Waimakariri Sailing Club (Inc.)

To promote sailing to all ages within the community by creating an environment
that fosters friendship, participation and achievement.

Club News

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Sailing snippets from around and about.
From Kerry on Sunday 13 Apr 20:46. The last in the series of our Club Champs were completed on Saturday 12th. The wind was as per forecast, a light Easterly averaging 9kts with gusts to 12kts. Perfect sailing conditions. Because the sunburst fleet included these races in their Champs there were several visiting sunbursts boosting the fleet to 29 on the water. There are many photos taken by Lyn now posted to our gallery. The registration and time sheets have now been posted to the History page. A good record of a really nice day. From Kerry on Tuesday 08 Apr 11:35. Our travelling sailors Cate, Stalena, Lilian, Pippa, Alex and Josh have represented our Club well at the SI Firebug Champs hosted by PPYC over the weekend 5-6 Feb. The Champs were run in very light wind conditions, with even a period of complete calm which was used for a Firebug huddle and photo opportunity. Five races were completed with overall line honours going to Alex. He also won the junior trophy. Cate was third junior and Lilian was third on handicap. Over both days there were 27 firebugs sailing, the best fleet in recent years. There are photos of all our team and the huddle in our gallery. From Kerry on Sunday 30 Mar 10:14. Well we tried to run a sunburst relay on Saturday 29th and we did get two rounds completed. The wind was East-North-East and averaged 10kts but the gusts were 18kts plus followed by lulls of 3-5kts. This made for very challenging sailing (I did not enjoy it). Our RO Kent abandoned the relay after two rounds. We had five sunbursts so about 16 sailors made it onto the water thanks to careful rostering by Jo. Also there was a crew from Timaru with nine P-Classes here to attend a coaching workshop run by Jeff. They then sailed their own course up river. Thank you VC David for running the BBG. From Kerry on Monday 24 Mar 11:02. The marathon on Sunday 23rd drew our second biggest fleet for the season with 22 yacht, 19 seniors and 3 juniors. The strongest class were sunbursts (7) followed by zephyrs (5). There were 10 yachts from SGSC who joined the fleet. Sailing conditions were near perfect with the wind from the South in usual gusty form mostly 10kts but a couple of 20kt gusts. The overall average was 6kts. The support crew only had one capsize and one de-masting to deal with. Thank you to Donald for locking up the Clubrooms. See our History page for fleet details and your race times. From Kerry on Sunday 09 Mar 19:22. Nice to have a bigger fleet sailing today Sunday 9th for Club sailing. Our RO had a Southerly wind to work a course around and did a fantastic job with four short races. The first was a downwind start which was interesting. There were eight seniors and three juniors including one P-Class from Stewarts Gulley. We had a very competitive fleet of four sunbursts including one crewed by two juniors Sam and James. Although the overall average wind for the day was 3kts there were many 10-14kt gusts which made for challenging sailing. See our History page for more details. From Kerry on Saturday 08 Mar 12:28. Just home from sailing Saturday 8th. We had a full support team turn up however sailing was cancelled because of a lack of a quorum as only two “Old Salts”, Alistair and myself turned up ready to sail. At the scheduled start time it was fine and the wind was averaging 8kts, gusts to 10kts. A great sailing day missed….. From Kerry on Saturday 01 Mar 20:32. What a perfect sailing day we had on Saturday 1st march. We had a good fleet and a good breeze. A dozen yachts sailed in what was mostly an Easterly averaging 5kts. All the details are in our History page. Our RO set an interesting course with a downwind gate and one upwind mark. We ran four short races and later retired to the Clubrooms for a chat. From Kerry on Sunday 23 Feb 21:16. Club Champs round 5 and 6 drew a fleet of 23 yachts on the water. This is the best fleet for our whole season (second was Club Champs 1 and 2). By class the fleets were zephyrs 7, sunbursts 6, P-class 3 and Firebugs 3 plus a splash and couple of others. As well as the big fleet we welcomed several visitors along for a sail, Jan, Elizabeth, John and Sara. The wind was very much as forecast. From the East to N-East starting at 6kts then building to 8kts with gusts building to 12kts. Registration and time sheets are about to go up on the History page From Kerry on Sunday 09 Feb 19:31. The Junior Regatta over this last week was completed despite a wind challenge on Sunday. There were 11 registered and on Saturday four races were completed with two more run on Sunday. Strong wind delayed the start on Sunday and when it did abate the reprieve was only short lived with a Southerly averaging 14kts gusting 20kts joining the race. There were many capsizes. A full list of the participants and results will be published on the History page and the Results page. I am also hoping someone took some pictures we can publish. From Kerry on Thursday 06 Feb 20:13. With only five sailors pre-registered to sail on Waitangi Day it looked like being another low fleet day but in the end 17 yachts set out for the start line. There were five seniors and 12 juniors who were challenged by the Southerly wind which while it averaged only 10kts was very gusty frequently hitting 14-16kts, and sometimes changing direction. We had a boat start for both races. Check out the Results page and the History page for the fleet and times. From Kerry on Tuesday 04 Feb 08:46. Our Club was represented by four travelling sailors at the Lake Mahinapua Regatta over the weekend 01-02 February. The regatta attracted a fleet of 20 yachts of various classes including a trailer yacht, a trimaran, zephyrs, a sunburst, a fleet of firebugs and a Goat Island punt. Our sailors were Kerry sailing a sharpie and Stalena, Lilian and Cate sailing firebugs. The firebug fleet of six sailed in their own class start and after seven races over two days Cate was the overall