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NZ Marine Industry Association

Committed to developing the Marine Industry in New Zealand

Yachting New Zealand

Yachting New Zealand is the national sports body for sailing in New Zealand, sport and recreation. We represent over 200 organisations including clubs, class associations and maritime organisations. Yachting is a sport for life, and our mission is to help New Zealanders access, enjoy and succeed on the water. We are involved in education, training programmes, school programmes, advocacy, safety, strengthening clubs, promotion of the sport and performance sailing.

At the Auckland On Water Boat Show we will be running a sailing activity, giving people the chance to get out and give sailing a go. We can also answer all your questions about getting into sailing.

Learn more about Yachting NZ’s Role – RNZYS Member Update

Yachting New Zealand is the national body for sailing and boating, representing and advocating on behalf of member yacht clubs, class associations, and you as members of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Often the work we do goes unseen, and the benefits of belonging to the national body go unrecognised by many. With memberships coming up for renewal in the coming months, it’s timely to talk about what Yachting New Zealand does for the sport.

All clubs and sailors who want to race both locally and internationally need to be a member of a club affiliated to Yachting New Zealand, and any club who wish to run racing must be affiliated to the national body. Clubs not affiliated cannot use the Racing Rules of Sailing and instead must use the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, more commonly known as the COLREGs.

Yachting New Zealand also run the PHRF handicapping system, maintain the boat register and provide guidance to clubs who run racing. 

Clubs need race officials and we provide free training for race officials (race officers, judges, umpires and measurers) and volunteers, with many going on to officiate at top international events. Affiliated groups can also attend any of our coach education courses, from learn to sail and keelboat coach right up to high performance coach. We are currently working to expand our offering of online education courses to include all levels of coaching.

We have a national learn to sail syllabus and qualification pathway (for dinghies and keelboats), which is accredited by World Sailing. Many people use these qualifications to then go on to charter boats in New Zealand and around the world.

These courses can’t run without on-water support vessels. Many of these boats are technically commercial vessels, which carry significant costs to be in survey. Yachting New Zealand have worked with Maritime New Zealand to develop an exemption pathway for member clubs to enable them to be exempt from the requirements of MOSS (Maritime Officer Safety System), resulting in substantial savings in both time and money to ensure clubs are compliant with the applicable rules and law. This process sees Yachting New Zealand working with clubs to ensure they are operating their vessels to best practice in terms of safety and is not available to clubs or organisation not affiliated to Yachting New Zealand.

New Zealand is at the forefront of international sailing and our high performance and talent development programmes are world-class. We provide pathways, coaching and campaign support to top talent and many from Yachting New Zealand’s high performance programmes go on to compete in international competitions such as the Olympics, America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, TP52 Super Series and Extreme Sailing Series. Many have won world championships at both youth and open level, not to mention match racing and other non-Olympic classes.

It’s not all about racing, though. Yachting New Zealand spend a significant amount of time advocating on behalf of members, from preventing legislation such as compulsory registration of vessels to protecting safe anchorages that we have all enjoyed for decades. This incurs significant cost but we think it’s critical to advocate on behalf of the boating community to protect access to the water. A list of legal submissions, and cases Yachting New Zealand are involved in, can be found on the advocacy page of our website. More HERE  

One of the most significant wins for the whole boating community were the outcomes we fought for in Plan Change 4 and continue to fight for in the Northland Regional Plan review process. Plan Change 4 was a proposal by the Northland Regional Council that would make it easier to establish marine farms in this area, but we initiated an appeal worried that marine farming could clog popular bays and hamper safe passage and cruising through the Northland region and received a successful outcome in the Environment Court.

We provide guidance and resources to clubs and classes and offer advice around how they administer their club, including risk management, inclusion, event management, coaching resources and much more. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is supported by a number of Yachting New Zealand staff, including regional support officer Raynor Haagh. Feedback from around the country suggests the assistance from our four regional support officers is invaluable to club capability and as a conduit between clubs and the national body. Yachting New Zealand support club fundraising efforts, including helping access greater levels of funding from community trusts than would not be possible were the club not affiliated to the national body.

On the technical and safety side, Yachting New Zealand maintain and update the safety regulations and carry out yacht inspections for racing on behalf of Maritime New Zealand. Members of affiliated clubs also receive a discounted price on category 1 inspections for offshore voyages. 

We now have 75 clubs who have signed up to the club membership scheme.

We refreshed our website last year, making it more user-friendly and easier to navigate, and also added a more comprehensive regatta calendar. You can find a copy of our strategic plan on the website, showing how we plan to grow our sport in the coming years. More HERE

Yachting New Zealand publish a fortnightly e-newsletter Briefings, which helps keep the sailing and boating community informed and connected. If you do not receive this, we recommend you sign up via our website. More HERE

We strive to be better and welcome feedback, but we are proud of the work we do on behalf of our members, and the value we provide to clubs, their members, and the sailing and boating communities generally.

The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is New Zealand’s leading yacht club, with an illustrious history dating back to our formation in 1871. The RNZYS is still the official home of the America’s Cup after Emirates Team New Zealand, representing the RNZYS, defended the oldest sporting trophy in the world at the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland in 2021. The RNZYS has a wide range of events taking place to mark this momentous occasion. With thousands of races per calendar year, many social events and a Members Bar open seven days a week, we invite you to join us and enjoy what we have to offer.

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Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Inc 181 Westhaven Drive, Westhaven Marina, Auckland 1011, New Zealand (09) 360-6800

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Yachting New Zealand, helping New Zealanders access, enjoy and succeed on the water for life.

