P Class Home Page

P Class sailing is alive and well at Worser Bay for the 2003-2004 Season.
Junior racing is almost every Saturday at 10am from mid September through to mid May.
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By Arran Whiteford Reports on:

P Class Nationals (Tauranga Cup) 2004
Naval Point Yacht Club
Lyttleton Harbour

7 Jan 2004: There were a lot of worried looks on sailors faces before the start of the first race of the 2004 P class Tauranga cup as there was quite a strong sea breeze blowing. The Worser bay sailors on the other hand were not worried at all these were the conditions they were used to, what they would do well in.

There were 91 boats on the start line which made it very different to club racing. If you got a good start you were up and going but if you got a bad start it was nearly impossible to do well. (Will the exception of josh who was last off the start line in a couple of races but still got in the top 20.) Leading up to the regatta all Worser bayeines had been practicing various big fleet starting techniques which helped us a lot.

All of the start lines were good with a slight port bias. Most people had a favorite spot on the line. Rowan would always be seen next to the committee boat, Josh would be on the port side as would Matthew. And Chris, Ben and I would usually stick to the middle.

Going upwind was tough work. With strong breezes the heavier people had the advantage but it was also a test of who could withstand the pain in their legs from hiking and keep going. Due to the many bays of Lyttleton Harbour it was very favoured to go as far as you could to the left. With no shifts in the sea breeze this was not risky and by the 2^nd race the whole fleet was doing it. A lot of sailors misjudged the lay line and tacked to soon not going as far left as they could have and so not doing as well. Matthew often took advantage and went all the way to the left doing only a couple of tacks and gained many places from this.

At the top mark we looked for a rest from this but had to work just as hard not nose diving, bailing out, keeping the boat steering downwind and jostling for position.

The regatta was run very well with not too long wait in-between races, good facilities, good courses and very good start lines. After each day there were spot prizes and there was also a prize giving dinner at the end of the regatta.
Photos here

2 Feb 2004
To All P Class and Starling Sailors
From the Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club

As organiser’s of the next P Class and Starling Nationals we are considering the use of split boat fleets for both P Class and Starlings for the 2005 National Contests as recommended by ISAF

HERE IS YOUR CHANCE TO GIVE US SOME FEEDBACK ON HOW YOU WANT THE NEXT NATIONALS TO BE SAILED.

The proposal is to use a similar system to that used in Lyttelton for the 2004 Starling Nationals.
Split the fleet into 4 fleets (called A,B,C and D). Over the first 2 days sailing there would be a qualifying series of flights whereby A & B would sail one race followed by C & D. A & C would then race followed by B & D etc. The aim would be for each competitor to complete 6 races over the first two days.
For day three and four of the regatta the fleets would be ranked into Gold and Silver Fleet for the remainder of the regatta. The top half of the fleet would sail for the National Title “Gold Fleet” and the bottom half of the fleet compete for “Silver Fleet “ honors.
There will be one discard after 5 races have been completed. After 10 races have been completed the worst two races will be discarded.

Pros

	Smaller fleets on the startline (50 compared to 100) as recommended by ISAF. This makes it easier for judges to identify those breaking the rules and for RO’s to pick out the OCS boats. Thus making for fairer racing for all competitors.
	This is already happening in overseas fleets (Boards and Lasers, Optimist etc).
	The startline will have less effect on the beat as it is shorter.
	The boats in Silver Fleet get a chance to sail in some clear air and win some race
	The boats in the Gold Fleet have less chance of being “taken out” on the startline by an inexperienced sailor.
	The best sailor race against each other in the final series.
	Inexperianced sailors have 2 days sailing with the chance to learn how to lead a fleet around the race track, win races and hone their racing tactics instead of fighting for clear air.

Cons

	No one (parents in particular) wants to be in the Silver Fleet.
	More races required and possibly a longer series.
	Harder to recover from a bad race in the first two days (Missing “the cut”).
	Only opportunity in NZ to sail in a large fleet.