winner with Lilian second for the juniors and Stalena third. We had perfect sailing weather for both days. From Kerry on Tuesday 28 Jan 08:09. A small fleet of six took part in Club sailing on Sunday 26th. We ran three races in an Easterly wind averaging 8kts with gusts to 14kts. Two marks were laid to make a windward-leeward course. Thank you to members who made up a full support roster. See the Club History page for details. From Kerry on Wednesday 22 Jan 19:14. What a perfect day mid-week sailing on Wednesday 22nd was. There is a saying about the early bird well the fishermen had the worm and our small fleet of four had the ideal wind. The wind was slightly North of East and for the first race averaged 4kts then built a couple of knots for each of our four races to the last race where the average was 10kts gusting 14kts. A couple of us had some issues gybing but in the end there were some happy sailors. There were no spectators with everyone who turned up having a job. I sailed my sharpie so see the History page for details. From David on Monday 13 Jan 09:14. 77. Sunday 12th January - The persistent South-South-West gusting wind tested our physicality and our gear. We had 2x Zephyrs, 2x Ps and a Laser. Mike James laid down the course with a reaching start/finish. A great afternoon was had by all. The gusting wind and tidal current pushed water over the rock wall in places and water surging into the creek was pushing above ramp and covering the concrete area between the clubhouse and creek. From Kerry on Saturday 11 Jan 16:45. We did get sailing on Saturday 11th despite the forecast wind. A very small fleet launched and spent just under an hour on the water in a Southerly wind averaging 13kts. Despite the considerably stronger gusts no one capsized. The sailing challenge started with launching into a South-South-West gusting wind and a tidal current going up the stream. That said, as any reader of this snippet might agree, any day sailing is a good day sailing even just launching and retrieving as I was. Members can read the History page to see who was there. From Kerry on Thursday 09 Jan 20:05. The Novelty Day on Thursday 9th was a success and I am pleased I postponed 25 hours because the wind was gentle and the temps warmer. A small fleet lined up to sail in a Southerly averaging 8kts with gusts to 14kts for an hour and a half on the water. Right at the end the wind dropped and briefly went Westerly so we finished at that. There was tough competition between the two sunbursts, one sailed by a very junior crew. See the History page for the fleet list. From Kerry on Thursday 26 Dec 16:44. Sailing on Boxing Day was a success thanks to a good decision by our Race Officer, Kent, to delay our race start and see what the dense black clouds at the river mouth were going to do. At our scheduled start time we had wind gusts over 30kts and heavy rain. Twenty minutes later we had light rain and a light SE 5-8kt wind just enough to go sailing. Racing started 40 minutes late with a fleet of five. See the Members page and the link with this icon ==> to see times. Around 20 Club members, friends and visitors gathered in the Clubrooms after sailing. There was still a light drizzle as I left. From Kerry on Saturday 14 Dec 16:16. Once again the wind has gotten the better of us and sailing on Saturday 14th was cancelled. At briefing five hands were raised willing to sail with the wind then averaging 16kts gusting 26kts, however about 10 minutes later a 36kt gust came through and rigging stopped except for Sam F who was still keen on giving it a try. At that point sailing was cancelled. A big disappointment as we had a full support team turn out, see the History page. The wind settled to WNW 19-36kts. Heads up for Boxing Day sailing. Pre-register so you can get activity and weather updates. From Kerry on Sunday 08 Dec 13:24. Sailing on Sunday 8th turned out to be really nice contrary to what was expected with the forecast strong wind. What we got was a Northerly of 9-13kts at the start rising to 13-20kts by the end of an hour and a half on the water. There was a brief period of rain. Five Club sailors enjoyed a free run reaching up and down the river without any marks or starting hooter. Although all were briefed to expect to be flattened by the gusts no-one capsized, leaving no trade for our support team. Heads up for Boxing Day sailing. Pre-register so you can get activity and weather updates. From Kerry on Wednesday 04 Dec 14:59. On Sunday 30th we completed the five hour relay race and won the round-the-block trophy between PPYC and WSC. There were 11 sunbursts on the water. With the crew changing each hour there were many new skippers and crew, including a visitor, who got a chance to sail. Jo Jones ran the crew roster so everyone who wanted to sail did get a run. The wind was Easterly (mostly) ranging from the average of 9kts to some 16kt gusts. The gusts caught out some skippers and there were a couple of capsizes. Club members should check out the Chat and History pages for more details and many pictures. From Kerry on Monday 25 Nov 09:29. Finally the weather and the river were kind to us and we had an absolutely great day sailing on Sunday 24th. Club Champs round 3 and 4 were completed by a fleet of 19 yachts in a wind that swung from North to East at random and ranged from 2kts to 16kts in bursts. There were six sunbursts. See the History page for your times. Skippers described the day as very challenging but exciting and definitely a day not to be missed. After sailing a group of us gathered to analyse the days sailing over a cuppa. There should be some good photos but so far none have been sent in to record the event. From Kerry on Saturday 16 Nov 20:14. Today Saturday 16th at briefing when the RO asked who wanted to go sailing no hands went up. At the time the wind was SSE 13kts gusting 15kts. Although perfectly safe to sail the wind driving straight up the creek made conditions not look very inviting so sailing was cancelled. There were 16 Club members present. The Risk Assessment was 67%. Thank you to the Support Team who turned out. The afternoon passed nicely with a cuppa and a chat. The next sailing