Wakatere 2010-2011 season prizegiving
The prize giving was well attended by sailors and sailing families on Friday night despite another blast of wind and rain from the north east. Proceedings got underway while everyone tucked into their choice of food-to-go, and first up was a special presentation to Don Brooke for his judging services to yachting. CEO of Yachting New Zealand, David Abercrombie, was invited as a special guest to make the presentation. Retiring treasurer, Jennifer McIndoe, was also acknowledged for her help at the club over the last few years.
The 'premier' prizes presented were as follows:
- Waterwise Cup for Junior Sportsmanship - Sam Barnett
- Hughes Trophy for Most Guns in Seasons points - Tim Adair
- Top Junior Female Cup - Ellie Copeland
- Wakatere Paddle for Top Female sailor- Kate Ellingham
- Hayman Rosebowl for Most Helpful Senior Member - Morag Fryer
- Maybee Cup for most Meritorious Junior - Markus Somerville
- Yachtsman of the Year for Most Meritorious Skipper - Paul Snow-Hansen
- WBC Commodore trophy for Outstanding Achievement - Wakatere club volunteers for the 2011 Optimist Nationals
For a full list of Class, Club and special Club regattas awards, CLICK HERE
Club members travelling to compete at international regattas were given a gift from the club to help them on their way. It was wonderful to see the number of young sailors who have been selected to represent New Zealand at the ISAF Youth World Championship in Croatia this July: Ellie Copeland in the multi-hull (with Tomer Simhony of MBSC); Logan Dunning-Beck with Jack Simpson in the 29er; Alex Munro in the 420 (with Brad Moss of MBSC). Also travelling overseas to compete in the Laser Radial Youth Champs in France are James Roberts and Mathew Kempkers; Hamish Dunning-Beck travels to the USA to compete on the techno in windy San Francisco; and Alistair Deaves is competing in the OK World Champs.
Finally, the club made a presentation to Dean and Cathy Coleman to thank them for the hugely appreciated effort they have both put into the club over the last two years while Dean served his term as Commodore. During this time we have seen major alterations made to improve club facilities as well as a major National Championship very successfully put together for the Optimist class, with Dean at the helm.
Club members were urged to attend the AGM which takes place at the Club on Tuesday 28 June.
Wakatere Techno Sailor wins inaugural Kendall Cup
The Kendall Cup is a new regatta series designed to promote the youth windsurfing class (Techno293) in New Zealand. The 2010-2011 season series was held over seven regattas in Auckland and Tauranga from the Winter Champs in October to the Super City Regatta in April this year. A small but committed fleet ofsix to eight young windsurfers competed in each regatta with one regatta discard allowed for the final points tally.
Hamish Dunning Beck, (Wakatere) won the Under 17 Boys division, Stephanie Corkery (Murrays Bay) U 17 girls and Finn Croft (Manly) U 15 boys. The winners were well rewarded with prizes generously donated by Watersports South Pacific and trophies donated by Barbara Kendall. Unfortunately Barbara was overseas for the prize giving but her father Tony presented the trophies to the sailors. The format will be similar for next season but reduced to six regattas in the series, with one discard for results.
With five new Techno sailors now at Wakatere and a further six learners beginning to windsurf we hope to see a fleet of 12 to 15 technos sailing regularly next season at regattas.
Wakatere boys off to the Laser Radial Youth Champs in France
James Roberts and Mathew Kempkers will be representing New Zealand and Wakatere Boating Club at the Laser Radial Youth Championship 2011, in La Rochelle, France from July 24th - 31st. They are part of a five member New Zealand team, competing against 184 entrants, from 34 countries. Having sailed the laser only since Dec 2010, success has come quickly in their new class and from a very competitive fleet.
Brad Douglas wins OK Dinghy Interdominions, Melbourne
Six Wakatere sailors have recently taken part in the New Zealand/Australia OK Interdominions sailed out of Black Rock Club in Melbourne, Australia. Brad Douglas won the event, the first time in over 20 years that the winner hasn't been from the host country,World Champion Karl Purdie of Wellington placed second and Roger Blasse of Australia was third.
Wakatere club members Ben Morrison placed 6th, Alistair Deaves placed 8th, Mark Perrow placed 9th, andrew Pardington 12th and John Douglas was 23rd in the 47 boat fleet - Wakatere was also the top performing New Zealand club - well done guys. For photos taken during the event click here. For full results go to the Results/NOR page.
