Welcome to Mt Maunganui Yacht Club
Welcome to the Mt Maunganui Yacht Club, we are an active club based in Mt Maunganui, New Zealand.
We welcome new members so please contact us for further information or any queries.
The AGM will be held on the 29th June 2025 at 17:30 hours upstairs at the club.
We are always looking for volunteers to help on the committee
please make sure you put the date and time in your calendar, and we will see you there.
Winter Sailing Series
Sunday 15 June - Race 2
Sunday was threatening to be a bit of a drifter with light winds forecast so it was a bit of a surprise when the Race Officer called for one of the longer courses to be sailed. It turned out to be a very good choice. the breeze held throughout and the whole course was sailed by most of the fleet, even with a strong tiding flushing past the entrance. There was a lot of tricky manoeuvring to be had tacking against the tide amidst the moored boats of Pilot Bay. There will have been a lot of close calls as skippers held their nerve as the tide pushed them towards an obstacle. Everyone had a great day and it was good to see one of the newest boats in the fleet, Manhattan, participating fully with a colourful kite working well.
Rimfire, Manhattan and Bondi Tram enjoying a following breeze.
As can be seen above it is AGM time and more help is needed on the committee. Its not hard work, but some new ideas and younger energy is going be good for the club over th next few years.
Fair winds
Adam Yates
Commodore.
Kings Birthday Weekend Sailing
The double header over the weekend turned out to provide some spectacular sailing and results.
For the 2 handed race, 9 boats started but due to the conditions only 4 boats finished (albeit one of those, which shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) got the start time wrong and lagged well behind the fleet and missed most of the excitement. The course took the fleet up to the far reaches of the western channel which provided extreme conditions with the cold sout westerly turning into overly strong katabatic blasts. Good effort from La Vida, Not Negotiable and Whistler for sticking with it and avoiding breaking things- (although Whistler did complete the race with two pieces of jib in the the sail bag).
The conditions improved slightly for the open series on Sunday - and the course was favourable to the conditions. A large fleet of 19 boats turned out. Adventures were had and close racing resulted, see below. 1st and 2nd in the B div was decides by 2 seconds and 3rd only 12 seconds further back. The race officer was kept busy with finishers arriving in close bunches!
Close finish! Extract Digit takes it by half a length.
Commiserations to Neil on Howzat which spent the weekend untangling from obstacles - great work Neil to protect the rig and rudder!
Next event is Race 3 of the Open Series on 15th June.
Fair winds
Adam Yates
Commodore
Race 1
Racing on Sunday was another one of those days on Tauranga Harbour. The forecast suggested unpleasantness with Rain, wind (too much) and possibly some cold. It turns out that all of that stayed away for everyone to have a great time on the harbour. Perhaps Not Negotiable may complain that they got the worst of the mini squall that saw them rolling around trying to wash their spreaders with the kite up. That they didn't chinese shows the benefit of experience, Kent having several Around NI races to his CV, handled things calmly and serenely and finished on the podium.
Well done to Ben on Extract Digit who showed what an investment in new sails (properly fitted) and a clean underside can do to turn the boat into a rocket ship.
Whatever also blitzed the course and the field - all they have to do is turn up to collect the rum!
Special mention goes to The Bondi Tram who showed calmness under pressure - a broken halyard at the start and still recovered to sail through the fleet and finish midway.
Welcome to Manhattan for her first race - and now has an official handicap to sail to.
Another great day for those that turned up - no-one didn;t have a bad day.
Results are on the results page
Next event is the Double header weekend of Two Handed series race 1 and open series race 2 in two weeks.
Fair winds
Adam Yates
Commodore
Start times for Open Series race 1 have been posted on the Start times page.
The 2 Handed series started on Saturday with a large fleet turning out for a great day on the water in fairly decent conditions. With the number of boats, the race was conducted in 2 fleets. The course took the fleets to the western channel and back to the cutter channel, making the most of the harbour. The conditions ensure that everyone had a great day.
Results have been posted on the results page.
The first race of the Open Series is on this weekend. Note that because we still need volunteers for race officers and starters, the start will be managed on the water. Start times will be posted on Friday.
Fair winds
Adam Yates
Commodore
Sunday saw the start of the Winter Series. As per our custom the series commenced with the opening breakfast at the MOSC. Thanks to all the crew that helped put it on, especially Robyn and Team for doing the excellent eggs and sausages. Haeg always does a great job on the barbeque too.
The handicapping race saw 21 boats out - and with a few known to be missing we know it will be a tremendous season. The day started off with a good breeze and the committee sent us down to Motuhoa, where the lead boats played follow the leader behind the boat that first boat didn't read the course sheet. Thanks, BUZZ it allowed us all to catch up to the rocket ship.
it was a great decision of the committee to start in separate fleets as it was quite busy with a ship leaving at the same time. The result was a cluster of boats rounding the bottom mark in a gaggle of hailing and gybing. Great fun. Results have now been finalised and are posted under the results tab.
Thanks to Haeg and Graeme for managing the start. You may not know that that after thousands of starts, Owen and Wendy Souter have retired as Race Officer. Thanks Owen and Wendy, you have a tremendous blessing for the club. The implication for us is that we will be training new Race Officers and so ask for your patience and forbearance during this period of adjustment, especially with such a large fleet to manage.
Next up is the 2 handed series this weekend. This is the handicapping race but there is another big fleet so there will be two starts again. The start times are:
Adam Yates
Commodore
The Sailing instructions for the winter series have now been posted and can found on the Downloads page here.
Note that the series will be raced under the revises international rules of racing which are current from 2025 to 2028 and can be downloaded from the downloads page also.
Entries may be lodged by emailing the entry form or by using the online entry form available from the Entry form page or by clicking here.
