6 minute read

Cruising Division Report

from Breeze April May 2022

from Breeze April May 2022, page 58

Marine Scene

FROM THE CEO

With the recent government announcements and easing of Covid restrictions, the end of summer has been painted orange for us like a gorgeous sunset on the water.

It is not quite the end of what has been a challenging period for the club, but it does allow us to run our larger events with unrestricted numbers and sees a drop in the vaccine mandates. It also means our various representative teams begin to travel offshore with more ease and we get to welcome the first international sailors for over two years to visit the club and compete in our international invite regattas – the first of which is in May. Clearly the focus on competing against each other in New Zealand has still paid off as the results that are starting to come out really show the depth of sailing talent we continuously have coming through.

Over the past couple of months, we have continued to deliver a huge variety of on- and off-water activities – some of these were delayed from last year’s lockdowns and some were annual events – but between plenty of sailing, picnics, fishing days, golf day and a few lunches, prizegivings and parties in between, it has been a fun summer. It has not always been easy to deliver these with the various restrictions in place, so I really must thank the dedicated team of staff we have who have gone out of their way (and often had to think outside of the box) to make sure we have delivered the calendar we promised you.

With winter fast approaching and daylight hours diminishing, we have some great activities coming up for you to enjoy. Things start with the Doyle Winter Series on Sat 30 April and a family-friendly afternoon at the club, the Annual Summer Series Prizegiving, then onto Comedy Nights, Quiz Nights returning, fabulous Bingo, Rugby Nights, our 150th Gala, a great Winter Speaker Series and more. Please check the website and Facebook page for the details of these events.

Covid has not been easy on the club, so this year with annual subscriptions we are asking that you consider adding a donation to your annual subscription. If everyone does this, it will really make a huge difference to what and how we do things. We also will request that if you have regular crew joining you racing, then please ask them to become members. We are offering no joining fee for any crew joining during the winter months. Again, it all helps us deliver more and really does offer good value to participate in a sport and use of our facility.

Planting at Kawau will resume in July and August this year. We will again be asking for volunteers to register to help very soon, so please keep an eye out for this. Our sustainability efforts do not end just there with solar panels set to grace our north-facing roof around July thanks to ‘Lightforce’. Our carbon offset calculator will be live on the website in the next month where you will be able to calculate your own footprint and have options on how to offset this. It might be something you may want to think about in your own businesses with help from Carbonclick.

Umbrella installation on the Dinghy Locker deck (pictured above) is virtually complete and gives us more options for outdoor spaces (especially when it rains). A huge thank you to member Markus Müller for donating these to the club for everyone to enjoy. There will be a member offer to purchase these for yourself, so check them out.

Lastly, thank you for the various notes of support for the AC37 venue announcement. We are now in the process of arranging various members’ options in Barcelona and will be providing more details on this in due course. Suffice to say there seems to be a lot of interest and we will be ensuring members have a great experience.

With the orange sunset well in play now, we are looking forward to seeing the ‘green flash’ on the horizon soon. We do really appreciate your patience and support of the club and look forward to a near-normal winter in 2022.

Hayden Porter, CEO

Whitehaven Motor Yachts Harbour Classic 40

PIC Insurance Brokers Cruising and Motor Yacht Series

‘Best Kept Secret of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’

Series winners Ross & Chrissie McKee.

A summer of disruption due to Covid-19 restrictions meant we were only able to complete four of six rallies this season. The weather was awkward as well, with persistent northerlies reducing our course options, and low tides hampering our gatherings ashore.

This didn’t interfere with the enjoyment of meeting up with friends and discussing the day’s events. Yachts were sailed single handed, double handed, or with crew as the Omicron variant swept through Auckland.

Isi Bay was favoured three times with two course options allowing for strong, or very light winds. A worsening strong forecast allowed the boats to return home before the 30-40 knots arrived on Rally Three.

The highlight for Bird On The Wing crew was finding a pod of orca off Rangitoto wharf area.

Conversely, the shorter course has plenty of marks to enable Race Management to shorten if necessary in drifting conditions. Fortunately, this wasn’t required as the well-sailed yachts enjoyed the challenge in pleasant 5-10 knot northerlies.

The Rocky Bay destination for Rally Two saw opposing strategies as the wind went very soft in the middle of Tamaki Strait, enabling the following yachts to sail around the outside. An exciting finish with a fleet spread of only 17 minutes resulted in Warringa capturing the last puff to glide across the line just ahead of Share Delight.

IN STOCK NOW

New 2022

Elan Impression 40.1

Elan has designed a full range of new Deck Saloon yachts to satisfy the demanding needs of modern yachtsmen. These stunning yachts have been designed with every cruising comfort in mind. The on-deck systems allow for easy sailing especially for “short-handed” cruising while giving the space and comfort that you might only expect from a much larger yacht both above and below decks.

• Battery monitor system • Sprayhood • Bimini top • Bow thruster • 3 blade folding propeller Flex-o-fold • Harken halyard electric winch B40.2 • Fusion Audio Package • Additional water tank • Raymarine Upgrade • Electrical windlass 1000W + battery (95Ah) • Engine upgrade to Volvo D2-50 • Teak on cockpit coamings • Scanstrut pods • Twin Steering • 3 x Cabins Single head • Length Overall = 11.90m • Beam max = 3.91m • Draft = 1.80m • Displacement = 8000kg