Wakatere sailors do well at the Toyota Optimist Nationals
Congratulations Leonard Takahashi-Fry, MBSC, for winning the 2011 Toyota Optimist Nationals; Isaac McHardie of Tauranga/Hamilton for placing second and Markus Somerville of Wakatere for coming third. For full results go to the Results/NOR page.

Open fleet - 203 boats, 25 Wakatere sailors
Congratulations also to the Wakatere sailors for their great regatta performance, from making Worlds team selection through to achieving personal bests: Markus Somerville for his 3rd placing overall; Tim Adair for placing 7th and Sam Barnett 17th, both of whom have made selection to travel to an international event; Aidan Nicholas finishing with the top placing of those who sailed in the Open fleet at a Nationals for the first time; Jonathon Weston braving the Open fleet and placing first 11th year old; and Rory McCutcheon being awarded the Sportsmanship trophy by the judges.
Many of our Opti sailors achieved well beyond all expectations - those in the Open fleet who finished a race in the top ten were Markus Somerville, Tim Adair, Sam Barnett, Sam Wallis, Aidan Nicholas, Max Hayman, Jonathon Weston and Airi Kawana. Conditions were difficult at times, the wind kept changing in strength during races, the tide was ripping, it was wet and cold so well done to all sailors who took part.
Green fleet - 106 boats, 29 Wakatere sailors
Well done also to James Grover-Grey with a 3rd place in the Green fleet; first girl and 6th overall was Jessica Berry; Jonathan Nicholas, Joe Pearson, Chamonix Stuart, Nelson Greenwood, Jonathon Barnett, Sophie Andrews, William Clough and Ben Whittington finished a race in the top ten. "The thing that stood out the most for me was how comfortable all of our sailors were on the water, how they represented the club with pride, and how much some improved during the week (especially in the Green fleet)." - Terry Nicholas

We must thank all those who contributed their time and effort to make it such a success - those on the water, in the race office, in the cafe, on the help desk, running prize-givings, registration, logistics, hauling supporter's crafts in and out of the water each day, gathering sponsorship and prizes, providing live tv coverage, serving at the bar, erecting tents and anything else that was needed, holding the team together and communications leading up to the event, looking after our club sailors, tee shirts, signage - an awesome team effort. Secondly we would like to thank those who helped sponsor the event - we couldn't do it without your support.

Paul Snow-Hansen & Jason Saunders 2nd at the Spring Cup in France
The annual Internationale de Printemps des 470 regatta has just come to a close at the YC Sablettes in La Seyne-sur-Mer. The 72 competitors from 24 nations sailed as a mixed fleet, with a split into Gold and Silver fleets after the qualification series.
Paul and Jason finished second overall, 2 points behind the Japanese team of Harada/Yoshida, with Matsunaga/Inamura of Japan in third place. Conditions were generally light and shifty and as is always the case, the most consistent sailors came through. This is an encouraging result for the young crew in their bid to represent New Zealand at the 2012 Olympics in the men's double handed 470 class. Paul and Jason update their facebook page daily with comments and analysis of their racing during this European fleet racing series Paul/Jason 470 racing - For full results go to this link: http://www.ycsablettes.org/index.php/resultats-281.html
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Toyota Opti Nationals begin today!
After some fairly wicked southerlies in Auckland over the last few days, the opening day of the New Zealand Toyota Optimist Championship regatta has dawned bright, cold, clear and with very little breeze. Registration and Teams Racing are on the schedule for the first day . . . news about the event will be posted on the event website. The live feed for tweets will appear on this website, but is also accessible through the event website. The event also has a facebook page which will be updated several times a day throughout the regatta.
Club Champs
This Sunday April 3rd is the final race day for the Club Champs. With up to 6 races to count for points, several classes have yet to complete their series. See the website for results to date. http://www.wakatere.org.nz/seasons_points.html Races will be held for all classes with any clarification required given at time of briefing. 12.30pm briefing 1.30pm race start
* Note for Lasers We have had the first day of the Champs and this was a lovely summer day - unfortunately not much wind and only one race. Well done to Mike Keeton for taking that one out. The intention is to use the day 3 of Club Champs scheduled in the sailing programme to conclude the Laser points. Cheers, Pete Thomas.
Optimist Pre-Nationals Day 2
Well, it was one of those regattas. Almost too much 'weather' on the first day and pretty much no 'weather' on the second. After several days of the sort of north easterlies which the local wind surfers and kite surfers dream about - and big Opti sailors - Sunday dawned with next to no wind and stayed like that.
