!!

The link is this one: http://win.hitachiheatpumps.co.nz/user/30

No registration needed, just click on the link, click on VOTE. You can do it once per hour, as many times as you like!

Every vote counts, so please help us and spread the word!!

Hope you liked the video and click Vote Vote Vote!!!!

Thanks,

Tomo & Mily

Young 88 Single Handed Championships

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:44:14 +1200

Bruce Elliott Memorial: 20 May 2012

Record Fleet of Fifteen Boats Likely

The Young 88 fleet is once again proving its popularity as an all purpose racing and cruising boat with a record number of entries for this Sunday’s regatta to be hosted by the Royal Akarana Yacht Club.

Short handed sailing is becoming increasingly popular as evidenced by the growing numbers of boats participating in one, two and three handed events. The Young 88 is ideally suited to this type of sailing with all control lines leading aft, primary winches adjacent to the helm and the option of a non overlapping headsail.

Grant Crawford Y88 Association President said “We knew the class was gaining popularity as a great value, all-purpose cruiser racer but the level of interest in this weekend’s single handed event has surpassed expectations”

Entrants include the usual Y88 suspects plus well known sailors returning to have a crack at them like yacht designer Greg Elliot. Greg built some of the first Y88s in the early 80’s before branching out into his own highly successful design business.

Last year’s champion, Nathan Williams on Slipstream III will not be back to defend his title this year, as he’s off to find another this weekend at the Elliott 5.9 Regatta in the Bay of Islands.

Racing will be harbour course/s around the permanent yellow racing marks. The current forecast is great, with clear skies and a suitably soft 10kt Southwester.

The Y88 shorthanded program continues to build through the winter with the Y88 Two Handed Champs on Sunday June 17^th. The SSANZ Simrad Triple Series follows, starting in July and is always well supported by a good fleet of Y88s.

To enter the Y88 Single Handed or Two Handed events click here http://www.rayc.org.nz/young-88/

More information on the Young 88’s can be found online on their website www.young88.org.nz

Results will be made available online on the RAYC website www.rayc.org.nz

Photos and more online “like” the Young88 Facebook page www.facebook.com/youngeightyeight

Entrants to date include:

#	Skipper Name	Boat Name	Sail #	Yacht Club
1.	Jeffrey Hopper	Raging Hormones	9105	MBSC
2.	Jacko van Deventer	Sailor Moon	6398	KIYC
3.	Nigel Garland	Heartlight	8202	SSANZ
4.	Ben Tilly	Dilemma	5588	TBA
5.	Brett Elliott	Slip Stream	325	RNZYS
6.	Nick Bastow	Medium Dry	6284	RNZYS
7.	David Stanton	Sister Moonshine	5088	RNZYS
8.	Damon Jolliffe	Sonic	5514	RNZYS
9.	Chris Binning	Heaven 'n' Hell	6940	BBYC
10.	Rick Hackett	Skitzo	884	SSANZ
11.	Grant Crawford	Leglesss	6188	WBC
12.	Greg Elliott	First Class	6088	RNZYS
13.	Bill Dalbeth	Waka Huia	8022	SSANZ

Here's Des

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:14:00 +1200

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Two NZL crews in 470 top ten

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:06:49 +1200

The NZL Sailing Team’s last wave of World Championship campaigns for 2012 are underway in Europe for the Finn, 470 and Laser Radial sailors.

Left: Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders at the 470 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Photo by Thom Touw.

Six races have now been completed at the 470 World Championships for both Men and Women, ending the qualifying series. Both Olympic bound Kiwi crews are inside the top ten of the gold fleet as they head into six final series races before the double point medal race on Saturday for the top ten boats.

Jo Aleh and Olivia (Polly) Powrie celebrated Jo’s 26th birthday today with an opening race win, and followed that up with a strong fourth. They are currently positioned in third overall, but there is only a five point difference from first to sixth, so this regatta is far from over.

Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders experienced a big jump up the leader board today as they were able to discard their black flag score (penalty for being over the start line too early) from the first race on day one. All their other results have been consistently inside the top seven, and they go into the final series ranked ninth overall.

Dan Slater currently sits 19th overall at the Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth, after sailing today in cold and stormy conditions brought him both his best and worst races of the regatta so far. In the opening race with winds up to 20kn he did well to finish 9th, however a 32nd place finish in the second race became his discard score.

Just four more series races remain at the Finn Gold Cup before the final medal race for competitors in the top ten overall. Lighter winds are forecast for tomorrow.

The Laser Radial World Championship started today in Boltenhagen, Germany, at the same venue which last week the NZL Sailing Team’s Andy Maloney left with a bronze medal. Sara Winther made a good clean start with second and 22nd place finishes in the first two races. Ten more races are left to be sailed at the Laser Radial World Championships.

