Sailing back into Whangamata Habour after a great sail.

I took my laser with me up to the Coramandel, we went up there for a holiday, dad thought it was boot camp, he seemed to be on a mission to get Heleen and I fitter. He would take us on bike-runs, where he rides his bike and we have to run! not so fear.

I even spent a bit of time sailing out off Whangamata harbour which was a bit of fun. I wasn't the only one training out of there, Marcus Hansen was also up there.

I then left for Tauranga, where I picked up my new boat, (she's fast). A few days later we had a training camp where most of New Zealand's top laser sailors came together, Andrew Murdoch, Michael Bullot, Sam Meech, Andy Maloney and Max Andrews were all there.

We spent 3 days training outside the harbour, in stunning 7-14 knots of breeze, and 2 days inside the harbour in a bit more breeze. Everyone was so even, with very little separating us, its shaping up to be a nationals where any one of about 8 of us could win it.

Exciting times.

Check out these cool photos of me training in Lyall Bay, I was not game to get right in amongst the breakers, but I was right on the edge of them. They were recording 4 to 5 metre waves on the south coast. Epic afternoon sailing.

Huge waves breaking over the break wall.

One of the smaller waves, the only one I was game to catch

Missed that big mamma, Luckily.

Well after a very successful last few weeks sailing in the keel boats, I made the move back into the laser, to start building up to the New Zealand Laser Nationals. 

It was interesting to say the least, I was out of control, I rocked and rolled my way down wind only just managing to keep it upright. I sailed well throughout Sydney, and made the best of my opportunities to be just one point of the lead going into the last race, but I had a shocker and finished 5th.

James, Peter Burling, Blair Tuke and I then went down to Bondi for a few days where we stayed in the back packers, we went body surfing every day, we even did a day trip to the aquarium where a girl Blair had met the day earlier, let us in for free, (it wasn't really worth paying for).

Blair and Pete met up with the Aussie 49er boys who they traveled down to Melbourne with, while James and I crossed the bridge and went to Manly beach, and then met up with a friend of ours who took us down to Melbourne. We left at just after mid day and with a 9 hour drive ahead of us, we were going to be arriving late, we got there and the people who we were all going to be staying with, forgot to leave the key out, we were stuck with no where to stay, quite typical of a trip where jj and js travel together though.

The only way to solve this problem was with a jj + js solution. there where 5 of us altogether, and a dog. we booked ourselves in a twin bedroom, while the two parents walked in, the 3 of us, waited a little and then walked up, with the dog in a backpack, we made it with out even being noticed, I'm not sure if the same can be said for the next morning though!

Anyways, Melbourne was nice, well not that nice, it rained, it was windy, some times there was no wind, it reached 40 degrees one day and the next it was 15. I started to sail really well, the problem was that my results weren't showing it, I just kept making big mistakes, well the 50/50 calls just weren't going my way and there were quite a few times when I was in front, and just went a little to far one way, and this ended up costing me a lot.

I'm glad to now be back in new Zealand and am looking forward to doing some training here.

Intense racing in Rushcutters bay.

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.

After leading the round robins in an enviable position, having lost only one race, Junior defeated fellow countryman Scott Burling in the semi finals with two straight wins.

Going into the grand final, Junior was match fit and on a winning streak. Race Officer Denis Thompson set the course in Sydney ’s Rushcutter's Bay taking advantage of the 9-11 knot westerly breeze.

 In the first match Junior led Will Tiller from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron throughout the match. Junior was given a penalty for early entry, which he carried through the match undertaking his penalty turn just prior to crossing the finish line.

In Match Two Junior controlled the race from the pre-start maneuvers to the top mark, leading Tiller throughout the match and taking the win by two boat lengths.

In what was the final match of the day, Junior again received a pre-start penalty, but he managed to wipe this off soon after the start by inflicting a penalty on Tiller. Displaying good racing tactics at the mark roundings, Junior shut out Tiller and sailed home by three boat lengths to clinch the Musto International Youth Match Racing Championship.

