The Waimea College Sailing Team are celebrating after qualifying to represent the country in a sailing regatta against top teams from Australia and New Zealand later this year. The team recently sailed around 40 races in the NZSS Nationals event in Auckland, where they came away with an impressive 75 per cent win rate, placing the college third out of 28 teams nationwide. Their performance earned them a place in secondary schools team sailing contest ‘Interdoms’, where they will now compete against the Top 3 Open and Top 3 Female teams from both Australia and New Zealand.
Principal Scott Haines says, “It’s a pretty neat achievement, and we are all very proud of them.”
Crewmates Luis Schneider, MacGregor Reid, Ruby Campbell, Alex Bentley, Sarah Charles and Sophia Sidley endured six days of competitive racing in strong winds at Algies Bay, Auckland, and are thrilled to have been picked to represent the country in the Interdoms. “It’s pretty awesome,” says Luis. “it’s the first time Waimea College has ever done so well, let alone be selected to represent New Zealand. We are all super happy as it’s such a big honour.”
The team, made up of Year 12 and 13 students, have sailed together for the last two years and is made up of a 50/50 gender split. “Most teams in the top 3 are usually all male, so it’s worth noting that our team is both boys and girls,” says Luis.
The Waimea team are also competing at the GJ Gardner New Zealand Open Team Sailing National Championship, which is not age-related, so they will be racing against some of the countries best adult teams. “The event takes place in Kerikeri over the Queen’s Birthday Weekend,” says Luis. “So we will get a bit of time out on the water to train in the next few weeks.”
Each year the Interdoms venue alternates between Hobart, Australia, and Algies Bay in Auckland. This year, it will be held from the 10 to 13 of October in New Zealand.