The Summer is over and our attention is turning to the Winter Series.
This will be starting on May 4th with the opening breakfast and handicapping race, so mark your diaries.
Sailing instructions and entry forms will be posted shortly.
The calendar will be:
Summer Quad Series
Motiti-Karewa Race
The last event of the Summer quad series was held at the weekend, being the Motiti-Karewa Race.
8 boats from the MMYC fleet entered with a host of the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club boats entered too making for a a great and well supported race. This was another combined event with TYPBC and the cooperation has proven to be well worthwhile with larger fleets in all events.
The race itself was another race with light summer breezes with boats stretched across the horizon. Wizzard was first back with a time of 5 hours 51, closely followed by The Rascal and Manxman. The merit award goes to Ngaio Rose who stuck it out for over 8 hours.
Congratulations to rascal for the win on handicap.
Results are available on the results page.
Fair winds
Adam Yates
Commodore
The Whangamata Race is set for the weekend of 28th February and 1st March.
The prize giving will be hosted by the Whangamata Yacht Club at Whangamata (venue to be confirmed). Those that have pariticpated previously, will confirm that the hospitality of the WYC is second to none. The boats that make the effort to make it to the briefing will be amply rewarded.
The Race will be on Saturday morning at 0800 leaving from Whangamata.
For boats needing to moor inside the harbour, there are (apparently) plenty of spare pole moorings available. A water taxi will be operating. Contact Haeg for details.
Prize giving will be held at Bridge Marina where the Marina has made berths available for both Whangamata and Tauranga boats to ensure that there is a good after event.
Don't forget to get entries in.
Mayor Island results have been posted on the results page. Only 6 of the 15 boats completed the course due to light conditions.
That didn't stop the usual MMYC hospitality and prize giving.
The summer is upon us and MMYC has an exciting schedule of events planned for the Summer Quad Series. The sailing instructions have been posted and can be accessed from the downloads page.
The calendar for the summer is:
Race 1 Three Island Race Saturday 16th November 2024 at 0800,
Race 2 Mayor Island Race Saturday 8th February 2025 at 0800
Race 3 Whangamata Race Saturday 1st March 2025 at 0800
Race 4 Motiti/Karewa Race Saturday 29th March 2025 at 0900
The innovation for this year is that the series will be run in conjunction with the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club. The two clubs will hold their races at the same time on the same course but Skippers will have the option of choosing which club's event they wish to enter. They can even choose to enter both! This will ensure that there are more boats on the water participating.
The first event is the Three Island Race on Saturday 16th November, which is 2 weekends away. In this event, the skipper can choose to sail the course clockwise or counter clockwise to make the best of the conditions that suit their boat. Entry forms are included in the Sailing instructions or the online entry form can used at: mmyc.org.nz/entry-form/
Legends Regatta 2024
The Legends Regatta is over for another year and there was unanimous agreement that the 2024 regatta was a special event.
Thanks to all those that participated and managed to make it all the way to the island. The sailing days on Saturday and Sunday were very enjoyable and forecast rain and nasty weather stayed away.
Congratulations to the winners of the various events:
Overall regatta winner: Truxton
Mike McCormick Memorial Round the Island Race: A Division Truxton
B Division
Saturday round the Bay A DIvision
B Division
Overall Participation Prize Diversion - Jo Richards Participation Prize courtesy of Pro Marine Electrical and B&G.
Winter Series 2024
Prize Giving and Results
The 2024 Winter Series is now at an end.
The Prizegiving Breakfast was held at the MOSC on Sunday and there was a great turnout to celebrate what was a great season. Despite a few hiccups, the consensus was that everyone enjoyed the event, especially the addition of line honours rums after the 2 handed races.
Results are:
Open Series:
A Division B Division
1st Voodoo Lounge Rascal Tom
2nd Manxman The Bondi Tram
3rd Wizzard Rimfire
2 Handed Series
A Division B Division
1st The Rascal The Bondi Tram
2nd Wizzard Rascal Tom
3rd Manxman Kuihi
Best and fairest - Rascal Tom.
Special thanks are extended to Owen and Wendy for officiating all the races (except when they went away) and to our Sponsors.
A special presentation was made by Doug Harrison for a new trophy for the 20th running of the Legends Regatta. The regatta is the brainchild of Doug, and he made the trophy himself from Rimu and Pounamu. The trophy will be called the Doug Harrison Legends Regatta Trophy.
.
Next up, is our Summer programme which will be announced shortly.
Fair winds
Adam Yates
Commodore.
Summer Series
Whangamata race is over and despite there not being much wind, was a great event.
Because the aim was to not only have a great race (which there was) but also to make sure that all entrants got to be inside the Whangamata bar before closing time (low tide for those thinking the other bar) the committee added a motoring clause similar to the Legends regatta motoring clause. This was a great addition because there was not a lot of wind to start and without this everyone would probablt have had to withdraw to make it in time.
As it turned out, it wouldnt have affected the result as Sunchero, the most patient of us all (and a trimaran with almost zero draft) took out the top prize after 8 hours elapsed time. Well done, Sunchero and crew.
Sunchero all powered up
As always, the prizegiving and hospitality from the Whangamata Yacht Club was superb. Hand made burger patties and lots of volunteers on the barbie with a few traditional Mount Yacht Club line honours rum bottles opened made for a great night.
We were reminded (several times) that this was the 41st running of the Whangamata Tauranga race and one person present had been to the very first one. Thanks very much Whangamata for 4 decades of great camaraderie.
Happy Birthday to young Mr Pettersen too.
There are a number of photos to be found in the Gallery (click here) of all boats that entered. These are copyright free, so help yourselves to download of your favourite.
Results are now posted.
Adam Yates
Commodore