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Kawau Bay was filled with coloured sails last week as 200 sailors from all over New Zealand competed at the Team Sailing Nationals competition. Sailors have to work together across three vessels to out-manoeuvre their competitors, either by taking the wind out of their sails or with superior tacks.
The competition is sailed on 420 dinghies.
Teams consist of three boats, each with two sailors.
Points are calculated by the finish position of all three boats in a team.
A new record was set with more than 500 yacht races at the New Zealand Team Sailing national competition in Algies Bay last week.
Around 200 sailors travelled from 28 schools across the country to take part in the seven-day event.
Organiser Ross Sutherland says thanks to good weather, there were six round robins, cementing Algies Bay as the top sailing venue in New Zealand.
Ross believes the event would have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the local economy from visitor spend.
Rangitoto College again took the top spot, with first place in the gold fleet division.
Waimea College is believed to be the first South Island team to come in the top three, taking third in the gold with 19 races.
The team had previously won a scholarship from the Sandspit Yacht Squadron last year for a training camp on Kawau Island.
Whangaparaoa’s Wentworth College won first place in the silver fleet. Mahurangi College placed seventh equal.
Sutherland said the event couldn’t have been done without the Mahurangi racing team, who made packed lunches each day for the sailors and umpires.
The Jane Gifford Trust was also pivotal in the event’s success, lending the scow to hold up to 100 students offshore as they awaited their races.
The top three open teams and the top three girls’ teams from the event have also qualified for the Interdominion Team Sailing tournament between Australia and New Zealand.
It will be held in September in Algies Bay, provided there are no travel restrictions.