Racing was abandoned at 3 pm due to lack of wind - for more photos click here
Race management for the Green fleet found enough breeze to hold three races close in to shore, which gave them a result. Wakatere sailors Jonathon Barnett, James Grover-Grey and Joe Pearson finished first, second and third. For Results go to RESULTS/NOR - REGATTAS on the main menu.
Further offshore the Open fleet waited for the wind, but to no avail - other than one leg of a race which had to be abandoned as the wind died out - no races were completed. The fleet's regatta ended yesterday, three races short of a series.
The main purpose of this regatta was for the race committee and shore crew to test systems put in place for the Nationals, and as we experienced the extremes of conditions at Wakatere any problems will have been highlighted, so from that point of view the regatta will have been helpful. And hopefully the sailors have been able to take something away from the regatta as well... On behalf of the Wakatere Boating Club we thank all those involved in helping with the regatta, particularly those on the water, in the results office and helping boats ashore.
Optimist Pre-Nationals Day 1

Sailors were helped ashore by a hardy group of helpers - click here
You know what they say, "it's not normally like this..." so after months of perfect summer weather we timed the pre-nats to coincide with a continuing 20 knot, easing to 15 knot northeasterlie, which in Wakatere terms means rough choppy conditions, particularly when launching and returning to shore, for the sailors; poor visibility for the race committee; light rain and humidity for supporters on shore.
In the Open fleet the 110 sailors taking part have been split into two flights (groups), with each flight sailing three races. Olivia Mackay of Napier won all of her races today and leads the way by one point from Trent Rippey of Tauranga, who is two points ahead of Maraetai sailor George Gautrey. Top placed Wakatere sailor is Leonard Takahashi-Fry, followed by MBSC's Cameron Moss and Wakatere's Markus Somerville.
In the Green fleet, Joe Pearson and Jonathon Barnett of Wakatere are in first and second, with MBSC's Charlotte Cowie third.

Team-work at the end of the days racing click here for more
From shore a big 'thank you' to the group of supporters who spent most of their day up to their necks in water assisting sailors as they came to shore; and to those running the show out on the water - very poor visibility will also have created challenging conditions as they carry out this trial run for the Nationals which begin on the 19th of April, Easter time.
For full results in both groups go to RESULTS/NOR - REGATTAS on the menu to your left.
Outlook for Sunday: Northwest 15 knots turning westerly 20 knots at night. Slight sea becoming moderate at night. Poor visibility in occasional rain, clearing evening.
Ellie Copeland +3 Wakatere sailors in line for the NZ Youth team
Ellie Copeland sailing with Tomer Simhony (MBSC) was 1st youth crew at last weekend’s Hobie Nationals sailed at Takapuna. They placed 6th overall in a fleet of 17 boats and have been selected to sail the multihiull class at the ISAF Youth Worlds in July in Croatia. That makes 4 Wakatere sailors in the Youth Team! Logan & Jack (29er), Alex (420) and Ellie (multi-hull). Below is the link to the results. http://www.takapunaboating.org.nz/index.php?id=20,408,0,0,1,0
Yachting NZ announce Pre-Olympic regatta sailors
Paul Snow-Hansen, who sails with Jason Saunders of TYPBC, have recently been included in the YNZ team to attend the Pre-Olympic regatta held in Weymouth later this year. Paul and Jason will represent NZ in the double-handed International 470 dinghy. In the meantime, Paul and Jason have just headed off to Palma, Spain, to take part in the Princess Sofia regatta along with the rest of the NZL Sailing Team; following this they travel to France to take part in the Semaine Olympique Francais in Hyeres, and the International 470 Spring Cup in La Seyne-sur-Mer. Paul and Jason are campaigning to represent New Zealand at the 2012 Olympics which will be held in Weymouth, England.
Regatta results over the weekend -
420 Nationals, Evans Bay Wellington: Alex Munro and Brad Moss (Murrays Bay) are the 420 National champions after winning every race on the first day and gaining an unassailable lead. They sailed the rest of the regatta consistently to hold their position. This result will put Alex and Brad in line for selection in the Yachting New Zealand Youth Team for the double handed boys 420 crew, along with Verity Judge and Emma Jones (Murrays Bay) who were the top female crew and second overall. 24 boats were at the event, including resilient crews from earthquake ravaged Christchurch, Wellington, Napier and New Plymouth as well as Auckland. Chris Steele was also at the event competing with Amanda Norris of NPCL placing 11th overall. For full results click here. For great daily racing reports from the Munro/Moss combination, click here.
