The Auckland Champs this year was reduced to just one days sailing. Bad weather on Saturday all over the country, meant cancelled events everywhere. Sunday however, was a great day to be on the water. We had  just the four sailors there on Sunday, Louis M, Chris C, Rory M + Sam W. Jack Simpson was there, but training with Marcus on their 29er. The wind was shifty & varied in speed from 3 knots to around 15 knots at times, so pretty comfortable for all sailors. Rory finished best Wakatere sailor in 7th place, followed by Sam in 11th, Chris in 37th + Louis in 39th.

The race of the day (race 3) belonged to Rory. Buried on the startline some 3 rows back, basically behind the start boat, Rory was the last boat off the line & decided to peel off to the right while most of the fleet sailed up the left, which had kind of been the favoured side through the day. Rory straight away found himself in some nice breeze, which after a couple of minutes swung around to his side of the course + stayed there. This brought Rory around the top mark some 100 metres ahead of the fleet. Some of the fleet closed in, but Rory managed to defend his lead & take out the win, Fantastic !  Not sure Rob "the coach" would approve of the tactic's, buy hey ! the win was on the board. Sam W had a great start in race 4 & was around the top mark 1st. Sam managed to keep the rirvals at bay for a while, but a few self confessed errors in the latter part of the race, had him slip to 8th spot. Both Chris & Louis had some good starts & where well placed in the early parts of some races, but slipped back as the races continued. Some tacticle lessons to be worked on for the coming regatta's.

Final race results : Rory 11th / 23rd / 1st / 11th -- Sam 24th / 15th / 4th / 8th -- Chris 33rd / 34th / 35th / ocs -- Louis 42nd / 39th / 44th / 28th. ( Total Fleet = 47)

The recent Junior Sail Auckland regatta held at Kohi, turned on excellent sailing conditions for both days + had a healthy fleet of 45 Starlings. The 1st race caught out the leading sailors at the finish. A small orange buoy & an Anchored yacht to the right of the actual finish boat, looked very much like it was the finish line. As the sailors got close, they realised the yacht wasn't flying any flags & was only a spectator boat, a good reminder for sailors to listen at the briefings + to read the sailing instructions. Sam Wallis sailed a consistent regatta with 6 top ten finishes to finish 4th, just one point away from sharing 3rd place. Rory also had another solid regatta finishing 10th, a good result considering he wasn't feeling like the brightest crayon in the box Saturday morning. Jack had a two 1st placings + 3 other top ten's, but was held to 11th overall by a DNF in one race + a Black Flag in another. Tom Milne finished 23rd, followed by Louis in 26th + Chris in 27th. All sailors are showing good progress considering they are new to the class + starting to get to grips with how different the Starling handle to the Opti's. The Tuesday training sessions with Rob are starting to pay off.  Well done team, keep up the hard work !

The Starling North Island Champs held at Maraetai was a great regatta & very well run by the Maraetai Boating Club. We had excellent sailing conditions with winds 15 through to 29 knots on the 1st 2 days, then a few hours delay on the 3rd day for the start of race 8. This allowed some time for the guys & girls to catch up with other sailors from around the country. The wind was light for the 8th race + a shift in wind direction had the sailors at the pin end, laying the top mark. The race was allowed to continue, which wasn't all bad, as Ellie picked up the win.

The wind picked up again & we finished the 9th scheduled race. Out of the 79 competitors, Ellie was our leading lady in 4th place (Well done Ellie). Rory also had a strong regatta finishing in 15th place, followed by Sam in 31st, Tom 43'd, Chris 50th + Louis in 58th. All of our sailors managed the odd capsize or 3, as well did most of the fleet, keeping the support boats busy.

Good time had by all, which is what it's all about !

This weekend Rory McCutcheon made it through to the final round of the North Harbour matchracing trials held out of Wakatere Boating Club. Sailors representing clubs from along the northern shores of Auckland went onto the water and sailed through a series of boat-on-boat elimination rounds until the final two sailors were left to fight it out. With very little experience of one of the more technical disciplines of the sailing sport, we congratulate Rory for having represented the club so well.

Matthew Hughes of Murrays Bay SC came through as the victor and will go on to represent North Harbour at the National competition held later this season.

Conditions were light with plenty of tide running, with rain coming through at times. The course was set off the beach and within view of hopeful parents, and in view of club members taking part in the annual Masonic Cup harbour race. Three sailors represented Wakatere, having taken part in a club trial earlier this season.

Well done Matthew, all those who got through to represent the club, and all those who took part in Wakatere's own trials to represent the club. Thankyou to those parents and club members who spent time on the water to run the racing, and to those who were judges for the event.

Below: Matthew receives a high five from his father as he comes ashore.