NZTYA 2026 NEW ZEALAND CHAMPS

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Following a false start at the Bluff Oyster Regatta two weeks prior, a small fleet competed recently at the Marakura Yacht Club “Not The Easter Regatta” on Lake Te Anau. A report from the NZTYA host member, Southland Trailer Yacht Association, follows.

New Zealand Trailer Yacht Association

New Zealand Championships

The New Zealand Trailer Yacht Championships were scheduled for 28th and 29th March at the Bluff Yacht Club Annual Oyster Regatta.

For several months preparations had been going on quietly in the background, Event flyers, NoR, Sailing Instructions, getting NZTYA Trophies from Taupo, Keeping the pressure on the Invercargill City Council to complete the new Jetty and Toilet facilities in time.

Everything fell into place - except the weather. The forecast for the weekend was not promising but weather has a habit of changing suddenly.

Some gathered at the yacht club on Friday evening to set up yachts and catch up with other sailors. The weather was ok-ish, but forecast to blow over, overnight.

The briefing was called for 10am Saturday morning and delayed for an hour to re assess the weather. No improvement so the day was Postponed, then the whole sailing part of the weekend was cancelled. Terrible forecast. It was decided to go ahead with the Sea Food meal Saturday night, and all had a great evening - still no improvement in the weather. There was around 35knots to 40knots of wind all weekend.

Next question was, what do we do now? Marakura Yacht Club at Te Anau had the “Not Easter Regatta” on 28th and 29th March so the decision to move the event was made.

The weather leading up to the event was ok, so we hoped for a reasonable turn out of Trailer yachts.

Saturday arrived with very little wind, Bluff too much, Te Anau not enough. While there was a good turnout of Dinghy’s at the briefing, there were only Four Trailer Yachts. Very disappointing. We waited for a couple of hours and decided to head out anyway. There was a very light wind, and we managed to get two races off.

Sunday saw a slight improvement in the wind conditions so after a short delay we headed out. In the end four races were held with some close sailing………from time to time.

The final Trailer Yacht results were –

Unhinged Cooke 10m Hamish Jackson Queenstown Line Honors and Rating 1st

Eau asis Noelex 22 Bruce Keen Marakura Rating 2nd

Gazzini Noelex 25 Russel McDonald Marakura Rating 3rd

Smurfette Nolex 22 Paul Waymouth Marakura Rating 4th

Overall, a nice weekend tempered by the lack of Trailer Yachts. While I understand the event moving may have clashed with other events and the sudden steep increase in the fuel price may have made some rethink, there are several Trailer yachts around Invercargill and Te Anau, we just need to get them on the water and sailing.

Unhinged (photo supplied by owner)

Winning crew - Hamish with John & Marti