29er and 49er Nationals, Auckland Sailing Club: In the 29er Nationals held on the Waitemata Harbour, we had rookie skipper Jack Simpson with crew Logan Dunning-Beck competing for the National title and a position in the NZ Youth Sailing Team. Following the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan, saiing was cancelled on Saturday but five races were held on both Friday and Sunday. Going into the final day, Jack and Logan were neck and neck with Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech who got the drop on them in the last race and won the overall title by two points in the nine boat fleet.
Jack and Logan finished second overall, and first youths which puts them in a good position for selection in the 2011 Youth Team which is selected by Yachting New Zealand. Finn Drummond was also at the regatta, competing in the 49er with Marcus Hansen.
RSX and Techno North Islands, Tauranga Yacht Club: Hamish Dunning-Beck is the 2011 North Island Techno champ - the regatta came down to five races on Sunday, when the fleet of 12 had to pump their hearts out in continuing light winds and tidal conditions still experiencing the after affects of Japan's tsunami. Issie and Alice Hawkins were also at the event, competing in the mixed RSX fleet. Issie was 9th overall and second youth woman, while Alice was 11th overall. Full results and a full report for both fleets- click here
Sail-by record attempt at Wakatere
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Encouraged by the large number of opti sailors at the club we had a fun ‘sail by’ this Sunday for all levels of ability after Sunday Coaching. All optis assembled at 12.15 when Neil Wallis was on hand taking some great shots - click here or on one of the photos to go the Wakatere gallery for more.
Don't know if they broke any records but sailors came out in force on a beautiful sunny day. We'll have to wait for an update from those taking part.
OK Nationals held in Gisborne
Recently the OK Nationals were held in Gisborne, a first for several decades and part of a conscious effort to grow the class by being seen in different parts of the country. Seven Wakatere sailors took part and, looking at the results, a few more changed their minds about attending. The event was won fairly and squarely by Wellington's Worser Bay respresentatives - Karl Purdie 1st, Matt Steven 2nd and Luke O'Connell 3rd. Wakatere's Ben Morrison, Russell Pagewood and Andrew Pardington took out 5th, 6th and 7th,; Alistair Deaves 11th and Brad Douglas 13th. For an entertaining report by handy sailor Steve McDowell (4th), including full results, click here
Markus Somerville wins Optimist Challenge in Picton
Queen Charlotte Yacht Club were the hosts for the Interislander Optimist Challenge 2011 regatta. Challenge is an appropriate word to include in the title as the Sounds have always been a difficult place to sail with the surrounding hills and valleys doing 'funky' things to the wind. As such, it was a relatively high scoring regatta, but Markus was by far the most consistent and was the clear winner by the end of the weekend. Wakatere won the club challenge for the event.
Abby Goodwin of Napier was placed second and Alastair Gifford of Queen Charlote YC was third overall in the Open fleet. Wakatere was well represented by an enthusiastic group of sailors, Tim Adair placed 8th, Sam Barnett placed 24th overall and Jonathon Weston was first 11 year old in 54th overall. Full results click here
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Click on a photo above to go to the Wakatere Picasa Gallery with more photos
Kate Ellingham wins Women's RSX Nationals
The RSX and Techno National Windsurfing Championship was held off Manly Beach in Whangaparaoa over the weekend. The RSX event had two good days of light air racing on Thursday and Friday afternoons, with the Technos joining them for their first races on Friday.
Unfortunately Saturday saw all the boards kept onshore with no races being run due to lack of wind. On Sunday both classes completed three races in 4- 5 knots of breeze, that is, pumping conditions.
There were three Wakatere sailors competing. Congratulations to Kate Ellingham who finished 1st overall in the Women’s RSX division, Izzy Hawkins was 2nd in the Youth Women’s RSX, and Hamish Dunning Beck 2nd in the Under 17 Techno division.
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Jon Paul Tobin took out the Men’s RSX division, with Tom Ashley finishing 3rd overall behind Dorian van Rijsselberge from the Netherlands. Full results click here
Markus Somerville wins Junior Sail AK Opti Open regatta
Kohimarama YC hosted the Junior Sail Auckland regatta over the weekend. In a fleet of 91 boats Markus Somerville had a clear win on 15 points including five first placings in the seven race regatta. Tauranga's Trent and Cole Rippey placed second and third. Tim Adair placed 5th and SamBarnett 18th - about 19 Wakatere sailors took part in this division of the regatta.