day will be Club Champs and then the Five Hour Relay for which there is a NoR published. Read up and take part. From Kerry on Sunday 10 Nov 12:23. Another sailing day cancelled Saturday 10th. This time the river was carrying to much debris to allow safe sailing, as well as running high. Eleven Club members turn up so we had a cuppa and a chat then locked up and headed off. Looking forward six days the forecast looks good for our next sailing day. From Kerry on Saturday 02 Nov 17:56. Not surprisingly sailing on Saturday 2nd was cancelled. At the scheduled start time the wind was averaging 20kts with gusts to 33kts from the West. Some 15kts more than forecast. With the wind howling around the clubhouse a dozen Club members sat around and chatted. Gwenda turned up ready to run the canteen and Alistair ran the mower over the grass around the clubrooms but no sailing. A new LTS yacht was delivered to the Lake. We can only hope for a more moderate wind for sailing next week. From Kerry on Monday 28 Oct 09:57. The forecast for Saturday 27th was for South-West 8kts dying and backing. We got something with the race starting in a Southerly averaging 7kts gusting 12kts although it was then shifty and variable. The second race was abandoned on the first leg due to lack of wind. It was fine and sunny with 2-eigths cloud. Full details for the fleet of 13 and race times have been published on the history page. Thank you to the support team for making up a full roster. From Kerry on Sunday 20 Oct 09:54. Sailing on Saturday 19th was a late run for keen sailors and there were 11 who signed in for an excellent twilight sail in a steady Easterly wind. Three races were run and a list of those who sailed with race times can be found under the history tab on the members page. Thank you to the full support team who turned out to help. I witnessed one capsize due to a broken kick strap, but soon righted and sailing again. Also support boat Waimak 4 helped transport two fire-fighters across the river to a fire near the pine trees. A fun interesting afternoon in great sailing company. From Kerry on Sunday 13 Oct 19:44. Writing this snippets after watching the opening races of the Americas Cup does make you wonder how much of that technology will trickle down to our Club sailing. Perhaps foils are a bit much for our river. Never mind we had a very successful day sailing on Saturday 13th even though it was cold and threatened rain. We got two races completed for the sunburst Smith and Wood trophy and round one of the zephyr champs. Also four junior sailors making up a great fleet of 25yachts. See the history page for all the details. Thank you to Matt our visiting RO. From Kerry on Sunday 29 Sep 20:01. Another perfect day on Sunday 29th for Club Champs. The wind was a steady 6kts from the East for the whole 2hrs 20mins of sailing. Big fleet of 20. See the history page for the details on who was there and the sailing times. The steady wind meant that the racing was very close. A big thank you to the sailors who turned up and the support team who made the event run smoothly, not forgetting the crew who cleaned up the clubrooms at the end of the day. What a wonderful two days of sailing. From Kerry on Saturday 28 Sep 19:41. Some days are just made for sailing, like today Saturday 28th. Although we did wonder if the wind was playing truancy because we were half an hour late starting and then as the lights went out we only had a 3kt average. Fortunately over the next three races and two hours this built to an average of 6kts but was very shifty from the East through to North-East. A great fleet of 12 yachts including Viking sailed by our Commodore. The river was running around 215CuMecs and discoloured. Have a look at the history tab on the members page for an entries list and sailing times. A great day. From Kerry on Sunday 15 Sep 20:23. Club racing on Sunday 15th was completed in near ideal wind conditions that were close to the forecast albeit cloudy and cold. We ran three races for a total of two and a half hours on the water for 14 seniors and 3 juniors. The wind started out at an average of six knots building to 15kts at the end of race two then dropping off again, all in a cold 11degrees. Great to see the new crew on the canteen and cleaning duties, thank you. Also nice to have our new kitchen completed and to be able to have a cuppa and chat after sailing. From Kerry on Saturday 31 Aug 17:19. A very happy crowd of around 50 members celebrated the opening of the 2024-25 sailing season on Saturday 31st. There were nineteen registered to sail in a very gusty Northerly. The conditions were both challenging and exciting with all three of the sunburst fleet reporting being up on the plane during the last circuit. There were several capsizes and the support boat crew had to tow four back in. Landing in a Northerly is a particular challenge and I will post a photograph of a team of juniors catching an incoming yacht, which they did for several others. This is what Club sailing is about. From Kerry on Saturday 24 Aug 19:17. There was a great turn out for our working bee on Saturday 24th with 24 members giving the Clubrooms some repair work and a good clean up. The kitchen renovation is down to the final stage with just the bench tops to be installed this coming week. It is looking good for opening day this coming Saturday. We did stop for our BYO lunch and a chat. A big thank you to Leona Holland who sent in a box of sandwiches. I will post pictures of all the work to our gallery under Clubhouse over the next couple of days. Also a longer write up on the history page. From Kerry on Sunday 18 Aug 13:30. Sailing Sunday 18th was cancelled and just as well I think. The pictures posted on Chat tell their own story. The wind at the time we would have been sailing was averaging one knot and the temperature was seven degrees, never mind the rain. That is the end of winter sailing for this year. We scheduled six days and had three perfect sailing days at the beginning of winter. My thank you to the sailors who pre-registered and the support team who volunteered to help. The next sailing day will be opening day. From Kerry on Saturday 03 Aug 