2012 Champion of Champions

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:59:41 +1200

Royal Akarana Yacht Club hosted the 2012 edition of the Champion of Champions regatta over the 11, 12 and 13^th May in the Platu 25 keelboats.

Seven teams entered the 3 day regatta with 11 races started and finished across a variety of courses on Waitemata Harbour.

The Champion of Champions regatta has a long history at RAYC however hadn’t been raced for 20 years. Past winners include names like Chris Dickson, Rod Davis and Russell Coutts.

The 2012 title went to the Team Elliott 5.9 skippered by Cameron Horne with the crew Grant McKinnon, Andrew Clarke, Phil Quinn and Andy Robertson. They had a very successful regatta with six bullets, four seconds and a DNS in the final race of the regatta.

“We had a fantastic regatta and I’m pretty happy to be the revived Champion of Champions but definitely couldn’t have done it without my awesome crew,” said Horne.

“It’s so good to be back at RAYC racing and although the Platus are a bit of a handful, the challenge was great.

“Everything about this regatta really made it a brilliant event. The breakfasts and huge crew lunch packs as well as the dinners and entertainment. It was awesome to socialise with all the crews before and after racing.

“We really hope to be back next year representing the Elliott 5.9 class again!” continued Horne.

Hot on their tails finishing second was team Flying Fifteen skippered by the 1991 Champion of Champions Craig Coulam with the crew Cody Banks, Sally Garrett, Roger Hall and Chris Field.

Wrapping up the podium places with third was team Young 88 skippered by Samantha Osbourne with a crew of Ross Masters, Grant Turnbull, Phil Yuill and John Kensington.

The teams were engaged at RAYC for the duration of the event and were the best fed sailors in Auckland! The entry included breakfast, lunch packs and dinner for the three days with entertainment on Saturday night in the club house.

2012 Final Results
1^st           Team Elliott 5.9 (Cameron Horne)
2^nd          Team Flying Fifteen (Craig Coulam)
3^rd           Team Young 88 (Samantha Osbourne)
4^th           Team Laser (Mike Keeton)
5^th           Team Farr 727 (Nathan Bonney)
6^th           Team Finn (Karl Purdie)
7^th           Team Platu 25 (Tristan Campbell)

Champion of Champions Honour Board
1981       Doug Elder
1982       Chris Dickson
1983       Chris Dickson
1984       Tom Dodson
1985       Rick Dodson
1986       Russell Coutts
1987       Rod Davis
1988       Rex Watson
1989       Ray Shearer
1990       Ray Shearer
1991       Craig Coulam
1992       Kelvin Harrap
2012       Cameron Horne

Champion of Champions will be scheduled in 2013 with class associations invited to nominate their representing skipper and crew. More information will be made available at the end of the year.

The next events on the RAYC program is the Offshore Category 1 race Sail Noumea starting on the 2^nd June and then the autumn edition of Sail Akarana on the 16/17 June. For more information visit www.rayc.org.nz

Tactics

Mon, 14 May 2012 06:00:00 +1200

RYC asked Mike for a quick bio and he sent this:

I started boating with the family at a very young age but did not start racing until 1963. I have sailed on a lot of different boats, some of which are - P class, Cherokee, R class, OK, 470, FD, Laser, Javline, Etchills, Solings, various multi Hulls, Quarter tonner, Half tonners, One tonners, Admirals Cuppers, Local classes like Stuart 34, plus many more boats. I retired from sailing in 1990 (apart from racing Mistral Windsurfers winning Masters titles a few times) and came back sailing as a Masters Laser Sailor in 2002, winning various titles ranging from club champs to open North Harbour & North island, Auckland and national masters titles, Australian Masters title & World Master title in March this year.

Prior to retiring in 1990, I had done a lot of ocean miles including two round the world races (as Watch Skipper and Tactician), plus things like the Fastnet & Sydney Hobart and many races in the Pacific.

I have also delivered yachts round the pacific, atlantic & Med as well as coached people both locally and internationally.

I worked out many years back that by 1985 I had done 100,000 ocean miles and spent more days in my life on boats than on shore.

I trust this is enough information.

Mike Keeton

Surprisingly he didn't mention getting beaten in the 1972 Cherokee Nationals by a certain Crew Ogre (before I became a dedicated cruiser).

Silver again for Burling and Tuke

Sun, 13 May 2012 07:36:43 +1200

From YNZ:

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, NZ's London 2012 bound 49er Sailors, have achieved a second consecutive silver medal at the 49er World Championships.

Left: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke wore the symbolic blue racing bib during the final series as they remained in second on the final three days of racing. photo by Nikola Šiško

Overnight in Zadar, Croatia, two final series races were sailed and then the double point medal race for the top ten competitors in the gold fleet. Nathan Outteridge and Ian Jensen of Australia won this event for the fourth time.

