Global Sailing Highlights World on Water March29 24 Dolphin 1 SailGP 0, 2 NZ Races in '25, Etchells

The SailGP Christchurch event, was dominated on the first day by a dolphin on the course, and it's presence stopped the racing. The 22,000 audience had their attendance money returned by the organisers. Day 2 was filled with drama. The Australians suffered the most, when they crashed over a piece of sail g p furniture. Here is a clip from Emirates GBR.

This is your weekly Global Sailing Highlights show, The World on Water, March 29, 2024.

Last year saw the inaugural Sydney to Auckland Yacht Race organised by Sydneys' Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. The bi-annual race's next edition is in 2025. Now another Sydney Sailing Club has announced its intention to also run a race to Auckland in 2025. That means there will be two Sydney to Auckland, 2,155 mile Yacht Races, within 7 months of each other.
We wonder what was behind that sort of thinking.

Day 3 of the 2024 Etchells World Championships brought a new level of frustration for the 40 competing boats, with light and shifty conditions across the race course all afternoon.
Tensions were as high as the thermometer as the fleet was met with an oscillating and unsettled breeze.
For Race 5, the Race Committee set a course of 1.6nm and aimed for a duration of 60-70 minutes. .
Magpie, Graeme Taylor, James Mayo, and Richard Allanson managed to outsmart the conditions and claim their second bullet of the regatta, pushing them ahead of the fleet.

Emirates Team New Zealand were out on the rugged waters of the Hauraki Gulf in the area the Kiwis call the ‘Back Paddock, ’ their next generation of outstanding New Zealand foiling talent shone in windy conditions with the breeze clocking 20 knots at times.

Day 3 of the 2024 Formula Kite European Championship came as a bit of a shock to the system.
With the wind gusting close to 30 knots at times, the decision was whether to go for an 11 square metre kite or maybe even change down to the rarely used 8 and 9 square metre options. Whereas the lighter breezes see a monotone of identical Flysurfer kites in the sky, today produced a rainbow of multiple colours as riders unpacked their lesser-used small kites from brands like Ozone and F-One.

The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club's Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Line honours went to XS Moment with Jupiter winning the overall Honours.
Fortune favoured the sticklers in the 2024 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race, just three entries hung on in the light to non-existent breezes, Ray Hudson’s XS Moment taking line honours, just after midnight, while the two-handed crew of Ian Smith and Billy Sykes, on Jupiter, crossed the line second to claim overall honours.

James Mayo (1999) and Richard Allanson (2019) have previously won the Etchells World Championships, but this is the first time in 20 years that Graeme Taylor can claim the honour. Sailing AUS1486 Magpie, the trio were ecstatic when they crossed the finish line of the final race.
Taylor was on board Andoo Comanche when they had the line honours win ripped away from them in the final moments of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race after LawConnect rolled them at the finish, so this win brings something extra special for him.

No matter how much the standard of the fleet improves, Max Maeder continues to be very hard to catch. That was the conclusion from the first day of Gold Fleet racing on day four of the 2024 Formula Kite European Championship, in Mar Menor Spain.
The 17-year-old from Singapore has been setting the standard in men’s kitefoiling for the best part of two years, and after winning all four of today’s heats it’s Maeder who continues to push the bar higher.

Huge congratulations to Our Isles and Oceans on its first FIRST place, and UNICEF who took the second place spot on Race 9: Sailing City - Qingdao Cup.
With a carnival of colour and celebration, there is no welcome ceremony like a Qingdao welcome ceremony.