16:03. Winter sailing for today Saturday 3rd was cancelled. I went out to the Club anyway and redirected one straggler. The forecast was right on the button. It was sunny, 9 degrees and the wind was calm (in fact the anemometer almost stopped). Looking at the data later the average for our sailing time was 2-4kts. A really nice day for coffee and a scone in Kaiapoi outside on the river bank. Thank you to the support team and those who pre-registered. Book in now for the next sailing day on the 18th. From Kerry on Saturday 20 Jul 16:04. Winter sailing on the 20th July did not happen. The picture in the Chat message tells the story. As you can see from this picture you cannot see the other side of the river and there was no wind. Never mind we had 13 yachts ready to sail and around 25 Club members checking boat rigging and socialising. Jeff ran a brief LTS lesson for the juniors. Apart from being very cold it was a really nice Club get-together and there are now lots of pictures posted on our gallery. From Kerry on Sunday 07 Jul 21:27. Today Sunday 7th July we held our 97th Annual General meeting. There were 48 Club members present. It was wonderful to see several new Committee members stepping up and it will great to hear the new ideas they will bring to our Club. A full list of the portfolios allocated will be published following our first Committee meeting on the 5th August. Following the AGM we held our Prize Giving and a full list of the cup and trophy winners has already been published on our website. Also keep an eye on our website for the photos from prize giving as they are published. From Kerry on Saturday 22 Jun 20:15. We had another perfect day for our mid-winter sail today, Saturday 22nd. The weather was exactly as forecast, sunny, 13 degrees and with the wind averaging 6kts from the East. There were a few gusts to 10kts. Just ideal sailing conditions for the fleet of 16 yachts including a visitor from SGSC. The results have been posted on the electronic board via the members page. While no one tipped over I can say we took a lot of water over the gunwale in one of those gusts, a little bit exciting. We also had another Club member checked out to run the support boat, thank you Nigel. From Kerry on Sunday 16 Jun 20:08. Winter sailing Sunday 16th was what winter sailing is all about. A steady wind averaging 7kts from the North with some gusts to 14kts, sunny and a great fleet. There were 17 yachts taking part including four juniors and a sailor from SGSC. The unusual wind direction from the North made for an interesting start line and course. A big well done to Jo and Murray M for setting a course for this wind which combined with the river flow tested the skills of all sailors. The fleet list and race times are on the electronic scoreboard on the Members page. From Kerry on Sunday 19 May 19:52. We had our first winter sailing day on Sunday 19th. What an amazing fleet of 17 yachts on the water. This matches our last winter sailing record fleet on 15th August 2023. Something about the cold weather that brings sailors out of their cabins. It was cold at 11degs and the wind was only there, average 3kts gust 11kts, for one race so with the second race cancelled many had to paddle or be towed back. A big thank you to those who pre-registered and also the support crew who filled the roster. Results have been published, see Race day times…. From Kerry on Saturday 11 May 19:18. What a great turnout for our working bee today. As well as a top to bottom Clubroom clean out one team removed the old kitchen bench leaving an open space ready for the newly assembled modules to be installed. Catering in the Clubrooms will be a little sparse for a few weeks but the results will be worth it. Thanks to a reshuffle of the yachts by Cameron and a clear out of some old gear the storage sheds now have the space we expect. When clearing out the gear we found a plain yellow bag with a sleeve luff sail in it marked with MR. It does not match any yacht we recognise, can you help. From Kerry on Sunday 05 May 19:24. It is an irony that our end of season Closing Day should have our strongest fleet for the season. There were 35 yachts on the water. We ran one race with the traditional Mark Foy start in an Easterly wind starting at 4kts rising to 7kts with some 12kt gusts in the last half hour. Congratulations to Sam for winning the junior cup and to Bret for winning the senior Cup. More details and the race times are in the sailing history. Our sailing season was closed by WDC Mayor Dan and then afternoon tea. Winter sailing is next. From Kerry on Saturday 20 Apr 19:18. We held the Club Champs race 7 and 8 on Saturday 20th in an Esaterly starting at 5kts and building to 9kts at the finish some 2:40hrs later. The forecast was right. What made this day special was that we had a fleet of 30 Club yachts out on the water. We would have to go back pre-covid19 for another such Club day. We ran out of pies.. Thank you to our on-water support team of Murray, Jeremy, Warren, Nigel and Brian although we gave them very little business. Results will be posted to the website by our Race Sec, however you can see the raw numbers in the Sailing History on the Members page. From Kerry on Sunday 07 Apr 17:51. What an amazing day sailing the marathon on Sunday. We had 18 senior sailors and eight juniors. Best overall turnout for the marathon in ten years (I think) and certainly the best junior turnout. Have a look at the sailing history for crew details and times. Also SGSC had eight sailors for their marathon. Thank you to the support team for looking after us. The wind was right on forecast with an Easterly ranging from 11-16kts. A lot of smiles in the clubrooms afterwards. From Kerry on Sunday 24 Mar 21:07. Club sailing took place Sunday 24th. Small fleet see sailing history. Thank you to those who pitched in to make it work. Great sailing by Zac in lumpy conditions. Nice to have my granddaughter as crew again. From Kerry on Sunday 17 Mar 19:10. More travelling sailors submitted by Heather. Sam F and Hunter are representing the Waimak Sailing Club this weekend at SailGP. Fifty-one crews applied to sail an RS Feva and twenty four teams have