For a rule change to take effect for the P Class we require sailors and parents input by the 14^th February 2004.
Please send letter to the TYPBC, Box 14352 Tauranga, or email to pclass@tauranga.co.nz
Or contact Gary Smith (07) 576 1956.

STOP PRESS

The Tauranga Regatta to be held in the same water as the P Class and Starling Nationals is on the 28 and 29 February 2004. The Notice of Race can be found on the TYPBC webb site under the “Racing” tab. www.yacht.org.nz or Contact Richard Burling (07) 544-2126. Or see you at the “North Islands” at Labour Weekend.

Have a great day
Gary Smith, Chairman, TYPBC Organising Committee 2005 Nationals

Nuplex P Class & Starling 2003-2004 National Championships Tanner & Tauranga Cups

Refer to the Junior Race Squad Pages for coaching and racing skills development.

NOR for Regional & National Regattas eg Tanner & Tauranga Cup
Results of Club Championship and Club Series Races are published here.
Tuning tips for P Class sailors
And we want to collect P Class action Photos.

Date: 31 October 2003
Subject: P Class Register

Hello to all the P Class Sailors on the P Class Register
My name is Gary Smith and I am the P Class registrar.
We are trying a new method of keeping everyone up to date with the P Class happenings, regatta's to come, regatta's been and P Class Rules. The Rules can be downloaded from the Tauranga Yacht Clubs webb page www.yacht.org.nz.
Everyone will be getting ready for your various Tanner Cup trial over the next few weekends. For those of you using the carbon rigs you should have the new stop fitted to your rigs. This will be checked at the Nationals at Christchurch. For information about the contest try www.cya.org.nz/youth.htm For copy of the letter sent to all Clubs see below.
Congratulations to all those that sailed the North Islands at Napier over Labour Weekend. The results show a great spread of talent from around the country. 1st Riley Dean (Christchurch) 2nd Chris Dawson (Murrays Bay) 3rd Peter Burling (Tauranga) 4th Grace Nixon (Kohimaramara) and 5th Josh Junior (Worser Bay). For a full set of results go to the YNZ web page, www.yachtingnz.org.nz
Please let everyone you know who sails a P Class that these emails will be starting to arrive and if you do not have your boat on the P Class Reister you will be missing out.
Also if you have some results or a contest coming up then send me an email and I will send the information on.
Have a great day

Gary Smith
P Class Registrar
TYPBC
Box 14 352
Tauranga

Letter to all Clubs
22 July 2003
The Secretary
All Clubs

Changes to P Class rules effective from 1 August 2003

There have been some changes to the class rules and Tanner and Tauranga Cup rules, as a result of a ballot sent to all yachting association. These changes have been approved by TYPBC and Wellington Yachting Assoc. and ratified by Yachting New Zealand. These rule changes are attached. Would you please circulate these changes to all your P Class sailors. They are effective from the 1st August 2003. Also please advise everyone that the current P Class rule book can be down loaded as a Word Document or Zip file (much smaller) from the Tauranga Yacht and Powerboat Club's Web page www.yacht.org.nz. One of the rule changes involves adding a positive stop to only the composite P Class mast. This can be achieved by either;

* taking your mast to the licensed P Class spar maker- C Spars at Birkenhead,

* or by sending a stamped self addressed envelope with the mast manufacturer and serial number to: C Spar, P O Box 34844, Birkenhead, Auckland, Ph:09 480 0716, email cspar@xtra.co.nz. They will then forward an appropriate stop and fitting instructions to you. This will not be in breach of P Class rule 3.5.2.3.

There has been a tremendous response to the "Audit" of the P Class register. If anyone else would like to check that their number is on the register then please email the P Class registrar at pclass@tauranga.co.nz.

Yours faithfully
Irene Mead
Secretary
TYPBC

P Class Home Page

STOP PRESS

P & Starling Holiday Clinic Monday Tuesday Wednesday 15,16,17 December 2003 09:00 - 16:00

Nuplex P Class & Starling 2003-2004 National Championships Tanner & Tauranga Cups

P & Starling Holiday Clinic
Monday Tuesday Wednesday
15,16,17 December 2003
09:00 - 16:00