In the Green fleet Kohi's Sean Peterson came out well in front, with MBSC's Thomas Hyde second; Wakatere's Games Grover-Grey was third and Jonathan Nicholas fourth on equal points.
Click on the photo for more images taken at Junior Sail AK by Neil Wallis. For full results in all classes click here
Perfect weekend for the Opti and Starling Invitation regatta
What a perfect weekend we had for a return to sailing at Wakatere! On Saturday we had the Opti (and Starling) invitation regatta. 103 boats attended – 32 in Green fleet, 59 in Open fleet and 12 Starlings. Thanks to all the parent helpers, who made the day run like clockwork. We had 42 Opti’s sailing the regatta from Wakatere, so perhaps we might just get to 50 for the Nationals! ...for more click here for results, go to the RESULTS/NOR page For images click here
Wakatere Techno windsurfer coaching has begun
The first official Wakatere Techno (windsurfer) coaching group began on Sunday morning this week. Six keen young windsurfers have completed their initial windsurfing lessons on Lake Pupuke with Mad Loop Windsurfing and are now continuing at Wakatere, ably coached by Alice Hawkins, Isobel Hawkins and Hamish Dunning Beck. Hopefully we will see them beginning to race with the Green Fleet later in the season.
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Board sailor Kate Ellingham wins at Sail Auckland For all Sail Auckland results click here
Kate Ellingham was the clear winner of the women's RSX competition at the Sail Auckland which is an ISAF Grade 1 Olympic Classes Regatta. Kate won six out of the eight races including the medal race. Isobel Hawkins also competed in the youth division.
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Also in the Olympic Classes were Paul Snow-Hansen with Jason Saunders, Finn Drummond with Frankie Lardies, and Mike Snow-Hansen with Ben Hanns sailing the 470. Paul and Jason finished third overall/top youths, and Finn and Frankie 5th overall in a fleet of 13 boats.
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In the eight boat 420 fleet Alex Munro with Brad Moss were the top crew; while Logan Dunning Beck with rooky Jack Simpson took out the top 29er prize; Wakatere was well represented in the Laser Radial fleet - Sam Schofield made the medal race and finished 9th overall and fourth youth, with Mathew Kempers, Chris Steele, James Roberts, Mike Keeton, and Pete Thomas finishing in the top 20 of the 36 boat fleet. If you took part in Sail Auckland and would like to submit a more detailed report for your class, or have more photos, please contact the webmaster through our CONTACT US page.
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| Click here for more photos of Wakatere sailors at Sail Auckland | |
For all Sail Auckland results click here
Snow-Hansen and Saunders first NZ crew at the 470 Nationals
The 2011 470 Olympic classNationals were sailed off Takapuna Beach over three days. The first day was blown out, but the race committee managed to get nine races away over the next two days in strong and shifty conditions which took a bit of a toll on bodies and boats.
Open winner of the 15 boat fleet were visitors Nick Rogers and Chris Grube of Great Britain. Nick Rogers is the veterran of three Olympics, and the winner of two Olympic silver medals. In New Zealand to pick up a new boat from local boat builder Dave MacKay and do some summer training and racing, the newly paired British crew went from strength to strength as the regatta progressed. Also competing were three Australian crewsfrom Sydney who were taking part in their first international regatta.
Paul Snow-Hansen with Jason Saunders topped the New Zealand fleet and won two races, finished second overall and were the Junior Champions. Also competing from Wakatere were Finn Drummond with Frankie Lardies who placed 5th overall, and Mike Snow-Hansen with Ben Hanns. For full results click here
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| Clockwise from top: Open Champions Rogers/Grube, Snow-Hansen/Saunders, Drummond/Lardies, Snow-Hansen/Hanns | |
Mike and William Long win 2011 Sunburst Nationals
The Sunburst Nationals have just come to a close and Wakatere's Mike and William Long have taken out first placing(15 points) with a one point margin over Brett and Penny Linton, who came second on countback from Rob Bryant and Claire McKeeking - a very closely run thing between the top three boats!
The regatta was organised by the Pigeon Bay Boating Club in conjunction with the Canterbury Branch of the Sunburst Association. Eight races were sailed and a total of 37 boats took part, but we'll have to wait for the sailors to return to find out conditions... for full results click here
Grant Beck places second at the Zephyr Nationals
Grant was also in the South Island competing in the 2011 Zephyr Nationals sailed at Akaroa on Banks Peninsula. Grant fought a close battle with the eventual winner, Tim Sneddon, who finished one point ahead after 8 races in the 38 boat fleet. Other than the fact that it was very cold, we'll have to wait to hear the (no doubt very entertaining) stories from Grant about racing conditions.