been selected. Sam and Hunter are sailing a charter boat, with practice on Thursday, and racing Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They will be competing against crews from around NZ. A great opportunity and we wish them good luck and great sailing. From Kerry on Sunday 17 Mar 19:04. From Alan. A fleet of 15 Firebugs sailed the 2023/24 South Island Firebug Champs at PPYC. Included were 3 travelling sailors from WSC (Alex, Pippa and Cate). Alex sailed increasingly well during the regatta. He picked up a 3rd and 4th in the last two races, finished as 4th Junior (8th overall) and was 1st on handicap. Pippa also had a great regatta, regularly finishing in the top half of the fleet. She was 3rd Junior and 7th overall. Cate had 2 race wins and 3 second finishes. She won the Junior trophy and was 2nd overall, one point behind Nick Palleson from LMAC. A great weekend of sailing. From Kerry on Sunday 17 Mar 14:55. Club sailing on Sunday 17th got under way 30 mins late while we waited for the wind to turn up. We had a fleet of nine and sailed in light fickle winds which started out at 3kts and grew to 7kts from the North. A very nice two and a quarter hours on the water. Fleet list and sailing times are now in the sailing history. Thank you to Brian who was RO and Carole and Stan who locked up the clubrooms at the end of the day. From Kerry on Monday 11 Mar 11:31. Day two of the Junior Regatta was completed on Sunday 10th. There were 15 juniors and combined with a Club sailing fleet of six making an excellent turn out of 21 yachts sailing. The wind was much more friendly averaging 8kts throughout the 2:10hrs on the water. There were some 14kt gusts and some 2kts lulls so local knowledge and luck played a part in the placings. Thank you to Mike for completing the race calculations for prize giving. There is a Chat message with race day results and pictures from the regatta will go up in our gallery in the next few days. A very successful regatta. From Kerry on Saturday 09 Mar 20:15. Day one of the Junior Regatta was completed on Saturday 9th. A fleet of 15 yachts entered and details and times are in Sailing History. The wind was Southerly as forecast building to 16kts average at launch time making quite a challenge for junior sailors to get going. Towards the end of race two the wind eased to an average of 8kts making for great sailing for the final two races. Thank you to Club members Murray and Mike who were the on-water RO's and the parents who crewed the support boats. They were needed in race one to help a couple of yachts get going again. From Kerry on Sunday 03 Mar 17:04. Sunday 3rd was a day when the saying applied that "the early bird catches the worm', well in this case an early start for a nice wind and a great days sailing. A fleet of 5 seniors and 12 juniors. See the list and results on the history page. A very big thank you to Jo for organising the LTS sailors to be at the Club, and to Greg for shifting the optimists and Cameron for shepherding the LTS group around on the water. Great work Team, which made it a great day for our new sailors. From Kerry on Saturday 24 Feb 21:22. Club Champs races five and six completed on Saturday 24th. The wind was unusual coming from the North with gusts to 19kts and an average of 9kts which made for challenging sailing conditions. We had a fleet of 11 seniors and two juniors sailing on a very interesting course out from the lagoon entrance. Check out the sailing history to see who sailed and the time sheets. Sam C sailed his new to him P-Class for the first time and had fun doing practice capsizes. Despite the wind no trade for the support boats. A great fun day. From Kerry on Wednesday 21 Feb 19:19. There was Club sailing on Sunday 18th February. A fleet of seven, four seniors and three juniors. Nice day with an Easterly wind at 7kts with gusts to 14kts. Start delayed 50 mins waiting for the wind to build. See our Club Sailing History for crew list and sailing times. From Kerry on Sunday 18 Feb 20:06. Our travelling sailors have been taking part in the South Island Sunburst Champs held at PPYC over the weekend 17th and 18th. In the field of 10 entries there were four crews from our Club. The yachts and crews were Soothsayer sailed by Mike and Jannette, Solar Flair sailed by Peter and Kerry, Fun sailed by Murray and Heather and Bad News sailed by Sam F and Hunter. Although we did not win overall we did have success in various categories and took home a couple of trophies. One trophy we could not take home so I have written a Chat message with a picture. All six races were sailed. From Kerry on Saturday 10 Feb 20:34. Our Junior Sailing Day on Saturday 10th was spoilt by a North-West wind so the sailing was changed to Club Sailing. We ran three races in winds averaging 14kts with gusts to 26kts. A fleet of seven seniors and two juniors started out. In the last race only four crossed the line, the rest withdrew early. There were several capsizes. It was a day with some challenges but even Peter ran his spinnaker twice. Thank you to our support crew and Sam who fixed the rigging for the Club Splash. We were packed up before the Southerly arrived. Result times are on the website, fleet list in the history. From Kerry on Saturday 10 Feb 20:24. Our Junior Sailing Day on Saturday 10th was spoilt by a North-West wind so the sailing was changed to Club Sailing. We ran three races in winds averaging 14kts with gusts to 26kts. A fleet of seven seniors and two juniors started out. In the last race only four crossed the line, the rest withdrew early. There were several capsizes. It was a day with some challenges but even Peter ran his spinnaker twice. Thank you to our support crew and Sam who fixed the rigging for the Club Splash so it could be sailed. We were packed up just before the Southerly came through. From Kerry on Tuesday 06 Feb 20:30. Two travelling sailors took part in the Wahine on the Water regatta at PPYC on Tuesday 6th, Waitangi Day. The wind was a steady North-Easterly at 8-10kts with some gusts to 15kts, perfect for sailing and fine and warm. There was a total of 20 yachts in the fleet which included eight firebugs. In the firebug fleet