“We started today with nine points to catch up on them, but we tried a few things in the first race that didn’t quite work out”, said Peter after racing.

“We lost a couple more points so they had a big enough lead so we couldn’t get to him.” Peter continued. “For the rest of the day we just had to focus on holding the French back to secure the silver.”

The 19 years old kiwi duo Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski also had a fantastic result, not only making it into the medal race for the first time at a 49er World Championships, but also taking the race victory in this higher intensity double point race.

Marcus and Josh finished 6th overall, after obviously putting in heaps of training between this regatta and the 2011 World Championships where they came 32nd.

“It was a blinder for them” Peter said, “and great practice for us”.

As like most of the regatta, the final day was sailed in relatively light winds with an average of a 7-9 knot sea breeze.

Peter (21 years old) and Blair (22 years old) now come home for a short rest before the ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta Skandia Sail for Gold at the Olympic Venue (4-9 June) and then it’s all focus on the games themselves which starts for them on 30 July.

London 2012 will be Peter Burling’s second trip to the Olympic Games, as he went in 2008 at the age of 17 with Carl Evans in the men’s 470 and finished 11th. Last time, Peter was New Zealand’s youngest Olympic sailor ever, and he is again this year the youngest on the team.

The Olympic class 470 World Championships and Finn Gold Cup start tonight (NZT) with the 470’s in Spain and the Finns at Falmouth from the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club. The Laser Radial World Championships start on May 15th.

May 13th Final standings
49er World Championships
2nd - Peter Burling and Blair Tuke
6th - Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski

The RS:X World Championships were sailed in March, and JP Tobin came away with a Bronze medal, setting the bar high for the team to follow. Andy Maloney grabbed up a bronze medal at the Laser World Championships which finished on May 10th.

Daily updates for all events including results will be posted via the NZL Sailing Team’s Facebook Page and Twitter accounts. Further press releases will be issued from Yachting New Zealand.

- ENDS-

World Championship Schedule

2012 49er World Championships
Venue: Zadar, Croatia
Racing Starts: May 7th
Final Races: May 12th
Representing New Zealand: Peter Burling/Blair Tuke, Marcus Hansen/Josh Porebski
Regatta Website: www.49erworlds.org

2012 Finn World Championships
Venue: Falmouth, England
Racing Starts: May 13th
Final Races: May 18th
Representing New Zealand: Dan Slater, Matt Coutts, Rob Coutts
Regatta Website: www.falmouthfinnfestival.com

2012 470 World Championships
Venue: Barcelona, Spain
Racing Starts: May 13th
Final Races: May 19th
Representing New Zealand: Jo Aleh/ Olivia (Polly) Powrie, Paul Snow Hansen/Jason Saunders
Regatta Website: http://worlds.470.org

2012 Radial World Championships
Venue: Boltenhagen, Germany
Racing Starts: May 15th
Final Races: May 20th
Representing New Zealand: Sara Winther
Regatta Website: www.laserworldchampionship.com/

Star result qualifies NZ's Olympic eligibility

Sat, 12 May 2012 16:17:37 +1200

From YNZ:

As a result of their seventh place finish at the Star World Championships overnight, Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner have qualified New Zealand's tenth and last Olympic yachting spot for the London 2012 Olympics.

Left: NZL’s Star fared well in a regatta that brought predominantly light wind. Photo by PierrickContin.fr/Coych.

Although with the final race they dropped one place down the leader board, a seventh place overall finish in this experienced fleet is no small feat for this relatively new Kiwi pairing. First and second overall at these 2012 World Championships went to 2008 Olympic Gold and Silver medallists, the well known Brazillian Robert Scheidt and British Iain Percy.

Essentially, their collection of one of the final four Olympic qualification spots in the Star class has made them eligible for nomination and selection for London 2012.

The NZL Sailing Team had another strong day at the 49er World Championships in Zadar, Croatia; Peter and Blair remain in second overall and have slightly closed the gap on reigning World Champions and regatta leader Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen.

Peter and Blair finished silver at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship and they are aiming to podium again this year. They go into the final day of racing just 9 points behind the lead boat and with a 21 point buffer on the third placed French boat.

Also doing very well at the 49er worlds is Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski, Peter and Blair’s training partners. They are currently in 10th place overall and closer to the boats in front than behind. Tomorrow at the 49er World Championship there may be two more final series races before the double point medal race for the top ten teams only.

New Zealand is now one of the small handful of nations that is qualified in all ten Olympic yachting disciplines, and athlete selection announcements have already been made in seven. Just 75 days remain until the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

May 12th Final Standings
Star World Championships
7th - Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner

May 12th Current Standings
49er World Championships
2nd - Peter Burling and Blair Tuke
10th - Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski

Most other remaining Olympic representatives will be starting their World Championship run later in the week, with the Finns starting at Falmouth and 470’s in Barcelona on Sunday overnight (NZT) and the Laser Radial last to start on Tuesday overnight.