For full results click here... including sailor's ages!
420 sailors Alex Munro and Brad Moss competing in Australia
Brad and Alex have been competing in Australia over the last few weeks, their overall placing in the the two regattas: Youth Champs 3rd Boys crew and 5th Overall; Open 420Nationals 8th overall and 1st on handicap.
The boys have been regularly sending in great reports. "Race 1: Really light, launched around 12.20ish, about 4-5kts coming down the harbour died away to nothing. Race committee in their wisdom moved the course inland, started the race 3-5kts. We were doing well, about 4th coming to top mark. Wind shifted 70 degrees..." to read more click here
Wakatere Junior regatta
A hot sunny day with a gusty breeze greeted 111 junior sailors on Saturday. In the Optimist Open fleet the regatta was won by Zac Merton of Tauranga, Tim Adair of Wakatere was second, and Nathaniel Deverell of the Bay of Islands third; in the Starlings Mahia Pepper of Murryas Bay was first, Matthew Kempkers of Wakatere second and Romano Chung of Murrays Bay third. Sailors also competed in Optimist and Starling green fleets, as well as small fleets of Sunburst, P Class, Laser Radials and a lone techno board - for full results go to the RESULTS/NOR - REGATTA page.
Good results from Wakatere sailors at the Sir Peter Blake Memorial regatta
The Sir Peter Blake Memorial Regatta is one of Aucklands major sailing events of the year. Torbay Sailing Club did an admiral job of co-ordinating such a large event. Conditions were light and variable over the two day regatta.
Wakatere board sailors and sailors enjoyed success in a number of events, notablyJack Simpson was 1st in the Starling Open, and James Roberts was 3rd in the fleet of 55; Markus Somerville placed 2nd and Tim Adair 5th in the Optimist Open fleet of 106; Sam Schofield placed 2nd (and 1st youth) in the Laser Radial fleet of 40; boardie Kate Ellingham was 1st in the RSX fleet of 17; boardie Hamish Dunning-Beck was 1st Techno in the fleet of 11; Finn Drummond with Frankie Lardies were 1st and Mike Snow-Hansen with Ben Hanns 2nd in the 470 fleet of six boats; and in the 420's Alex Munro with Brad Moss were 1st in the three boat fleet.
Well done to anyone else who participated. There are more detailed comments about the racing and how sailors got on in the Opti and Starling portals.Fantastic Mr Fox dominates OK Dinghies Rum Bucket -2010
During Labour Weekend (on 23 and 24 October) the highly anticipated 2010 Rum Bucket was held at Wakatere Boating Club on Auckland’s North Shore. As expected, Auckland turned on some incredible weather and great sailing conditions, and all seven scheduled races were run in fine style by Principal Race Officer Dean Coleman (who is also Commodore of Wakatere).
Saturday morning dawned fine and clear, with a cool, light, patchy south-westerly breeze.
Race 1 got underway in a light sou-wester, and with a heavy pin-end bias on the start line and a strong left-to-right tide flowing, whoever could... more
Full results - go the the RESULTS/Regattas page
Opening Day
Sunshine, celebraties and 100 boats marked Opening Day at Wakatere. Commodore Dean presided over formalities and Mike Drummond treated an appreciative audience to a talk about his design and management role at BMW Oracle. Mike has recently been inducted to the America's Cup Hall of Fame. At the end of his speech he very generously donated the barometer, with which he was presented to mark the honour, to Wakatere BC. Along with his advice for sailors to simply do the basics well, Mike's humility and generosity was a wonderful example for our young sailors.
David Brooke, grandson of clubfounder John Brooke, spoke of his worldly experience as a professional yachtsman, followed by patron and sage George Gair. Sailing opened for the season when David continued his family and club tradition by igniting the cannon. Races were run from the tower and close to shore - chaotic with the numbers but great for spectators. For some great photos by Roger Pearson click here
Winter Champs 2010
Report fromm Terry Nicholas - Well done to all the sailors who came along to the Winter Champs last weekend. It was a wonderful weekend for sailing and many of our sailors were delighted to find that the efforts that they put in over winter has lifted their capability, and enjoyment of sailing.