Stalena came 5th and Cate 1st winning a pennant. Thanks to PPYC for running a really nice regatta. From Kerry on Sunday 04 Feb 14:34. For our Club sailing on Sunday 4th we had perfect conditions, sunny with a steady NE wind averaging 8kts with gusts to 14kts. A small fleet of four. One sunburst, one Europe, one splash and one optimist. We ran five short races around a tight triangle course which worked well for the sailors we had. The last race was an ad-hoc Mark Foy start which had yachts crossing the line within seconds. One skipper (no names) managed to capsize twice!! Thank you to the support team who rostered themselves on. From Kerry on Sunday 28 Jan 16:49. Our traveling sailors have just completed a wonderful weekend sailing in the Lake Mahinapua regatta. Two days of perfect weather with winds in the 2 to 14kt range. We got four races on saturday and two more on Sunday. This was followed by prize giving and the legendary afternoon tea. There were three firebug sailors Cate, Stalena and Lilian and Mike and Janette in a Sunburst. A well run regatta on a beautiful Lake in perfect sailing conditions. From Kerry on Wednesday 24 Jan 20:02. Another perfect sailing day on our river paradise. We had a fleet of seven yachts in the line up for Club sailing on Wednesday 24th. We planned two races which became three in such ideal conditions where the wind was a steady 10kts and gentle gusts to 15kts. Even so we still saw a couple of capsizes and a broken mast. It was great to see four starlings in the line up. The race progress was run on a computer so the results are up now and can be accessed via the members page. Also there are three videos in the Photo Gallery from the day. Great day for mid week. From Kerry on Monday 22 Jan 08:13. Our travelling sailors have again made a name for themselves with Cate Ambury winning the Canterbury Firebug Champs over the weekend 20-21 Jan. Not only did she win the junior section but the overall Champs as well. There were four skippers competing ranging in age from 15yrs to 65yrs. The story is that Cate sailed exceptionally well in the North-Westerly conditions on the Saturday to gain best points. Congratulations to Cate. From Kerry on Sunday 21 Jan 17:40. Thanks to a full muster of volunteers for the roster we had an excellent Club sailing day on Sunday 21st. The wind was as forecast, Starting at South-West then backing slowly around to Easterly for last 40 minutes all at 0-12kts. Once you worked out where the wind was coming from it was nice sailing. Ten yachts were on the start line. Four races planned but only two run. Listening to the briefing might have helped as almost all sailors did an extra lap or so on race one. This was blamed on a middle order collapse of the wind. :) Nothing a pie and a cuppa could'nt fix at the end. From Kerry on Saturday 13 Jan 22:20. Our Novelty Event day on 13th was a great success. We ran three events in a very light Easterly which started at 8kts then dropped a couple of knots as the evening progressed. Nine yachts registered and took part. Although some skippers had a different interpretation of the instructions given at briefing on how to complete each event, everyone had a lot of sailing fun. A nice break from the regular routine. From Kerry on Thursday 11 Jan 12:51. Report from Alistair McKerchar as RO. Lacking a crew for sailing on Wednesday 10th, I volunteered to be Race Officer. It was mid week with temperatures in the twenties. The forecast was ENE wind 25 knots, gusting to 35, and so it proved. We set a short race course and finally got started at 1500hrs. Five boats entered, four started, two completed the first leg and just one finished the race – some skippers taking impromptu swims. As Kerry remarked, “A day for the very keen sailors only.” My thanks to the rescue boat crew Murray and Warren also Jo and Kent for their support and guidance. From Kerry on Sunday 07 Jan 17:18. On Sunday 7th we had the biggest fleet for the year albeit our first sailing day for the year with a fleet of 16 yachts lined up at the start. The wind was kind to us averaging 4kts at the start gradually strengthening over the two hours to 11kts as we finished, all from the East. The only boat to capsize was the biggest boat in the fleet the phoenix. A detailed fleet list will be on the members page and results will be posted soon. Thank you to the members who did the Club clean up today. The next sailing day is mid week on the 10th and we need a key-holding Club member to be Duty Officer. From Kerry O'Brien on Tuesday 26 Dec 20:50. What a great sailing event on which to finish the year 2023 on. Our Boxing Day sailing was a special success with a fleet of 14 yachts completing four short races in an Easterly wind of 8-10kts. Skippers reported steady easy sailing conditions. There was some great competition within the zephyr and the sunburst fleets. A more detailed break out will be posted in the sailing history. Three Club yachts used Holy Smoke, Musketeer and the optimist. We were all back onshore and packed up before the rain came through. Keep an eye on the photo gallery in a couple of days for some of the many pictures I took. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 17 Dec 12:29. Twilight sailing on Saturday 16th saw a good fleet of 12 sailing in a brisk Easterly that was quite gusty at times. Two races were sailed as ominous low cloud rolled in. Thank you to Jo for stepping in to start and record the races. Also thank you to Carole and Stan for once again securing the Clubrooms. Well done to Cristian and crew Coni for the first sail in their new second hand sunburst. See the sailing history for a detailed fleet list. Our next sailing day is Boxing Day so keep an eye on the Chat page for any info. From Kerry O'Brien on Monday 11 Dec 19:50. One of our signature events, the five hour race, was very successfully completed on Sunday 10th. We had a fleet of six sunbursts. Two from PPYC and four from WSC with one WSC yacht crewed by a PPYC team making two teams of three. Solar Flair with a WSC team gained the most laps and WSC won the Block trophy again. The wind was initially from the S'West 6-10kts with a gust to 23kts, then around mid-race changed to ENE 7-10kts. The rain cleared. Thank you to Donald as RO for managing a non-compliant wind. See the Club News for photos and Club gallery for more photos. From Kerry O'Brien on Monday 11 Dec 11:59. We had a traveling sailor at the Canterbury Age Group Regatta held at the Stewarts Gully Yacht Club over Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th. Cate sailed her firebug to win her section. