Yachting New Zealand: A vintage year

Blackmatch Racing win the 2009 World Match Racing Tour. Image copyright Subzero Images.

by Zoe Hawkins

From youth sailing to Olympic classes, offshore keelboating and matchracing, New Zealanders have had a great twelve months on the international stage. These are just some of our top victories for 2009 (in chronological order):

* Emirates Team New Zealand takes the Louis Vuitton South Pacific Series title raced in Auckland
* NZL sailors win bronze and silver in Team Racing World Champs in Perth
* Team Panama Jack, skippered by Phil Robertson, wins the Warren Jones Regatta in Perth, Western Australia, and Adrian Short, the Hardy Cup in Sydney, New South Wales
New Zealand successfully defends its world championship team event title at the IFDS * World Blind Sailing Championships sailed on Lake Rotorua. New Zealand won the 2009 title after securing a gold in the B2 fleet, and two silver medals in the B1 and B3 fleets.
* Kiwis Brad Jackson and Stu Bannatyne join an elite group of people to win the Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread) three times.
* Sailing...Have a Go! gets 9000 children on the water in its first three years, nominated for SPARC Sport & Recreation Awards 2009
* Mike Bullot takes silver in Laser Class at Princess Sofia Regatta
* Ralph Roberts receives SPARC Lifetime Achievement Award for his services to sailing
* The first Women’s Match Racing Development Squad is named. It's destination: 2012 Olympic Games.
* Roger Pagani and his crew win the BMW Sailing Cup, the world’s premier event for amateur keelboat racing
* Three Kiwi crews finish in the top ten at the ISAF World Cup Sailing Regatta
* Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie finish the 470 Europeans in second place
* The Hamish Pepper / Craig Monk combination take silver in the Star Class at Kiel, Michael Bullot takes silver in the Laser Class, and Greg Wilcox takes gold in the OK Dinghy
* Sam Meech secures an exciting Gold Medal in the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing World Championship in Brazil. The girls 420 team takes a fourth place, and New Zealand is fifth for national performance.
* A team of sailors from the RNZYS Youth Training Programme has won the Governor’s Cup sailing to victory in the 43rd US International Junior Match Racing Championship.
* The 49er World Championships concluded in Garda, Italy on July 19th with kiwi’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke winning the silver fleet.
* 24 year old New Zealand match racing skipper, Adam Minoprio is world number one in the latest release of ISAF match race rankings.
* Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk won silver at the 2009 Star World Championships recently concluded in Varberg, Sweden. George Szabo and Rick Peters of USA secured the world title.
* Karl Purdie of the Worser Bay Boating Club was awarded the silver medal at the 2009 OK Dinghy World Championships in Kalmar, Sweden. The Wellingtonian was just one point off defending his 2008 World Title.
* Alexandra Maloney and Bianca Barbrich-Bacher win the Women’s 420 World Championship in Italy. New Zealand won silver in the Open 420 World Championship with Francisco Lardies and Finn Drummond finishing in second place behind the new title holders from Greece.
* Declan Burn wins the 2009 Splash World Sailing Championships in Wales. The New Zealand team takes the Nations Cup.
* Emirates Team New Zealand excels in the TP52 class internationally
* BlackMatch Racing has won the St Moritz Match Race 2009
* Two New Zealand teams finished on the podium at the Buddy Melges Women’s Match Racing Regatta in Sheboygan, USA. The Kiwi team helmed by Samatha Osborne won the event, with Stephanie Hazard and crew finishing in 3rd place.
* Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie collected the silver medal at 2009 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta winning the medal race. The regatta wrapped up in Weymouth, England over the weekend rounding out the final event of the ISAF Sailing World Cup 2008-2009.
* Josh Junior and his crew of Matthew Steven and Chris Jones, representing Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, have won the Musto International Youth Match Racing Championship in convincing style at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. William Tiller (RNZYS) finished second, and Scott Burling (RNZYS) placed third.
* NZL secures ten top ten finishes at the Sail Sydney regatta in December.
* Adam Minoprio and Team Blackmatch win the illustrious Monsoon Cup for match racing and become Match Racing’s World Champion in the process (PICTURED)
* Alfa Romeo, owned and skippered by New Zealander Neville Crichton, wins the Sydney-Hobart yacht race

Yachting New Zealand