Wakatere had 36 sailors across all off the classes, with some great results:
Mathew Kempkers 3rd in the Starlings, Jack Simpson in 7th ( first regatta in a starling) in a fleet of 45
Paul Snow Hansen/Jason Saunders 1st in the 470’s
Hamish Dunning Beck 2nd in the Techno windsurfers
Marcus Sommerville 2nd in Open fleet in Opti’s in a fleet of 87 (13 from Wakatere)
Notable performances from the Optimist Open fleet:
Tim Adair 6th / Leonard Takahashi-Fry 16th / Sam Wallis 28th / Sam Barnett 35th / Jono Weston, first 10 year old in 48th
In Optimist Green fleet, well we just went out to have some fun, which included water fights, floating chips and sweets for sailors, rail riding to the beach and other fun stuff, but we surprised ourselves anyhow in the feet of 30 (9 from Wakatere):
Xanthe Copeland 5th / Airi Kawana 6th / James Grover-Grey 7th / Jono Nicholas 9th.
Other than Xanthe (I think) this was the first regattas any of these sailors had attended out of Wakatere, which showed the progress they had made over winter and into the new spring season, so well done to all of the sailors who attended.
The results and details are at www.murraysbay.org
Training in preparation for the Nationals
Wakatere Boating Club and Narrow Neck Beach are a lively scene over the weekends whatever the weather. Training programmes co-ordinated by the parents involved, with the assistance of club and outside coaches, have continued through the winter months and now move into a spring series. This is proving popular with club members and the wider Auckland optimist sailing community who are just as keen to become familiar with the wide variety of conditions in this area of the Waitemata Harbour
. The Optimist Nationals, to be held at Wakatere in April this coming year are the focus for training.
Along with the young Optimist sailors, are those who've moved on - capsize drill is being well practiced as the Starling lives up to it's reputation in the gusty spring conditions. The OK sailors are regularly out on the water and enjoying the fresh conditions.
Optimist Nationals 2011 at Wakatere, 19-25 April
Wakatere BC is hosting the 2011 NZ Optimist Nationals which takes place over Easter. We will begin providing general information on a dedicated site in the near future. You'll be able to access the new site through this site and the NZIODA website.
Wakatere Sailors Overseas 2010 UPDATED 5 AUGUST
The annual migration of Wakatere sailors to the northern hemisphere is nearing it's final stages. Kate Ellingham begins sailing in the RSX 2010 Worlds on the 29th of August, the list below has a link to the event, and results for sailors who have recently taken part in international regattas.
- 29/8 - 4/09/2010 Kate Ellingham competes in 2010 RS:X Men’s and Women’s World Championships Kerteminde, Denmark. Racing starts: Sunday 29th August (1100 hours local time) Medal races on: Saturday 4th September Regatta website: http://worldwindsurfingchampionships2010.rsxclass.com/
- 17 – 25 August. Jack Collinson, Youth Olympics in Byte class, Singapore.Event website http://www.singapore2010.sg/public/sg2010/en/en_games/en_games_results.html
- 9-14 August. Sail For Gold regatta, Weymouth, England. Paul Snow-Hansen & Jason Saunders - placed 18/60; Finn Drummond and Frankie Lardies placed 31/60 Event website: www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk/ Facebook: Paul/Jason
470 racing : NZL Sailing Team Facebook
- Mike Drummond placed 6th at A- Class regatta Lake Garda - Full results click here
- Wakatere's Alistair Deaves placed 13th at the OK Europeans in Medemblik, Holland. Greg Willcox from Wellington placed 4th. http://www.ryc-hollandia.org/
- Sam Schofield made the Gold fleet and finished 72nd in the 218 boat fleet in Largs, Scotland, at the Laser Radial Youth Worlds.
- Logan Dunning-Beck & James Turner, 420 Kiel Week Regatta, Keil, Germany. Placing 8/194. http://www.kieler-woche.de/eng/livecenter/international.php
- Mike Drummond placed 42nd in the 100 boat fleet at the , A-Class Worlds, Cesenatico, Italy, the daily race schedule also included what was on the menu for the evening - a nice touch. http://www.congregavelisti.it/anno%202010/Worlds%202010.html
- Jack Simpson, Optimist Eurpopeans, Kamień Pomorski, Poland. Jack placed 105/146 http://www.europti2010.pl/. or the NZIODA website for daily reports
- Logan Dunning-Beck & James Turner, ISAF Youth Worlds, Istanbul, Turkey .Placed 14/36 with three placings in the top 10. http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/
- Paul Snow-Hansen & Jason Saunders placed 15th in the 119 boat fleet, for a full report on their Worldsregatta click here 470 Worlds, The Hague, Holland. Facebook: Paul/Jason 470 racing Event site: http://470worlds2010.com/
- Finn Drummond & Frankie Lardies, 470 Worlds, The Hague, Holland. Placed 48th in the 119 boat fleet. Event site: http://470worlds2010.com/ For a full report on their Worlds, click here.