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 26 Nov 20:56. Club Champs races three and four were successfully completed on Sunday26th in ideal weather conditions. The wind was from the East with occasional puffs from the N-East at a steady 7kts with gusts to 10-11kts. Sunny and warm. We had a fleet of 20 yachts registered representing almost all classes we sail. We had several visitors both as crew and with their yachts. A thank you to Warren who made our plot look cared for again (mowing). Also a thank you to Race Officer Murray, Sam who ran the canteen (hot pies and cuppa) and Brian and Cristian who were crew on the support boats. A really nice day. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 19 Nov 17:39. On Sunday 19th November three Club members sailed in the Firebug Ray O’Brien Trophy race at PPYC. They were Stalena, Lilian and Cate. Stalena won the trophy. PPYC did an excellent job running this event which included a great late lunch, thank you. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 12 Nov 20:22. By any measure our 11ft regatta on 11th-12th was a success. A big fleet of 40, excellent weather and great organisation. The Andy Holland series drew a fleet of 22 zephyrs, the sunburst champs had 5 boats and the open class drew 8 boats plus Club sailing with 5 entries. We had all our support boats on the water and so a very big thank you to Jo for ensuring these were crewed properly. There was an Easterly both days averaging 10kts on Saturday and 7kts on Sunday. A thank you to Matt as RO and Ross our Racing Sec for running such an excellent event. A good buzz in the Clubrooms afterwards. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 05 Nov 16:27. The sailing on Sunday 5th might be described as being where, if the going gets tough the tough get going. We started in winds averaging 6kts then 40 minutes later the average jumped to 13kts with gusts to 26kts. All from the South-SouthWest which made launching and retrieval interesting. A tow out and a trip up the creek coming back. There were a couple of capsizes. There was a fleet of 11 started and while all finished the first race there were only five who finished the second race. Thank you to the support team who did have some work to do today, Mike as RO and Carole who ran the canteen. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 29 Oct 19:19. We did sail on Sunday 29th in what could be described as boisterous conditions. The wind was from the North-East and at race time was averaging 16kts gusting to 23kts. Coming across the trees and clubhouse it was very gusty. There were 14 yachts registered to sail, not all launched, some launched and returned, but only three crossed the finish line. Several capsized. Race two was abandoned. Thank you to the support team and those who registered to sail. From Kerry O'Brien on Saturday 14 Oct 19:05. It was a fairly easy guess that no one would want to sail on Saturday 14th. Apart from being election day the wind was close to gale force. RO Donald called it quits as we looked at the white caps right across the river and the six Club members who had gathered soon dispersed. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 08 Oct 16:49. The sunburst and zephyr champs were run on Saturday 8th in ideal conditions. We were 45 minutes late in starting but once the wind did arrive it sat at an average of 6kts from the East for the whole time. A fleet of 28 yachts made up of 17 zephyrs, 4 sunbursts and a club fleet of 7. Thank you to our normal support team plus Emma who helped with the canteen and Cristian and Brian who were on the support boats. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 24 Sep 15:25. The first two rounds of our Club Champs were sailed on Sunday 24th in interesting weather conditions. The wind was from the NE through to ESE in the range 3-14kts with sailors reporting a difference across the river. To add to that a drizzle came in as we briefed and at 10 degrees it was a day for the most hardy, warm clothes and good tactics. We had a fleet of 5 juniors and 11 seniors. Most numerous class were zephyrs(6) followed by firebugs(4). Thank you to the support crew, particularly those on-water who also braved the conditions to lay the course and keep us safe. From Joanne Jones on Sunday 17 Sep 08:56. LEARN TO SAIL, SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER CANCELLED TODAY due to the high winds. From Kerry O'Brien on Saturday 16 Sep 19:32. A small group turned up for sailing on Saturday 16th and by popular consensus decided that racing would be cancelled due to the strong North West wind. Some then did some rigging checks on their boats, Warren mowed the lawns, I put up a sail rack in shed two and Murray launched our support boat Waimak3 to do a quick run up the creek to ensure all was working. A small group then had a chat and drink in the lounge before locking up. Just to note that at around 16:00hrs the wind was 21kts with gusts to 29kts. Traditional boisterous conditions. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 10 Sep 16:37. Our sailing season for 2023-2024 was declared open by the WDC Mayor Dan Gordon at a ceremony after sailing on Sunday 10th. A fleet of 25 yachts entered to sail however because the wind was averaging 20kts with gusts to 30kts only 14 made it onto the water, three from SGYC. In the end 13 started and not all finished and there were many who capsized. At stake were the Northern Outlook cups which were won by Matt for the seniors and Brian for the juniors. A thank you to Cameron who took over the helm of one yacht to bring it back to shore because of the strong wind. Pictures posted by Wednesday. