The all-female team from the Whangārei Cruising Club battled adverse conditions in last year’s Bay of Islands Sailing Week regatta on their boat, Rum Jungle. Photo / Lissa Photography
Following in the wake of the Tall Ships Regatta in Russell, where more than 70 vessels of all ages, sizes and design took part in the regatta last weekend comes the 21st Bay of Islands sailing week from January 23 to 26.
Sailing week is something of a misnomer since it is a four-day regatta with three days of racing. However, it has become a highlight of the sailing calendar for New Zealand sailors and a growing number of internationals from Australia and around the Pacific.
Regatta headquarters is the Ōpua Cruising Club and there are three race courses – the Outer course for A, B and M divisions, Middle course for C, E, Sports Boats and Young 88 divisions and the Island Racing course, which all boats will sail.
To date, 86 boats have entered and this year a division for women has been introduced with two trophies, one for the Top Female Helm and one for the Island Racing division.
The trophies are sponsored by Yachting New Zealand as part of their SheSails NZ initiative to promote women and girls in sailing.
The glamour segment is the A and B divisions. It has the largest boats (40ft-50ft) and arguably the most serious racers since they have big crews, some of whom are professional sailors.
Mayhem, which won the A division last year, is entered again this year and so is Wired, which came in second. Back for the B division is last year’s winner Steve Mair on Clockwork.
The most popular division is Island Racing, which has a more relaxed, laid-back style. Competitors do one long bay race each day and the course uses various islands and natural features within the bay as race marks.
Helen Horrocks, media liaison for the regatta, said the Island Racing division allows sailors to enjoy the “incredible scenery of the Bay of Islands while they race”.
At racing’s end there is the much anticipated after party where around 500 attendees are expected. There is also a mid-regatta beach party at Otehei Bay on the Thursday, which attracts several hundred people.
Two free kayak workshops run by KayakSafe NZ and funded by Safer Boating New Zealand are being held in Ōpua and Whangārei.
The first workshop is at the Ōpua Cruising Club on January 13, and the second the following day at the May Bain room in the Whangārei Library. There will be a follow-up on-the-water practical session in Tutukaka on January 20, with details to be provided at the morning classroom sessions.
Chief instructor is Dallas Veitch, who represents the Kiwi Association of Sea Kayakers (Kask) and is national co-ordinator for the KayakSafe NZ programme. She also leads the practical sessions for those with kayaks. Other members of Kask are assisting to ensure a ratio of at least one instructor to four participants.
Veitch said they expect between 20 to 30 people to attend each presentation, with a similar number on the water.
“In class workshops we have had kids as young as 12 years old and kayakers in their 70s and everything in between, while youngsters aged from 12 to 15 years are welcome to attend with an adult.”
The workshops consist of a presentation covering essential safety equipment, getting your kayak ready to paddle, communication devices, interpreting marine forecasts, suitable clothing, hazards, trip planning and emergencies. A practical session that puts this knowledge into practice on the water under the eyes of experienced local kayakers.
This year, KayakSafe has produced a series of educational videos covering this material.
A recent Coroner’s report from Wellington highlighted why the KayakSafe workshops are so important. In 2021, Wellington kayaker Jack Skellet, 23, died by accidental drowning after he went paddling during storm-force winds and rough seas. Skellet had become separated from his kayak and lifejacket while paddling.
A fresh look at some of New Zealand’s oldest European garments by specialist conservator Dr Tracey Wedge has highlighted the rarity of the clothing and challenges the understanding of their history.
The items include two wedding dress fragments, two shirts, a clerical neck-cloth and two christening gowns all belonging to the Kings and the Hansens, missionary families who established the first Church Missionary Society settlement at Hōhi in the Bay of Islands in 1814.
The garments are in the care of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Hocken Collection and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s Te Waimate collection.
“These items are some of the oldest surviving European clothes to have arrived in New Zealand and so they have tremendous importance,” Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga senior collections adviser Belinda Maingay said.
The approach taken by Wedge, a Hansen descendant, included investigating the nature and design of each textile in detail and looking into the lives of both the King and the Hansen families before they left England.
Her findings were presented at the annual Costume and Textile Association of New Zealand Symposium early last year. What has emerged is a remarkable portrait of the first two European families to settle in New Zealand and the way these garments shed light on their lives.
Wedge’s research is an important development in increasing the knowledge and understanding of some of the earliest European garments to arrive in New Zealand, Maingay said.
“The way Tracey has unpicked what we know, and what we think we know about the garments, and gone back to the artefacts themselves to learn what they have to say is remarkable.
“It also shows that family histories often provide nuggets of information that are pure gold to researchers, but also have to be tested and assessed.”
Wedge is planning to carry out more research into these significant garments in the near future.
Predator Free Russell is a community-led Predator Free 2050 project, with the main goal of eliminating rats, stoats and possums from the Russell peninsula. More specifically it’s the stretch of land from Okiato to Te Wahapu and on to Orongo Bay.
The organisation, launched last year, has 60 volunteers and has built on the legacy of more than 20 years of predator control undertaken by Russell Landcare Trust as well as other conservationist organisations.
The predator target was rats and in their work they captured stoats and possums as well. The result is an explosion of birdlife, particularly kiwi and weka, which was achieved with just stoat and possum control.
November 2023 was the first month of zero rat catches, zero stoat catches and zero possum catches. All up, there were 5000 bait stations laid, 2700 rat traps, 250km of chew cards, 70 single-set possum traps and 100 stoat traps, as well as 70 trail cameras in place.
Their work has enabled the growth of one of the largest and highest-density kiwi populations in New Zealand. Additionally, there is the continued presence of many rare and endangered native New Zealand birds including the weka, tomtit (miromiro) dotterel (tūtuuriwhatu), little blue penguin (kororā), brown teal (pateke), alongside others of the local bird population.
Russell is also home to other vulnerable native species, including Auckland green geckos, kauri and flax snails, giraffe weevils and black-spined stick insects.
Project manager Nick Maarhuis said their work is not done yet and the plan is to continue to eliminate remaining predators and any that reinvade.
“We will also expand the project each year to eventually protect the entire 3000 hectares of the Russell peninsula,” he said.
The organisation can call on the support of 1500 local donors which includes individuals, families and businesses.
A rāhui has been placed on Bland Bay and will be lifted at 12pm on Thursday.