Saili
ng Report 2014-2015
What a fantastic year we have had out on the water! Great numbers of yachts participating and a whole lot of fun had by crew and skippers at our fantastic club and on the race course.
The sailing season had a challenging start with the WineWorks Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc turning into a two day event due to gale force winds in the notorious Cook Strait. Day one saw the race postponed due to dangerous conditions and day two was delayed due to not enough wind! Wine Marlborough’s consumer event went ahead on day one and was enjoyed by many in the capital. The wine was delivered safely the following day by a fleet of 30 yachts. A new race record was taken out by David Ensor on Paradigm, in 3 hours, 11 minutes, 34 seconds. A big thank you again to Peter Stewart for providing us with Pacific Eagle as our support and media boat for the race. Sponsors and media personnel enjoyed a fabulous crossing aboard Pacific Eagle and cheering the crews over the line in Wellington harbour.
The New Year Lawson’s Dry Hills Regatta was again a success with 52 yachts entered. It was great to host yachts from Lyttleton, Nelson, Wellington and Dunedin, with the crews coinciding racing with their family cruising/holiday time. A large amount of time went into promoting this event, travelling to other clubs and also getting our own skippers into the groove. A fantastic weekend was had by all and the Jimmy Buffett Tribute party transformed the club into a Caribbean dream! A total of 32 volunteers shared the load to make it a wonderful regatta.
The Marlborough Sounds Marina’s and Oddies Marine Twilight series were very well supported with a total of 53 yachts competing on a Tuesday evening.
Thirteen yachts took up the challenge to compete in the Redwoodtown Doctor’s Short Handed series, some keen and racing solo!
The NZ King Salmon Winter Series is again proving to be popular with a total of 24 fully crewed yachts racing on a fortnightly basis.
A new introduction to our sailing program was the Oddies Marine Business Series which proved to be very popular amongst a variety of businesses. Staff from 9 companies raced on a Friday night and employers used it as part of their team building for the year.
Without Mike Underwood, Glenys Drew, Lorna Perry, Barry Eames and their crew on Blue Peter, our committee/start boat, racing would not happen. A huge thanks to our volunteers that are out there every week, we really appreciate you! Mike not only runs our races but completes ongoing maintenance on Blue Peter.
A big thanks to my sailing committee, John Aldridge, Jeremy Turnbull, Chris Webb, Kent Luxton, Matt Michel and Anna Gibbs. Also, a special thanks to Sue Van Velzen, our club manager and to Heather Barnes who looks after PR & Communications. Sue and Heather put in a huge amount of hard work behind the scenes to ensure sailing runs smoothly throughout the season.
If you would like to volunteer to help during the year or for a particular event, please let the club office know. Extra hands are always appreciated and we promise that you will have fun!
Juliet Abbott
Rear Commodore Sailing.