The RS:X World Championships were sailed in March, and JP Tobin came away with a Bronze medal, setting the bar high for the team to follow. Andy Maloney grabbed up a bronze medal at the Laser World Championships which finished on May 10th.

Daily updates for all events including results will be posted via the NZL Sailing Team’s Facebook Page and Twitter accounts. Further press releases will be issued from Yachting New Zealand.

Andy Maloney takes Bronze at Laser World Championships

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:54:35 +1200

From YNZ;

The NZL Sailing Team produced results to remember overnight, lead by Andy Maloney’s bronze medal finish at the 2012 Laser World Championships in Germany.

Star sailors Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner won their race and secured the country’s qualification spot for the Olympic Games, and the 49er men climbed up the leader board to second overall.

Left: Andy Maloney excelled in all wind ranges at the 2012 Laser World Championships. Photo by Johannes Berg

This podium finish is a personal best for Andy, and comes just two weeks after a silver medalling performance at the ISAF World Cup regatta Semaine Olympique Francaise, and five months after his previous personal best of a 13th place at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.

Sam Meech, who like Andy Maloney is just 21 years old, finished well in 17th and this is his best result so far at the Open World Championships. Sam won the 2011 Laser Junior Worlds and is certainly one to watch in the future.

Andrew Murdoch, New Zealand’s Olympic representative in the Laser class, also finished on a high note by winning the last race. He finished the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships with a bronze medal and this 2012 edition in 25th but continues to prove that he has what it takes to stay at the front of the fleet.

Australia’s Tom Slingsby won this World Championship regatta for the fifth time.

May 11th Final Results
Laser World Championahips
3rd - Andy Maloney
17th - Sam Meech
25th - Andrew Murdoch
86th - Thomas Saunders
101st - Michael Cate

Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner also won their race today, and with this they have locked in the country’s qualification in this class at the 2012 Olympic Games. Just one race remains tomorrow at the 2012 Star World Championships in Hyeres, France, and Hamish and Jim will go into it sixth overall, but just five points off the podium.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke had another strong day at the 49er World Championships in Hyeres, they have progressed up the leader board to now sit second overall behind reigning World Champions Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen. Peter and Blair finished silver at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship and are aiming to podium again this year.

Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski, Peter and Blair’s training partners who are both just 19 years, old are also in fine form, currently 12th. One more full day of racing continues tomorrow before the medal race on Saturday night (NZT).

May 11th Current Standings
Star World Championships
6th - Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner

49er World Championships
2nd - Peter Burling and Blair Tuke
12th - Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski

Most other remaining Olympic representatives will be starting their World Championship run later in the week, with the Finns starting at Falmouth and 470’s in Barcelona on May 13th, and the Laser Radial last to start on May 15th.

The RS:X World Championships were sailed in March, and JP Tobin came away with a Bronze medal, setting the bar high for the team to follow.

Daily updates for all events including results will be posted via the NZL Sailing Team’s Facebook Page and Twitter accounts. Further press releases will be issued from Yachting New Zealand.

Here's Des

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:32:50 +1200

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Phil Robertson

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:31:17 +1200

From the America's Cup blog:

'Newbies' get their feet wet in Venice

Posted on 09 May 2012

Four crews sailed off Venice today as the teams ramp up their preparations ahead of racing next week. Both Luna Rossa crews - Piranha and Swordfish - were on the water as they get ready for just their second AC World Series event.

Also sailing off Lido Island this afternoon was Energy Team and China Team. While neither are new, both teams have different skippers from Naples. Energy Team will be led by the grizzled Loïck Peyron, who returns to the crew after missing the San Diego and Naples regattas.

And China Team will have New Zealander Phil Robertson as skipper. At 25, he is the youngest in the fleet.

Robertson, for one, was keen to get time on the water today.

"We did a bit of sailing with Energy Team, some starts and some racing," he said. "We learned a lot today and we were really able to focus on our boat handling."

Boat handling is always an issue for the less experienced teams. The short, narrow race courses at the AC World Series are challenging for the best crews and the AC45 catamarans become a handful as soon as the wind strength increases.

But lighter breezes are forecast for Venice, which should help a crew like China Team.

"The boat handling isn't as massive an issue in lighter conditions, so that probably makes it a little bit better for us," Robertson confirmed. "As soon as the wind gets above 10 knots, it's all on."

But his training partner today, Loïck Peyron, isn't too worried for the young Kiwi.

"The learning curve should be quick for them, they're young, they're very good, they'll learn fast," he said.

And for Robertson, that is what these training sessions are all about - there's always more to learn with time limited before racing starts.