Yachting New Zealand is the national sports organisation in New Zealand for the sport of sailing at all levels. We are a not-for-profit organisation of approximately 25 employees around the country and more than 200 member clubs, classes and affiliated organisations.

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Yachting New Zealand currently has over 250 members, comprising not only of sailing and boating clubs and class associations, but also many leading organisations in the marine industry and individuals that continue to support our work.

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Yachting: Team NZ lay off third of staff

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Photo / Mark Mitchell

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About a third of Team New Zealand's staff have been laid off because of the financial squeeze behind yesterday's legal attack against America's Cup holders Alinghi. More than 20 people have been made redundant and others switched to retainer-based payments as the sailing syndicate stretches its budget to take account of the ongoing delay to the next regatta. Team New Zealand yesterday launched a twin-pronged legal case, seeking tens of millions of dollars in compensation and damages, and accusing Alinghi and its billionaire head Ernesto Bertarelli of acting in an anti-competitive manner. Team New Zealand are represented by New York lawyer David Boies, who successfully represented the US Government in its competition law action against Microsoft. Papers filed yesterday say Alinghi's actions have led to a "serious risk [Team NZ] will not survive to challenge" or will be "a team whose resources are seriously depleted and whose competitive abilities are thereby seriously weakened". The next cup was scheduled for 2009, but was postponed in November amid a courtroom war between Alinghi and United States challenger BMW Oracle. Managing director Grant Dalton told the Weekend Herald the team were having to stretch their two-year budget over three or even four years. "We've had to go through a round of redundancies and people have lost their jobs through absolutely no fault of their own. Kiwis have lost their jobs, through the actions of one man [Bertarelli]." The redundancies mostly affected support staff, but most departments were hit, said Dalton. Design work is continuing and members of the sailing crew, held on retainers, are racing on other classes of boats in regattas during the European summer. At the centre of the compensation claim is an agreement signed between Dalton and Bertarelli before Team New Zealand confirmed its entry for the next cup. "There were two quite key points in that [contract] _ the first was that it would be in'09 and the second that it would be in Valencia and they happily contracted those things on which basis we commenced work," Dalton said. Late last year, Team NZ wrote to Bertarelli seeking compensation on the basis that the contract was not being honoured. "Frankly, they didn't have the courtesy of even replying," said Dalton. Oracle last year alleged Alinghi's "challenger of record", CNEV, was illegitimate and that the Swiss defender had set rules for the next cup which were unfairly weighted in its favour. It wanted the court to impose it as the challenger of record and to endorse more traditional cup rules. A proposed out-of-court settlement, agreed to by Oracle and other challengers, would have seen the event go ahead in 2009, but it was rejected by Bertarelli. AC Management announced on November 22 that the cup was to be postponed, saying Oracle was "holding the event to ransom" by its court action. A preliminary ruling has gone in Oracle's favour but a final decision has not yet been issued. Alinghi's lead counsel said it was disappointed in Team NZ's actions "given their previous public acceptance and commitment to the competition". "These actions are totally without merit, wildly miss the target and will be defended rigorously," said Lucien Masmejan. "We share the sailing community's frustration in the delays affecting the America's Cup but Alinghi, as trustee, is duty-bound to defend its position in the current legal action and to preserve the integrity of the America's Cup." Mr Masmejan said Alinghi had repeatedly made it clear that the Swiss team welcomed a swift court resolution and wanted to get the competition going again as soon as possible. CLAIM AND COUNTER-CLAIM TEAM NZ ALLEGE: Alinghi has failed to honour an agreement that the next regatta would be in Valencia in 2009. That Alinghi is trying to monopolise the market for the rights to hold the America's Cup. That Alinghi is damaging the Cup, weakening competitors and is harming future racing. ALINGHI RESPOND: Team New Zealand's claims are "without merit, wildly miss the target and will be defended rigorously". It is as frustrated as anyone about the postponement of the next regatta.

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I’m a millennial boss — after firing half my staff, i finally found the key to success.

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She’s so boss.

When her marketing agency suffered a $65,000 tax debt, Maddy Birdcage fired half of her employees and started from scratch.

Birdcage, 34, blamed her own micromanagement . Now, the millennial boss lets her employees make their own schedule and wear what they want — plus, she’s vowed to treat them to private yacht trips.

Birdcage says Birdcage Marketing now makes a $58,800 monthly profit.

“I have always loved what I do, but I used to hate business. I really resented my business at times,” Birdcage confided to SWNS . “Now I’m doing it my way — I’ve never been happier.”

The mom of two, who hails from Queensland, Australia, started her marketing agency nine years ago after experiencing “toxic” work environments and feeling “underwhelmed” by the support of her previous managers .

After receiving questionable advice and succumbing to self-doubt, Birdcage began micromanaging her staff.

“I was constantly having one-on-one reviews with the team — really structured meetings,” Birdcage explained. “It wasn’t giving people autonomy.”

She said those decisions led to the tax debt and the firing of half of her team.

“I kept half of them and rebuilt it” by hiring self-motivated problem solvers , Birdcage shared.

“I had to hire people who are independent. As your boss, I’m not here to hold your hand,” she added. “I’m here to empower you to solve your own problems and to build your own career.”

She lets her team of nine wear what they want (Birdcage recently donned a hot pink glittery suit to work); bring their kids to the office during school holidays; set their own schedule; and work from home when necessary.

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She said her agency now touts a 98% client satisfaction rate.

“The morale and supportive culture is really, really good,” Birdcage bragged. “I like having a really open and honest family and building a safe space. It’s been incredible.”

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