- For updated news and videos from Waka Racing (Garth Ellingham), http://www.wakaracing.com
- Paul Snow-Hansen & Jason Saunders, 470 Semaine Olympique Francaise, Hyeres, France. Placing 52/90. Paul/Jason 470 racing on Facebook, http://sof.ffvoile.net/
- Paul Snow-Hansen & Jason Saunders, 470 Spring Cup, Marseille, France. Placing 14/60. Paul/Jason 470 racing on Facebook, http://www.470.org.ar/champ10/spring/
- Jack Collinson, Byte Worlds, Cannes, France. Placing: 28/44. Full results at http://www.yachtclubdecannes.com/cms/img/CuteUploads/ch_monde_byte_10_g.htm
- 27 Mar - 2 Apr. Kate Ellingham RS-X - Princes Sofia Regatta, Palma Spain. Placing:14/41. http://trofeoprincesasofia.org/portada.php
- 27 Mar - 2 Apr. Paul Snow-Hansen 470 - Princes Sofia Regatta, Palma Spain. Placing: 19/100. http://trofeoprincesasofia.org/portada.php
Club 2010 prizegiving well attended
A capacity turnout on Friday night for the 2009/2010 season prizegiving to celebrate Wakatere sailor's achievements. The top awards went to:
Laser Freshwater Champs, Pupuke 15-16 May 2010
Good results from a couple of Wakatere old timers - Peter Kempkers 2nd overall and 2nd master in the full rig and Pete Thomas 3rd overall and 1st master in the wimp's radial rig. Full results at homepages.ihug.co.nz
AGM
The Annual General Meeting will be held at the clubhouse on Tuesday 1 June, 8.15pm.
Wakatere Sailor to Sail in Youth Olympics
Jack Collinson has been selected to go to the ISAF Youth Olympics in Singapore next August. He will be sailing a Byte C11.
Wakatere wins Keel Boat Nationals, RAYC 1-2 May 2010
Stefan Goldwater representing the Wakatere Boating Club wins the 2010 Club Marine National Keelboat Championship in convincing style... Click here for more
2010 North Harbour Champs, Wakatere 24 Apr 2010
The NH Champs were held on the afternoon to allow for winter sports in the morning. The wind was 8 - 10 knots off shore and a good turn out was achieved. Click here for results.
Season Line & Handicap Points
Final results have now been posted. Click here for Line results Click here for Handicap results
2010 Optimist Nationals, Whitianga Easter UPDATED
The 2010 Opti Nationals in Whitianga have been won by Kimberly Lim from Singapore from Jayvee Buchanan from Christchurch, who was the first NZer.
There was an official opening ceremony on Wed 31st March and racing began April 1st. Wakatere had a record 32 entries across the open and green fleet. The regatta was plagued by a lack of wind early on which filled in as the series progressed, though the Teams racing had to be cancelled to allow more races to be held.
Markus Somerville was the top Wakatere sailor in Open Fleet, finishing in 13th position overall, the fourth NZer and qualifying for a spot in the World's team.
Tim Adair won 1st place for his age group (13 yrs). He also achieved 14th NZ’er in his first Nationals & in his first open season.
Jonathon Weston was top Wakatere sailor in the Green Fleet finishing 2nd... Click on the Wakatere Optimist portal for more. Results & reports at optimistnationals.org.nz/
2010 Hobie Nationals, Takapuna Easter
Wakatere sailors won both the Open & Youth titles in the Hobie Nationals held at Takapuna at Easter. Grant Beck & Alex Maloney (MBSC) won the open fleet while Luke Stevenson (TYPBC) and Alex Munro won the youth fleet. Click here for results
2010 Club Champs
The club champs were held over three weekends. Congratulations to:
Alan Turner Optimist Open
Jonathon Weston Optimist Green
Kelsey Smith Starling
Mike Keeton Lasers
Russell Wood OKs
Kevin & Elizabeth Whitehead Sunbursts
Geoff Shearman Frostbite
Izzy Hawkins Techno





























