YNZ 14 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 This Saturday (19th September), Yachting New Zealand will be hosting a free Dinghy Expo at Westhaven Marina. The expo will feature more than 20 different types of sailing boats as well as representatives from local yacht and boating clubs. People will be on hand to answer all of your questions about the various dinghies and tell you how to get involved. The event is free and all you need to do is get along to Westhaven Marina on Saturday. The Expo will run from 10am until 3pm adjacent to Z Pier with boats on display on the floating jetty and on the water. There is a Facebook page for the event, sign up to the event to follow updates and information about the event. http://www.facebook.com/events/1627738300847224/ So far the classes attending are: Weta 3.7 Starling Optimist P Class Jollyboat Hansa (2.3, 303 and Liberty) Skud 18 RS Feva RS Aero OK Dinghy Laser (Full rig and Radial) Mullet Boats Sunburst 420 Frostbite Bic Techno RSX Flying Fifteen Phase 2 Mistral Far East 11 Topper Taz Link to post Share on other sites
YNZ 14 Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 The weather looks like it is coming to the party for the YNZ Dinghy Expo tomorrow, clear skies till late afternoon and gentle breezes. Link to post Share on other sites
MarkMT 68 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Just out of curiosity, presumably classes with more than one hull were excluded just on principle? Mullet boats on the other hand, they're clearly dinghies! Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,293 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 MarkMT, that seems to be a sore point for you, yet the first boat they list, the Weta, is a trimaran? Iirc, all clubs and classes were invited to participate, the classes above responded. Give YNZ a break, they are at least trying something here! Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 if hobie aren't there presumably they chose not to attend Link to post Share on other sites
banaari 27 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 0, 1, 2, 3 hulls... whatever, anything that might get people into boats is a Good Thing. Link to post Share on other sites
funlovincriminal 218 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 I popped down with the family and was quite impressed. The Ponsonby Club sailing school in particular were very pleasant to talk to and took both my boys out for a little sail. Must admit the mullets were a bit out of place though! Link to post Share on other sites
MarkMT 68 Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 IT, no not a sore point at all (hmm, not sure what I've said that would make you think that, but anyway...) I just think it's good to understand the way different people think about the sport and about how different classes relate to each other. The fact that there are no Paper Tigers, A Class, Hobie 16s, F18s, Vipers or Tornados does kind of stick out as interesting and potentially reflecting some kind of choice that was made and so that's why I asked the question. As far as the Weta is concerned, of course I realise it's a tri, but at the same time I can imagine someone thinking "sure that's a dinghy, just got those weird float thingies" and yet not having similar feelings about a cat. So I think the question is still reasonable. By the same token, as a cat sailor myself, here in the US I think it's fair to say that we're pretty much used to handling our own promotion, so if the answer is that those classes all decided themselves not to be involved, that also wouldn't be a huge surprise. But it would be interesting to know. No good or bad involved so no need to give YNZ a break (maybe you need to give me one ). But I would still be interested in knowing more about the thought process. Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,293 Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Perhaps I misunderstood MarkMT, if so I apologise! IIRC invites were sent out to all small boat clubs and classes. The ones that could, and wanted to, were involved. Some obviously decided it was not for them. No decision from YNZ was made to exclude anyone as far as I know. Matt Link to post Share on other sites
MarkMT 68 Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 All good Matt. Link to post Share on other sites
YNZ 14 Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 As Matt said, it was a completely open invitation to all classes, and even when approached by keel boat classes we said "ok". Non-affiliated classes were invited and some took part, i.e. the Open Bic. I can't tell you why classes like the PT, Hobie and Viper were not able to be there as I was not coordinating the class responses. This was an attempt for us to try something different, try to reach out to the public and have something hands on. We were also thinking of trying to showcase to young sailors already engaged what classes they might like to move in to when they grow out of their current boat. While foot traffic was slow, we think we're on the right track. Looking to improve on this for the next time, we are looking at timing and venue (bearing in mind, being on the water and having people able to try a boat is critical). Westhaven were incredibly supportive, which was great. There are some photo's up on YNZ's Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/YachtingNewZealand. I was stoked to see my old P Class show up! Andrew Link to post Share on other sites
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