Representing clubs from as far north as Kerikeri and as south as Wanaka, 51 young sailors aged 16-18 are part of what is New Zealand’s newest youth sailing regatta, the Toyota Kiwi Cup.
Teams have been accommodated in the RNZYS ballroom in what has been dubbed ‘tent city’ with all the tents named after current America’s Cup and Olympic sailors, a first for all involved.
“The Toyota Kiwi Cup was an opportunity for us to strengthen our connections with clubs from around the country as well as support the next generation of sailing talent,” says RNZYS General Manager Sarah Wiblin. “It’s a chance to give the students a taste of high-end competitive racing while getting them better connected with the Auckland marine industry that co-exists with so much of our sailing success.”
The sailors will have the exclusive experience of a tour at the North Sails loft and Southern Spars facility, as well as industry talks such as Live Ocean and Yachting New Zealand.
The Regatta holds a special connection to Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ), currently readying themselves for the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona with them having donated the fleet of Elliott 7s that the teams will learn to sail and then compete on.
Toyota New Zealand Assistant Vice President, Susanne Hardy, says that the regatta is a significant step for these young sailors towards achieving their goals of progressing in the sport of sailing.
“At Toyota, we’ve always been strong supporters of grassroots sport and know the importance it plays in the success of many of our national teams. Our longstanding support of sailing in New Zealand with the Optimist Nationals, through to Emirates Team New Zealand is testament to that. It’s exciting to see the Toyota Kiwi Cup taking place for the first time – a great opportunity for these young sailors to test themselves and have some fun.”
“To continue the ongoing legacy of New Zealand sailing success we need to foster our young sailors and develop their skills to continue to compete on the world stage at the top level” says Sarah Wiblin. “For some of these young people their pathway to being part of ETNZ will start this week and that’s something we’re all proud to be a part of.”
“We spent the first three days getting the teams used to handling the Elliott 7s. A lot of these kids haven’t sailed these keel boats before,” informed RNZYS Performance Sailing Manager Zak Merton. “It’s all about getting them used to working as a team, good communication and processes for handling the boat.”
The two days fleet racing will run Thursday and Friday with the inaugural Toyota Kiwi Cup winner announced at a prize giving on Friday evening.
The Toyota Kiwi Cup regatta is supported by Live Sail Die and its two Junior Content Creators, Anna Dold (16) and Jayden Murdie (17) have been selected to create video and photography content for the event and will be a part of the action while receiving training from Live Sail Die and gear support from Canon New Zealand.