"The teams here are very professional and we're a very young team, so trying to get up to their level is a huge step," he said. "Every day we're focusing on taking the small steps we need to get there and hopefully by the start of the event we'll be ready to perform."

Kiteboards and YNZ

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:53:47 +1200

Maloney shines at World Championships

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:22:52 +1200

The NZL Sailing Team are in Europe with three world championship regattas underway, and three more about to begin. The Laser World Championships in Germany, where five New Zealanders are competing, and the Star World Championships in France have just two days of racing left each.

21 year old Laser sailor Andy Maloney is showing his best in the highly competitive mens single handed lightweight Olympic class, currently ranked 5th in the fleet of 168 boats. Sam Meech and Andrew Murdoch sit 22nd and 31st respectively, and up to four more races may be sailed.

Also doing well is the NZ Star team of Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner who have completed four races in Hyeres, France. Although an 18th place finish overnight slid them down from 7th to 9th overall, points are close and after one more race the worst score of each sailor will be discarded, and this will somewhat mix up the standings.

The Star World Championships will see a rest day tomorrow and then two more race days to finish off the regatta. Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner will be putting in their best effort to earn one of the final four Olympic qualification berths for New Zealand to be given the opportunity to select a team for the Olympic Games.

Both teams of New Zealanders at the 49er World Championships are inside the top 20 after the first two days of sailing. Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, NZ’s Olympic representatives in this class and silver medallists from the 2011 49er World Championships, are currently 13th place and only seven points adrift of the podium. Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski are also doing well, in 18th after the first six races sailed.

May 9th current standings
Laser Worlds - Gold Fleet
5th - Andy Maloney
22nd - Sam Meech
31st - Andrew Murdoch

Laser Worlds- Silver Fleet
30th - Thomas Saunders
36th - Michael Cate

Star Worlds
9th - Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner

49er Worlds
13th - Peter Burling and Blair Tuke
18th - Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski

Most other remaining Olympic representatives will be starting their World Championship run later in the week, with the Finns starting at Falmouth and 470’s in Barcelona on May 13th, and the Laser Radial last to start on May 15th.

The RS:X World Championships were sailed in March, and JP Tobin came away with a Bronze medal, setting the bar high for the team to follow.

Daily updates for all events including results will be posted via the NZL Sailing Team’s Facebook Page and Twitter accounts. Further press releases will be issued from Yachting New Zealand.

Kiteboarding to Replace Windsurfing at the Olympics

Sun, 06 May 2012 07:19:54 +1200

This just in:

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has confirmed the final event and equipment selections for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The ISAF Council voted that Kiteboarding will replace windsurfing for the men's and women's board events and confirmed the equipment that will be used for the Women's Skiff and Mixed Multihull Events.

Read the full story Here

This must have an impact on NA considering out history in the windsurfers?

Big Red's Homecoming

Sat, 05 May 2012 17:33:53 +1200

thanks to Smithy for the photo

More Here.

Cruising Nuie

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:21:25 +1200

Our prime poster on the forums is Knot Me and he has just hit 10,000 posts. And it was good enough to repeat here:

Never thought of that before?? Maybe you should. It's only 300nm East of Tonga and 335nm South of Apia or 3.5 hours on a A320 from Auckland.

Niue is now becoming quite a destination for many yachts heading down our way. Last year was a quiet one for visitors and only 280 stopped for a peak into a very different pacific island than most others. This year they will have the ARC rally stopping by and another I've forgotten the name of, that's on top of the others. No rallies stopped by last year so you can see this season will be a busier one.

I've spent a lot of time in most pacific nations from the big fellas with lots of stuff, like Fiji, to the small rarely heard of ones that have bugger all like Kiribati (pronounced Kir-a-bass) but never really though much about Niue. So I had a view of Niue in my head as I hopped on the plane of it being small, white sandy beaches with 6.3 Palm trees, minimal supplies and a population of 17. Well a few hours later it didn't take long to realise I my thoughts were well wrong.

Some musings and possibly interesting info should you ever head that way, and I'd suggest you bare it a thought, I do think you'd be pleasantly surprised.

- Niue isn't a low long white sand palm lined beach atoll, it's a Rock, hence the 'Niue Rock of the Pacific' tagline, which is quite appropriate. Actually it is a coral atoll just that many million years ago was pushed upwards a lot and pushed up again a wee whiles back so it does appear to be a rock, just one made out of very old coral. Niue is 70mts odd high at the top and not that much lower elsewhere. There is a place they call a hill but Auckland has judder bars knot much lower. We aren't talking Sir Ed skills needed here by any stretch. Getting access to the sea is easy, there are 'sea tracks' as they call them, for both feet only and some are car capable as well, everywhere and they are usually well sign posted.