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 10 Sep 16:35. Our sailing season for 2023-2024 was declared open by the WDC Mayor Dan Gordon at a brief ceremony after sailing on Sunday 10th. We had a fleet of 25 yachts entered to sail however because the wind was averaging 20kts with gusts to 30kts only 14 made it onto the water. In the end 13 started and not all finished and there were many who capsized. At stake were the Northern Outlook cups which were won by Matt for the seniors and Brian for the juniors. A thank you to Cameron who took over the helm of one yacht to bring it back to shore because of the strong wind. Pictures posted by Wednesday. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 10 Sep 16:31. Our sailing season for 2023-2024 was declared open by the WDC Mayor Dan Gordon at a brief ceremony after sailing on Sunday 10th. We had a fleet of 25 yachts entered to sail however because the wind was averaging 20kts with gusts to 30kts only 14 made it onto the water. In the end 13 started and not all finished and there were many who capsized. At stake were the Northern Outlook cups which were won by Matt for the seniors and Brian for the juniors. A thank you to Cameron who took over the helm of one yacht to bring it back to shore because of the strong wind. Pictures posted by Wednesday. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 03 Sep 07:36. We could not believe our luck with another excellent winter sailing day. Today there was a total fleet of nine. You will be able to find breakdown of the fleet by class under "Club sailing history" and you can see who was there under "Race day times". The race day times shown are actually race two as there was a computer glitch which scorched race one times. The wind was interesting as explained in the "sailing history". Thank you to Brian who was RO for the first time since completing his YNZ RO training last weekend. Looking forward to opening day next weekend. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 13 Aug 19:37. Yet another perfect winter sailing day on Sunday 13th. There were three races over two hours where the wind averaged 8kts from the North with some unexpected gusts getting to 12-13kts. This direction also made returning to the ramp interesting for some. We had the biggest fleet for Club sailing in many many months with 14 seniors and 3 juniors. Jo used the web-based race progress form so the results went straight to our website and can be viewed from the members page. A special thank you to Cristian who picked up the cleaning duty at the end of the day. A big smile on all faces. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 30 Jul 17:08. Another perfect winter sailing day on Sunday 30th, the third day in a row. A fleet of 14 yachts sailed in an average wind of 8kts with an occasional gust to 10kts under a clear ski. Could not have been getter. Two races were scheduled then the four zephyrs and two starlings did a third race, so as not to waste good conditions. We also had a sunburst fleet of three and four starlings. The race times have been published on the website. A big thank you to those who preregistered and our support team Joe, Murray and Warren. From Kerry O'Brien on Saturday 22 Jul 19:57. As the Southerly swept through on the evening of Saturday 22nd our wind station at the Club recorded an average 36kts with a gust to 60kts at 18:22hrs. Even beyond sunburst sailing. From Kerry O'Brien on Saturday 15 Jul 18:30. Give credit where credit is due, the forecast was spot on for our second winter sailing day Saturday 15th. A fleet of 11 sailed in a steady 5kts Easterly. The fleet consisted of six seniors and five juniors in four firebugs, two zephyrs, two starlings and one each opti, P-class and sunburst. Sailing the sunburst solo I ran the spinnaker in both races. Great fun. A welcome to visitor Peter sailing zephyr 147 (ex Alex's). A big thank you to the support team Murray, Jo and Heather and those who pre-registered. We can do it all again in two weeks. From Kerry O'Brien on Sunday 02 Jul 20:35. This afternoon, the 2nd July, our Club held our 96th Annual General Meeting with 38 members in attendance. We re-elected past Committee members and added some new members to our Committee. A full list of the Committee will be posted in our Fleetsheet newsletter in coming days. After the formalities of the meeting were completed we held a prize giving and handed out cups, trophies and pennants for the past seasons sailing. A full list will be available under the new trophies web-page in a couple of weeks. A pot-luck meal concluded our evening (my pick was the apple crumble and ice cream :)). From Kerry O'Brien on Monday 19 Jun 14:31. On Saturday 3rd June we held our first winter sailing day for this series in very light wind conditions of 4kts average. There was a fleet of seven seniors and three juniors. We started late to allow the wind to build and the second race was just one lap however it was good fun and close racing. I sailed my sharpie with the new lugg sail for the first race then Stalena sailed it in the second race. It is quite a smart mover for a work boat. A big thank you to those Club members who preregistered, it made the decision to sail easy. Also thank you to our support team Murray, Warren, Jo and Lyn. From Kerry O'Brien on Monday 19 Jun 14:31. On Saturday 6th May we had our closing day for the 2022-2023 season. The race started on time with barely enough wind at 3kts and the odd puff to 7kts. The RO decided we would do a simple triangle and at one hour the horn would go to indicate the finish. I think most of us managed three laps in time so it was very slow. With a Mark Foy start for the fleet of 21 seniors and 8 juniors and the light wind meant the fleet was close packed for most of the hour. The Closing Day trophies were won by Bret de Thier for the seniors and Cate Ambury for the juniors.


News articles from Club Members
	Longer read, opens in a new TAB.

	RS-Feva - Hunter and Sam Mar24 SailGP - posted 10th Apr 2024

	Starling National Regatta 2024 report - posted 12th Feb 2024

	SailGP 2023 Inspire Racing report - Cate and Hunter - posted 31st Mar 2023

	Matt Hix on how to finish first in a 12foot skiff yacht - posted 20th Mar 2023

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