Commenting on his win, Junior said “This has been a great regatta for us – it’s our first win on Aussie soil and I am ecstatic. The regatta had a great mix of conditions that really suited us.”

Written by Pam, CYCA

Big luffing duel against Laury, we are in black, laury has a ripped kite, ended up costing him a thousand bucks

Sam Sparks, Luke O'Connell, Jonathan Clough, Matthew Steven and myself competed in the New Zealand Match Racing Nationals. This was probably not our greatest event, we struggled a little bit with the bigger boats. the top 6 were all very close, but we just missed out on the semi finals. We defeated William tiller to finish 5th.

The highlight of our regatta was probably beating Chris Dickson. He punished me a little in the pre start for making one small mistake, but we kept it close, and going into the last down wind we were right on his tail, we managed to soak inside him, and simo gybed on his air. We were neck and neck, just when I though Chris had it, we surfed down a wave a just got him on the line. MEAN!!

Near the beginning of November from the 4th to the 8th, three Port Nicholson youth scheme members (Josh Junior, Matthew Steven and Matt Clough) and two other local Wellington sailors (Jonathan Clough and Luke O'Connell) traveled to Auckland to represent the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in the New Zealand Open Keelboat Nationals. Over four days of some intense racing and a few setbacks, the trip proved to be ultimately successful and saw Wellington return with the title.

  After finishing 3rd under skipper Josh Junior last year, the team were coming into the regatta with high expectations. Racing was to be done in a 10 strong fleet of Platu 25’s and held at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club. With 13 teams registered including some past winners, world title holders and Olympic sailors, competition promised to be strong.  

For those of us who hadn’t sailed on the boats the year previous, we were in for a bit of a shock on training day. At just 24 feet long, narrow and sporting a very small keel, the boats were extremely tippy and unruly to sail. Just one person hopping on to the boat whilst docked would cause it to lean significantly and we quickly learnt the significance of keeping the boat flat whilst sailing, especially on the down-winds.

We made the most of our training day in a gentle 10-12 knots of breeze. Already the boats were getting powered up and touchy when running with the kite up. Despite a few difficulties as we got used to our positions on the new boat, we finished the day happy with our session and confident we’d be competitive in boat-speed for the regatta. We had even got a broach in there. Unfortunately, by the end of the day we were without a camera as somehow Josh’s had managed to find its way to the bottom of the marina.

As day 1 of the regatta rolled around we were given an early wake-up call by the kids of the Manning household (literally) jumping on us. Already bruised and battered we made our way to the club for the first day of racing. Due to there being 13 teams and only 10 boats the regatta was to be held in a three-fleet qualifying format for the first three days, with finals to be held on the last day. Each fleet would race each other the same number of times and a team’s final qualifying position would count for the first race of the finals. Off the bat we had a good result in the first race. After having a fairly average start at the committee boat end causing us to tack immediately, Josh continued to push the right and we were subject to a nice shift taking us around the top mark in first position. We held on to the lead and won the race. It was then we knew we had the boat-speed to match the competition. The day continued and although we lacked some consistency, in around 15-20 knots we finished the day in 2nd place overall and with some very sore stomachs from hiking off the wire (except for Josh).

Boys Hiking Hard as we roll over some fallow competitors.

Despite a minor hitch involving a set of keys that night, we managed to make it to the Manning’s and back to the club for days 2 and 3 of racing. Our mixed results continued over the remainder of the qualifying races with consistent breezes mostly ranging from 15 to 20 knots. Although having had a number of good wins under our belts, we also had a few high-scores scattered around, notably a few 5’s. Andrew Wills (Willzy), a previous winner, was sailing very well and qualified ahead of us. Simon Dickey and his team (the Platu boys) familiar with sailing the Platus, were also close behind us. In the end, one broken backstay later, we qualified for the final day in 2nd place which would count as the first race we took into the finals.