D1 in one of those 'pools'. It was a rough day so 20mts odd behind D1 the Pacific Ocean was trying to bash it's way thru the reef hence the pool was unusually cloudy.

Note to JH: If that photo is found on your bedroom ceiling please note I do have a Firearms licence but only has a have a few guns, all of which operate damn well even the one with a long range site more than capable of seeing detail on a 3.7, I14 or whatever a few hundy meters of a Whangaparoa beach. I'm sure you catch my drift

- Water. It's got lots of nice tasting zero treatment needed water. By lots I mean it's been estimated around 3 gazzillion lts (that number is a guess to cover memory failure but it is a bloody BIG number) of the stuff in a big lens under the Island. The rain filters down thru the old coral and just sits there. Water is piped (underground) all over the island and there are taps all over the show so you just rock up to one grab what you want and drink away. There is zero need to treat or boil it and it tastes damn good. So if plodding around no need to carry a huge pile of liquids as good water is usually close at hand most of the time. Take a drink bottle if wondering around, it is hot, at times bloody hot.

- Fuel, yeap has that as well. Not cheap as you'd expect as it's all shipped in but generally they have good stocks. Delivery to the boat is via a mini tanker trailer. The cost was approx 50c a lt more then NZ. I'm not to sure if yacht get it Niue GST equivalent free but a guess would have me saying yes, they do seem to be good at duty free. They did have a couple of large tanks down by the wharf but the big blow in 2004 (??) built the sea up so far it blew them clean off their bases and in doing so splilt 20,000 odd lts into the water. There is zero sign of that spill now but the rooted tanks are still there So now all the fuel arrives in container tanks.

- Anchoring. I wouldn't as after diving around there the other week if anchoring was the norm I'd be opening a branch in seconds and be a millionaire in a month. The coral will just eat anchors I'd expect. Also it gets very deep very fast. 200mts off the shore it can be 100's of mts deep.

- Moorings. The Niue Yacht Club, 'The Biggest Little Yacht Club In The World', in conjunction with Tourism Niue have a pile of moorings they place out for the season. These are available for the cruisers at $15 a day. They are good ones and built to ensure the yachts get a soft ride and the environment doesn't suffer. The shallowest has 16mts of water under it and is approx 50mts off dry land. For 3 odd months of the season it is possible to sit on your moored boat and watch baby whales playing underneath you, the water is so clear. The season runs from about now, April thru to around Sept/October each year. Outside that the winds tend to swing to make that side of the Island a tad open so they don't see many boat based visitors.

- Harbour. Nope it ain't got one. There is a wharf in Alofi, the Captial I suppose you would say, which you can get boats onto and your dingy would be put on when you went ashore. There is a derrick on the wharf to lift heavier dingys/boats in and out with. They will happily assist you if required. It has an electric winch and can lift 18t. As Niue is a rock it doesn't have an outer reef like many other pacific islands. Well it sort of does but it's only 10 to approx 100mts off the dry stuff. From that outer bit it's pretty flat to the dry stuff, certainly no good for parking a boat as you can walk from the dry stuff to the outer edge in many places without getting your pants wet. But watch for the odd big hole, some are large and deep from years of wave action. In many of these 'pools' you can happily snorkel and see a huge amounts of fish and assorted sealife. A lot, most, of these pools are also safe for the kids to snorkel around in.

In this pic you are looking at Alofi and the Wharf. In the water foreground you can just see a couple of the mooring buoys, that yacht is parked on one. On land just right of centre is the Shopping Mall, Island style of course. Only just out of view to the right is the Supermarket. The building on the cliff top is Parliament House. The flash building behind the wharf and a couple of trees is a Church, they have a lot of them. The blue things behind the wharf are containers. That wharf is the only one of any size so all freight goes on and off the Island by that.

A closer shot of the wharf which shows just how clear the water is as just off the edge of the coral in the bottom is 12-15mts deep. That is why the NYC tags this rather funny line to the bottom of many of it's photos 'NOTE – Not wise to use depth sounder to find your proximity to land'. As funny as that maybe it's deadly serious as it goes from heaps to feck all in very very few meters in some places, mind you the water is like glass so you'd see the nasty approaching.. or you bloody should.

Halfway between the wharf and Parliament House is the Niue Island Yacht Club. As you can see your Crew.Org representative has visited and discussed at length with Commodore Keith closer sailing relations, good and bad beers and the joys of assorted things Island.

