Sail-World New Zealand- January 5, 2013 - Another year begins

by . on 5 Jan 2014 Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand newsletter for January 5, 2014

New Zealand sailors are experiencing a very mixed bag of weather over the Christmas and New Year period.

To the north, all is fine as a series of high pressure systems move through.

To the south several gale warnings have been issued as a series of lows flick through Cook Strait and the lower latitudes.

The Interdominion 12ft Skiff Championships are being staged at Worser Bay.

18 boats from across New Zealand and Australia were due to star the regatta with the traditional Invitation Race. But a 30 knot northerly building with lumpy wind-against tide conditions saw Race Officer Brett Linton replace the scheduled harbour race with lesser known but perhaps more crowd-pleasing speed trials

We have a brief report on the Speed Trial - along with some great images of the boats in full flight, as well as heading down the mine - as you do from time to time in the 12fters.

Staying with the skiffs, catch the report from the Australian 18ft Skiff League on the upcoming JJ Giltinan Trophy regatta starting in March - which has pulled a fleet of 30 skiffs from six countries. It should be a great series, and Frank Quealey describes how the class has been pulled back from the death a couple of times - but is now going from strength to strength around the world.

In Oman, New Zealand's Trent Rippey has finished 10th overall in the Laser Radial Youth Men's World Championship with Matthew Kempers in 18th overall, sailing in a 51 strong fleet. We have reports in this edition.

In Melbourne the OK Interdominion finished on Saturday. We are still awaiting a final report but it would seem that New Zealand sailors have scooped most of the major placings, with former World Champion, Greg Wilcox adding another title to his long list of accomplishments in the class. Luke O'Connell (NZL) was third. Five New Zealanders finished in the top eight in the 58 boat fleet.

Check on www.Sail-World.com for a report on the regatta when it comes to hand.

We have a few other stories in this edition which while not current, are interesting in a wider context.

We feature an interview with Russell Coutts, done not too long after the 34th America's Cup, which covers a lot of ground including an analysis of Emirates Team New Zealand, the future of the key players in the team and other comment along those lines, including his reflections on Oracle team USA's win in the last Match.

Also featured is an hour long video interview with the late Sir Fred Allen, the most successful All Black coach. While it covers a lot of rugby anecdotes, it is very interesting from a general sports perspective - particularly on his attitude to winning and how he tried to instill a winning attitude in his players. Yes it is old school - pre the professional era - but that is that domain that most young sailors inhabit before they hit the big time. Put your hand over the rugby talk - and search for the coaching and winning performance messages.

Emirates Team NZ wingsail trimmer, Glenn Ashby, has won the Australian A-Class Catamaran Nationals - heading off a quality field to with his 10th national title in the class.

Ashby will be in New Zealand in February, to try and win the 2014 World Championships again, which will be sailed at Takapuna. He will head a strong team that includes 2012 49er Olympic Gold Medalist, Nathan Outteridge. They will come up against 49er Silver medalists Blair Tuke and Peter Burling, plus a number of sailors from Emirates Team NZ. Well over sixth sailors are expected to compete in the regatta which will attract intense international interest, as always.

In this edition we also feature a review of the one of the new Olympic classes, and events - looking at the Nacra 17, which will be sailed in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 with a Mixed gender crew. In December, we talked with the winner of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne, Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis. Both are Olympic Silver Medalists, and Bundock is one of the top Olympic catamaran sailors in the world. For the time being he has turned his back on the America's Cup and will be focusing on the Olympics. They have some interesting views on how the new class is shaking down, and how the male/female crew dynamics work.

We also wrap up the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race coverage in this edition. Don't miss the final video - which features some great heavy air/big seas coverage as the fleet rounded Tasman Island on the final run-in to the Hobart finish.

Stay tuned to Sail-World.com/nz website for all the latest news.

Good sailing!

Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor

sailworldnzl@gmail.com

Send your news and images directly to Sail-World by http://www.sail-world.com/admin/add_story.cfm?rid=6!clicking_here

To subscribe a friend to Sail-World's FREE newsletter http://www.sail-world.com/nz/newsletter_subscribe.cfm!click_here

If you are a potential advertiser and want to understand how Sail-World can work for your company, website or product, then drop a line to Colin Preston at nzsales@sail-world.com

If you wish to come off our mailing list please click the unsubscribe button on this newsletter, or drop a line to deletesailworld@gmail.com, giving the email address that appears at the top of your newsletter. Or, if you want to contact Richard Gladwell directly email: sailworldnzl@gmail.com or call (649) 489 9267

Stay up with the latest sailing news, as it happens, on our website www.sail-world.com/nz