Tribute to Sir Peter Blake Gets Bigger
by Peter Webster + Richard Gladwell on 13 Jul 2005
Sir Peter Blake's name and mana has been lent to the largest youth regatta in New Zealand Sir Peter Blake Trust
Torbay Sailing Club is well on the way to organising one of the largest sailing regattas to be held within Auckland in a tribute to Sir Peter Blake.
The Sir Peter Blake Memorial Torbay Youth Regatta has been one of the largest junior youth regattas being held annually on a weekend nearest to the anniversary of Sir Peter’s unfortunate death. Torbay Sailing Club works alongside the Sir Peter Blake Trust as principal regatta sponsors.
The last edition of the regatta in December 2005 attracted 276 entrants, sailing in all youth classes including Optimist, P class, Starling, Laser, 420 and some Olympic classes such as Mistral boards and 470 class yachts.
The club’s vision is to grow the entrants to around 350 by inviting the Hobie class and other more senior centreboard boats like the Zephyr, 3.7,s. Any Classes that which to compete but are not mentioned please contact Peter Webster at peterandnicki@ihug.co.nz or (6421) 0606 8586
Torbay Sailing Club has very recently been approached to include keeler classes within our regatta. With the co-operation of the Gulf Harbour Yacht Club the organisers have decided that the best way to pay a tribute to one of New Zealand’s best sailors is to run the largest two day sailing regatta in New Zealand.
The weekend of 10-11th December will see not only a two day regatta held off Torbay but also a sailing spectacle involving up to 450 yachts competing within a similar area as used for the Americas Cup. This is one of the few occasions spectators will see such a range of sailing yachts competing in a two day regatta.
The racing fleet is expected to range from the 7 foot P class though to 60 foot keelers, bringing competitors and spectators to the beaches and vantage points of the East Coast Bays. North Shore City Council is also in full support of the regatta is the assisting with all facets of the event.
Not only is the weekend about sailing achievements, but part of the Sir Peter Blake Trust’s program is to inform as many people as possible of the ecological work Sir Peter undertook. As the main sponsor of the regatta the team from the Sir Peter Blake Trust will have a display on site showing the enormous amount of work Sir Peter did towards the environment of the world.
For further information, please contact please contact Peter Webster at peterandnicki@ihug.co.nz or (6421 0606 8586
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