News Around the World
By the time Peter Blake launched Bruce Farr’s IOR masterpiece Steinlager II in 1989 New Zealand sailing was already well on the way to world domination. From a first success in the One Ton Cup at the end of the ’60s, momentum steadily built with more successes including a breakthrough Admiral’s Cup victory in 1987 (the team coached by Rod Davis). Meanwhile, a new generation of young Kiwi designers were also busy, changing ocean racing for ever with lighter, fairer designs (before later being nobbled by the rulemakers). Ironically, after previously frightening the establishment with light-displacement IOR designs, along with fellow actors Paul Whiting and Laurie Davidson, for Steinlager II Farr hit the other extreme with the longest, heaviest and most powerful round-the-world racer ever, its higher mid-range speeds helping Blake’s crew to achieve the Whitbread Race’s only ever clean sweep by winning every leg
the famous trophy will have spent 15 years in residence at the RNZYS (1995-2003 and 2017-2024). That is second only to the New York Yacht Club itself – although admittedly a distant second to that club’s 132-year stranglehold. The RNZYS was nearly 100 years old before it truly ventured into
international yacht racing. From as early as 1888 yachts carrying the burgee of the Auckland Yacht Club (the name changed to mark the granting of ‘royal’ status in 1902) crossed the Tasman Sea to take on the best that Australia could offer. The strong sporting rivalry between New Zealand and Australia was already well established and every victory by either side – but particularly by the smaller cousin – was a thing to savour. In the summer of 1900 Australian discomfort at yet another
drubbing on Sydney Harbour was epitomised by a lament in the columns of the Sydney Mail: ‘At the present time New Zealand boats are very much in evidence when the prize list is read out. Why should this be?’ A highlight in these trans-Tasman raids came in 1966 when
Fidelis, flying the RNZYS burgee, took line honours in Australia’s signature offshore event, the Sydney-Hobart classic. These antipodean clashes were regarded as something of a
natural extension of domestic competition. New Zealand crews sailed their boats across the unruly Tasman to take on the Australian fleets and then sailed back home again. The first truly international excursion came in 1968, with a foray
into the powerhouse of European competition when 23-year-old sailmaker Chris Bouzaid built a Sparkman & Stephens One Tonner called Rainbow II. With backing from the RNZYS the yacht was shipped to Europe to compete in the One Ton Cup. Rainbow II had already shown potential by winning the 1967
Sydney-Hobart on handicap, but there were some misgivings about taking on the might of European and American crews in a blue- ribbon event like the One Ton Cup. Racing off Heligoland, Rainbow II finished second to a very polished German crew. She then returned to Heligoland the following
24 SEAHORSE
year to claim the trophy, a result heralded in the Auckland news- papers with blazing headlines sharing the front page with Neil Armstrong’s ‘giant leap for mankind’ moon landing. This One Ton Cup win is largely taken to be New Zealand’s first step onto the sailing world stage. Curious about these barefoot Kiwi yachtsmen with a reputation
for hard partying and even harder sailing, Olin Stephens, the patrician of IOR yacht design, jumped at an opportunity to spend a day racing with them on the Solent following their One Ton Cup victory. He later wrote that he had ‘never been more impressed by the
sheer racing and sailing ability’ they displayed. ‘The crew’s ability to take advantage of every slant, beating through the fleet in Cowes Roads, was an experience I shall never forget. It was true New Zealand-style sailing, of which we have seen continuing evidence,’ he added later in his autobiography. Following that seminal One Ton victory the RNZYS’s continuing
role in New Zealand’s march to sailing prominence was heavily featured in its recent year of celebration. The club’s trophy cabinets have played host to the One Ton Cup six times, along with Half-Ton, Three-Quarter Ton and Two-Ton victories. In 1971 three Kiwi South ern Cross Cup One Tonners, Pathfinder,
Runaway and Wai-Aniwa, scored a never-repeated first, second and third place finish in the Sydney-Hobart Race. The Admiral’s Cup, Southern Cross Cup and Kenwood Cup have all found a home in the Squadron trophy cabinets, as has the Fastnet prize. Peter Blake and Grant Dalton both won the Whitbread Round the
World Race flying RNZYS burgees. Both brought honour to the club again by presiding over successful challenges and defences of the America’s Cup (1995 and 2000, then 2017 and 2021). It is by any standard a substantial roll call of silverware. Unfortunately, recounting the early history of the RNZYS is
hampered by the fact that many early records were destroyed in two clubhouse fires. For a while the club traced its history to 1851 – an auspicious year coinciding with the birth of the America’s Cup. However, that claim was relinquished when it was established that
JONATHAN EASTLAND/ALAMY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124