The final day did not start very well for us and the first few races immediately brought up another contender for the title, Brett Neil, who we only knew as “Boat 6”. Having qualified in 4th he was having a blinder of a day early on and it was his team along with “Willzy’s” who were sharing the majority of the line honours for the first 3 of 6 races. Having fought back from behind in all our races we were quite lucky to still be in touch with 3 races to go, but only just. However we fought back well, winning the next two races, evening out the scoreboard. We were tied with Andrew Wills’ team on points with one race to go and Brett Neil was just behind. It was all down to the last race. In a bit of pre-match banter we told Brett Neil’s team we thought the title race was between him and Willzy. Whether this was the reason “Boat 6” and “Willzy” appeared to be having an epic match-race around the entire course we will never know, but we did sail away to win the race by a landslide and with it, claimed the national title.

Back at the club there is a board on the wall with the names of past winners skippers on it. The list includes some famous names including Chris Dickson, Russel Coutts, Ray Davies and Dean Barker. By now Josh Junior should have been added to that list. It was obviously a huge achievement for all of us who sailed and on behalf of the team a huge thanks has to be given to the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht club, the Port Nicholson Yachting Trust, its sponsors the New Zealand Community Trust, Paul Hastings Real Estate, Alleasing, Alligator Security, Keith Taylor Charitable Trust and finally to the Manning Family for allowing us to stay in their home. Without them neither of the trip or this fantastic result would have been possible.

^{Written by Matt Clough}

Last week I traveled up to Napier to do some training with James Sandall. We had perfect weather, 5-10 knots most days, with lots of sun shine. Not only did we do a lot of sailing, but we went for 3 long bike rides and went to the gym as well.

Then on Friday morning we headed up to Auckland to complete our hiking test, and fitness tests, it went reasonably well but showed I still have a long way to go. On Saturday we went and had a game of tennis and then went to the YNZ Olympic meeting. It was cool to see 60 of New Zealand’s top sailors all in one place.

I had to be home at 9am on Sunday morning to train on the MRX’s, we left Auckland at 10pm and went via Napier to pick up my car, I didn’t think I was going to make it, but with a few red bulls and a bit of luck, I made it home safely. Ready for the days training.

Cheers Josh

Getting consistent time on the water has been challenging to say the least, our match racing team has made it out once in the last few weeks, and I struggle to do more than 7 or 8 hours a week in my laser.

Our team is coming together very well, today we have been out training against Daryl Wislang, and had a fantastic session working on pre-starts. We are all starting to get very excited about our upcoming regattas.

Since I haven’t been able to get out on the water much, I have been pushing the fitness side. I have been enjoying it and starting to see some good results, although running in the rain/hail is not so much fun. Next week I am off for a training week in Napier with James Sandall, and then we head up to Auckland for fitness testing on Friday, and then a get together with all the sailors aiming for the 2012 Olympics. It should be fun, and hopefully the weather will be a little better than what it has been recently.

To check out the dates for all the upcoming events, click here

Cheers Josh

Intense fog hampers day 2 of racing

On the 26th of August, in a hall packed with over 200 sailors, official and supporters, I was awarded 11th overall and first under 21 year old at the 2009 Laser World Championships. This capped off a fantastic year for me.  

I traveled to this event with 3 kiwis and an aussie. Max Andrews, Matt Coutts, James Sandall and James Burman. After waiting for 8 hours in Halifax airport for the boys to arrive from Sweden, we hopped in a taxi and away we went. Probably in the wrong direction because the taxi driver had no idea where we were meant to be going, but we made it there eventually.

We woke the next morning to find we were only 5 minutes from the yacht club. Light winds and dense fog had set in. (The organizers had told us, 20 knots of sea breeze, no tide and beautiful sailing conditions, EVERY DAY. Well they failed to tell us that 180 day of the year they get fog!)