- Food. Yeap plenty, quite a good range of all sorts is available at the 'supermarket' 100mts from the wharf or some of the smaller shops. The cost isn't that different than at the top end of average you'd see in NZ. But be aware the fresh stuff can cost a bit more as most is flown in. If you'd like to eat out ashore you'll find a range of good tidy handy places to do so. A good sized feed for 4 with a couple of drinks would set you back around $60-75. As the scribe found out, getting a starter and a main is a big call, they don't do micro Ponsonby Cafe sized feeds and we did see a few struggling just to jam a main alone in. Locally grown food is pretty much only Taro, Coconuts, Pawpaw and at times tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers and things like that. The local dishes are good, some are rather different but all are damn tasty. You have to try Niuean Lasagna. Layers of taro and pawpaw covered in coconut milk and then slow cooked for a while. Damn yummy but watch out, it'll go straight to your thighs. All the food is safe as you'd expect in NZ and the over all quality is high. Don't expect Gordon Ramsey la-de-da Gastowhatever food but do expect a good tasty Cafe type style. A basic fish and chips with salad is common, fresh and damn good. You can even get a damn good steak, again not at the smaller end. There is even an Indian place there with a Mango Chicken rated very highly by 2 food highly fussy critics going by the names of D1 and D2.

Don't go looking for New World signs, you'll go hungry.

- Getting around is easy peasy. The main centre and where the shops are, Alofi, is no more then 300mts from where you would land in your dingy and you can see a lot of the shops (of roofs of) from your moored boat. So walking isn't a issue at all. If you'd like to go further afield Alofi Rentals is 400mts from the wharf. It has a range of wagons, all safe ones, from light trucks, mini vans, 250cc motorbikes and scooters. having a Warrant of Fitness on all wagons is compulsory but if it can be steered, has some brakes and at least one working headlight you'll get one. Mufflers are very optional, as I'm sure you'll hear at some stage. If you want to venture further afeid, and you will, you'll probably want some form of transport as Niue isn't a small rock. The main road West to East across the island is 15km long and that's the skinny part of the island. A circumnavigation of the whole Island is close as 70km by road. The roads are generally pretty good and mostly sealed with stone chip but using crushed coral so they are white. The white is way cool but if it rains it's damn hard to see the puddles, watch for that. getting around on a push bike wouldn't be hard. Alofi rentals does actually have 1 or more battery assisted bikes. We were given this rocking Whanau mover and while it looks tame you'd be surprised at it's off road performance. Shite I hope Len doesn't see that 3 Hundy for a week and 1 hundy to gas it up when handing it back. If you go for a wagon schmooze one with good Air-con. You don't know it yet but you do want that.

- The people. Usual Pacific people so friendly, happy and very keen to help should you need any advise, guidance or just a chat. Not tall people and many of the young fellas are build like the All Black scrum so if you get invited to have a game of rugby I'd pick Wing or something in the back-row and be prepared to fun fast. I think you'd be very brave to be a forward. Be prepared for most to say Hello or give you a wave as you walk past them. They are good people and not scary, even the affectionately named, by D2, 'Hermy', the interesting old gent who stands in the middle of the road feeding chickens all day.

- Language. Niuean is heard everywhere obviously but everyone also speaks english as well as you or I, sometimes probably better. They swap seamlessly between the 2, sometimes even mid sentence if they are asking a Niuean mate a question in response to something you asked them. Language isn't a issue at all.

- Crime. Yeah right, none bar the very odd thing amongst themselves and even that is rare. Generally the most heinous thing is one being caught without wearing a helmet on a motorbike, which is compulsory and enforced, about the only thing vehicle related that is by the looks. They do have a prison. I saw a sign on the fence around the Airport stating climbing over was an offence punishable by a $2000 fine or 2 months in the prison. Without a shadow of a doubt I'd take the prison option.

A funny thing happened while I was there, well sort of funny to me. In one of the villages there was a issue over something small (to us but appears knot to them) and a guy shot another one. Only winged him and wasn't that serious a wound. The Police arrived and sorted it. I asked 'So they are now locked up?'. Nope only one was in the clink and the other was told to stay at home and be a good boy. I asked why do that? It seems the officials were concerned that if they put them both in the clink at the same time they would just start at it again so decided to keep them apart. They were going to aulternate the guys in prison. One week in prison and a week at home while the other dude spent a week in there. When I was leaving they were still trying to decide what to do about that as it seemed a bit messy. The consensus was they might have to go and buy some locks for the prison doors. No kidding, they can't lock people in the prison so they say 'stay there and don't go home'. They stay and do their time. While there they grow their own food in a garden out the back.

The local Cop shop. Here you can get one of the best looking Drivers Licences in the world. Show them your NZ one and 25 notes later bingo, you're all good to go. Note that the Cop Shop does close for lunch and those wagons probably wouldn't get a NZ WOF but what the hell they work so who really cares as it's all just part of the joys of going 'Island'.

