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For the first time, Manly Sailing Club hosted a regatta as part of the Auckland Anniversary Day celebrations on January 27.
The regatta was for RS Feva and O’Pen Skiff boats.
Commodore Barry Thom says it’s the first time Manly has been an official venue. It was chosen because those classes of boat are a big part of the training that the Russell Coutts Foundation runs at the club.
The regatta was organised at short notice –Vice Commodore Harold Bennett says the club did not get confirmation that it would go ahead until December.
It is the first year that the RS Feva and Skiff classes have been included in the Anniversary Day event, which Barry says signifies the growth of these classes.
Around 30 boats, mostly sailed by local young sailors, took part in racing on a course off Manly Beach.
The club’s junior sailors are achieving success in national competitions in the O’Pen Skiffs – after the recent O’Pen Skiff nationals in Napier, Ben Tapper became the U17 champion and Finn Pye took the U13 title, with Costa Gladiadis in second place in the U13s.
Ben is from Epsom and although his nearest sailing club is the Royal Akarana Yacht Club, started at Manly because they had the O’Pen Skiffs boats. He says although Akarana has the skiffs now, he has continued at Manly “because the coaching is really good”.
In recent weeks, the club secured the right to host the RS Feva World Championships, which will be held over the Christmas/New Year period.
Coutts now president
Barry Thom, pictured left, is now Commodore of Manly Sailing Club, after Russell Coutts stepped down at the club’s annual meeting last year. Harold Bennett (right) remains as Vice Commodore, with Russell
Coutts taking up the newly created role of president of the sailing club.
Harold says that Russell’s role as chief executive of SailGP involves a lot of travel, which led to the change in roles.
Barry has been sailing competitively since he was a teenager and grew up in Stanmore Bay. He now lives in Manly and races windfoilers (foiling windsurfers).
A learn to windsurf programme was recently added to the club’s training courses.