We were living upstairs of someone’s house situated with only a large grass area between us and the lake. In the lake lived a lock ness monster, and on the other side of the lake were hundreds and hundreds of bears. But this didn’t turn us off, we went for a walk up the other side of the lake (saw a bear) and swam in the lake every day!

We got the early charter and had our boats 10 days before the start of the event. I trained every day except one. It was awesome because every time you were out there, there were at least 70 other boats all doing gate start races, this was awesome practice for me and I got better and better with every day. I participated in the practice and was leading till I got sick of it and went in. I was amped and ready for racing!!

The first day brought a glorious 15 knot sea breeze I had a good first day, but realized I still had heaps to work on. I sailed great on the second day to pick up a 3rd and a 4th, although both of these got thrown out due to the severe fog. So after the disappointment of those 2 races being thrown out I headed out on the on the 3rd day ready for business. I gave it everything placing 4,6,and 8. We then headed in and put all 180 boats in the yacht club, and headed home for a rest day.

I was so happy we had that day off because I was so tired, and I think I would have really struggled if were to have raced that day. On day 5 the boats were unloaded from the club, and the fleets were split into gold, silver and bronze. I was so excited for gold fleet sailing, that I was the first one on the water, not that it meant anything, because the wind was so light and it was coming from al directions, it did this all day, which meant another day of no racing!

Me, 196032 popped and going for it off the start line, Olympic gold medallist Paul Goodison, in boat 43.

The next 2 days were intense gold fleet racing, with every little mistake costing you. Consistency was the key, if you could just get top 10s in every race you would probably win the event. I was up and down like a yoyo, one race I got a 4th, the next a 40th. It was tough, exciting, and a challenge. I did just enough to hang on to 11th overall. 

I was so stoked! 

I would like to thank everyone who supported me through the comments page, I would like to thank Rooster and NZsailing.net for all the gear. Also the Talent Development Program in Wellington for all there support. Finally I would like to thank Mark Howard who was coaching us at the event, and my parents who continue to support me where ever needed.

Cheers, Josh

Rounding first at the first bottom mark in the first race

It took us two 14 hour days in the V8 truck towing 8 lasers from Houston up to Brant Beach, New Jersey, where the 2009 US laser nationals were to be held! I was staying with Martin, a 16 laser radial sailor who I had been coaching down in Houston. Although neither of us performed that well, we had a great time.

Brant beach is possibly the nicest place I have ever visited, situated on a long strip of land off the new Jersey coast with the yacht club situated on the inside of this strip. Meanwhile only 150 meters away on the other side, is a white sandy beach as far as the eyes can see.

The sailing area was very tough, shallow and lots of weed floating round. The water was very flat and the wind was very shifty. There were 106 full rigs in this regatta and they all started together. This made for some of the toughest starting I have ever been in. I struggled to get off the line, and quite often found myself having to sail through the fleet ... not ideal...

I finished a credible 4th, but this was not really good enough for me and I had a lot of things to work on for the worlds. BRING IT ON!

I would like to thank all those from Houston yacht club for making this such an enjoyable trip. I would also like to thank rooster and NZsailing.net for there support, and also Rob Coutts for all his advice though out the regatta.

Cheers, Josh

At one stage I worked for 33 days straight, and if you include training, sailing and traveling to events, I only had one day off. And that was when I was so sick I couldn’t even get out of bed.

Some of my highlights were, cruising clear lake on a massive power boat, sailing in thunderstorms, drinking martinis by the lake, traveling to Corpus Christie, the drive to Brant beach (28hours), the Card Board boat race, and the endurance race!

I was coaching kids from the ages of 8 or 9 right up to 16 or 17, through the optimist, laser 4.7 and laser radial. They were all fantastic sailors, some of whom have already achieved great results, and some who are well on the way there.

Houston yacht club put me up in a house right beside the ocean, gave me a car and let me use one of the club lasers. I was set up, and I would really like to thank Allan Coutts and the Houston Yacht club for everything they did for me.

For any young sailors, I would recommend doing this or something like it, its great fun!