- Customs as in cultural things to beware of. The usual found in the Pacific nations. They are heavily religious and have a huge range of churches which have a service at 10am and 4pm every Sunday. Many go to both. Working on Sunday, by anyone even visitors, isn't really a good thing to do. Also Sunday is a good day NOT to be wondering around in a bikini, best to cover those thighs, excessive cleavage (crap, that's the 2nd time today I've said cover thighs and cleavage. I think I need to seek medical help as I usually encourage quite the opposite.... unless they are named D1 and D2 of course in which case less sure the f*ck is more) and keep your shirt on. If you are at one of the many swimming spots, which are generally pout of view of the everyday goings on, it's OK to peel some gear off and go splash. On Niue like many nations, everything is owned by someone, even that coconut lying on the side of the road. So it's best to ask given the chance, even though I get the impression the answer would never be No and the 1 item you wanted will turn into many more handed to you. Otherwise the usual common sense should be observed and all will be fine.

OH f*ck!!! I pushed the wrong button so go away and come back later.

So now I've lost the plot where too? OK I'll go all ramble on your arses, knot that shite like that ever happens does it

As I went there purely for work (he says leaving a papertrail for the IRD ) I'll gift you a photo of a legend in action Island style. The Island style comes in when you consider it took 7 days to do 4 hours work. I went up to tweak the moorings. Me at full pace, hell I even got a sweat up but that was sorted with lots of Stieny Pure. I even had the team uniform on. It's all about the air flow baby, blokes need it too

Sadly I even had to go check to see things were OK with some others. 35mts deep and it was 27 degrees. Work can be such a bitch sometimes. If you look in the background you can see why anchoring would be tricky and be easy to lose gear.

For those a bit technical minded or observant, you'll notice the moorings don't have bottom chains like we do here. They are basically rope from the block to the surface. This is due to Niue being smart enough to know their environment is pristine and they want it to stay that way. So no chain to beat up the coral and we placed sub-surface floats (the smaller yellow ones in the photo above) about 7mts deep to hold the rope up away from the coral and add some drag into the systems to smooth the boats ride.

While on being Niue be smart. In amongst that mooring field in 2 months time (kick off early August) you can find Whales playing. Humpbacks generally complete with kiddies. This is becoming a major draw card for visitors as they swim literally 50mts from dry land so they are easy to watch and swim out too. So Nuie in their smartness made all the side of the Island a Marine Reserve to protect the Whales and their environment. That is a very good idea and is generating a nice tourist dollar at the same time.

A note of caution here. If you Scuba dive don't do it around Humpback whales. Humpbacks can sort of communicate by blowing bubbles. This bubble blowing generally means one of 2 things. One being 'Hello Darling, aren't you a cutie. Watch out I'm about to chuck a fin over and ride you like Smithy trying to hang onto his Ross 40 in 60kts of wind'. Or the other reason could be 'Oui you wank, I was going to get my fin over her so you've pissed me off and I'm gonna go ya'. So if you happen to be a 100kg diver blowing bubbles and a 36,000kg Humpback sees you doing that the chance it'll end well for you aren't at all good even if the Whale isn't pissed off and gonna apply 'The Bash'. Mind you I doubt your prostrate will ever be an issue after that if the whale is only horny.

Some of the cools signs and site we spotted.

Have to love this one from a northern village outside their local hall.

Even Niue women do it. Yes item 5 ladies

No stupid names that mean nothing used up there. Knot hard to guess what happens here and who the boss is.

Some of the local fishing fleet. That's about all they have bar a few small tinnies. Makes one wonder how many millseconds it would take for YNZ to go into a total meltdown if you said I'm off for a 100 miler in my Niue boat Check out some of the detailing on these things.

The Niuean builders are probably some people the next Volvo race teams should hire. These canoes can go open ocean and get home again without humongous computer power, a ton of carbon fibre and trucking across a continent

The whole Island is like Swiss cheese so you find these tucked away in the strangest of places.

Well, now I fecked this all up well and truly and have just worked out how smartarse in Wellington gets photos into threads my head hurts a lot. So I'll leave it there for now and return to it tomorrow. Yes there is more including me being a dick, Yes usual as it sounds it can happen, some cool scenery and even some pretty sh*t for the ladies

Here's Des

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:23:47 +1200

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Okahu Bay/ The Landing

Thu, 03 May 2012 17:03:34 +1200

A wander around a yard is always fun. Today one of our regular contributors decided it was more fun than going back to work after lunch and sent me these. If anyone has more story to add I 'd love to hear from you.

First up we have the Cav 36 Hot Canary looking resplendant in a new paint job. If memory serves she was for sale a while back looking very tired and sad. I'd love to hear the story.

Next he saw a tricycle he couldn't identify - anybody?

And last but not least Triple 8 in for some panel work , looks like they bumped into something harder than water?

72 Hours to Save the Oceans

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:10:40 +1200

Go here and sign the petition

http://www.avaaz.org/en/72_hours_to_save_our_oceans/?vl