**There were 31 entries for the annual OK Dinghy International Regatta at Stump Bay and the Tūrangi Yacht Club’s 60th anniversary.**

The Tūrangi Yacht Club celebrated 60 years at Stump Bay this weekend. Combining its annual OK Dinghy International Regatta with a celebration dinner at its club rooms.

By Tūrangi Yacht Club commodore Wally Van der Aa

The club was placed on the Waiotaka Reserve in 1966 shortly after the reserve was created.

The Regatta allows sailors to gain world ranking points for the OK dinghy class and many sailors are vying for the 10 available World Championship places from New Zealand. Next year’s regatta is in Thailand.

There were 31 entrants. Considering the current economic climate and fuel price, we only expected 20 based on last year's attendance.

It is just as easy to run a regatta for 30 people as it is for five, so the extra numbers didn't cause any difficulties on the water.

We had a small team in three patrol boats organising the starts and finishing positions and laying marks.

Thanks to the Tokaanu Maritime Trust for the use of Matuku it’s tender, which enabled us to move both top and bottom marks simultaneously when the wind changed as it always does.

While other parts of the lake were becalmed over the weekend, Stump Bay built to a 15 to 20 kph northerly breeze and enough to get five good and fair races in on Saturday and then it was back to the club for the 60th anniversary barbecue and “debrief” from the day's sailing.

The entrants came from far and wide and it was the largest number of entrants we've had at an event in many years - 31 entries is very rewarding for the crew who worked all weekend feeding and cleaning up after the OK fleet.

Things got pretty busy at the bottom mark but the fleet had opted for a gate set up so they could opt to go to the left or the right avoiding the congestion that can happen in larger fleets.

The races were relatively short and the spread between first and last was less than three minutes which shows how close the racing was and there were no slow pokes.

Aboard the start boat was Karen and myself running the starts with pinpoint accuracy and gathering the finishing results which, of course, is the most important part of the race.

The information would then be electronically transferred back to the clubhouse where we had a team updating the scores race by race.

Once the day's activities were over the preliminary and final scores were available.

This was deftly done by Annette and Martyn and transferred to the traditional black board.

Handwritten original copies were always kept. I don’t trust electronics to keep this information safe and lost results mean a wasted weekend for all.

Saturday night was the cutting of the cake that had been specially made by James MacGilloway, a local cake maker (retired).

Our club runs a very simple affair and there is no bar or cash handled during the weekend.

Entries were in advance we knew exactly what we were dealing with and our caterers put on an impressive range of meals including breakfast burritos sandwiches and rolls for lunch and a barbecue dinner.

After the national champs this is the largest OK regatta of the season and is very rewarding for our club. It also exercises all our equipment from rescue boats to our brains.

We are incredibly grateful for the support of the Tokaanu Maritime Trust who allow us use of “Matuku” their patrol tender set up by Tūrangi marine.

They also contributed to the barbecue meal and are sponsoring us a mark update this year.

We also had support from The Tūrangi-Tongariro Sports Foundation who allow us the use of their new 6mx3m Gazebo and we have several of their stand up paddle boards for recreational use and the club purchased “Event” signage flags.

Also a nod to the Tūrangi office of the Taupō District Council who opened and cleaned the changing rooms for the entrants and cleaned the toilets daily. Despite being the modern equivalent of a long-drop the toilet is perfectly acceptable for the reserve’s needs although one more would be nice for when the tourist buses stop in, hint hint.

We had a total of seven races in the series and Dave Ridley came out on top ahead of America’s cup sailors Rod Davis and John Cutler amongst other top international sailors.

Sadly, we were missing Peter Lester who passed away, tragically young, last year.

Peter had won the World OK title in the 70’s on Lyttleton harbour and was still actively involved with the OK fleet.

He was a frequent entrant to the Tūrangi Regatta in years gone by.

The regatta is running in its 28th year. The longest running regatta for the club started in 1973 for Catamarans.

Reading the club records keeps me enthused to do what we can to improve the club facilities and membership building on the legacy of those who came before.

The team ran like a well-oiled machine with the club totally cleaned up and secured by 2.30pm on Sunday and all competitors safely home before dark which is a stated goal of our club.

The regatta is for the sailors and we make the course as fair and easy as possible for the sailors to comply with the rules.

The cream always rises to the top. I wait until the first race is over and then write the entrants on the score board in that order.

The results of the first race are fairly closely aligned with the overall regatta results at the end unsurprisingly. First, 2nd and 3rd overall came 1st 3rd and 4th in race one.

We had a young entry, Alex Hoskin, from Waitara, 14 years old. He received a medal as the youngest sailor and also was presented with the Emrys Tangiora memorial shield for pluck and courage - a long standing junior trophy of the club, first presented in 1970 shortly after Emrys’ tragic death.

It had not been presented in many years although I saw my name on it from the early 90’s! It was well deserved by Alex.

A single class regatta is ideal from a committee viewpoint and a fleet perspective with race finishes rolling straight in to the next race start within minutes.

I am aware some clubs have many volunteers to run a regatta but we do it on just a few, less is more as the saying goes. I have my custom made (my sister and I) “starting out loud” (patent pending ..lol) audible countdown timer which means not having to look at a time piece.

We know exactly where we are every 10 seconds and my sister reminds us to blow the horns and raise the flags etc.

This is particularly enjoyable for me, not just because I developed it from a concept on a cassette tape to a working recording but that my sister passed away 12 years ago.

I get to spend time with her each regatta which is great for my memories being refreshed. It is very special to me.

As the longest standing member (joining in 1978) I got to cut the cake and eat the first piece. I still recall when I started sailing with the club in its heyday, on my NZ moth (sail number 150) and the happiest days of my life have been spent at Stump Bay.

As Toad from “wind in the willows” said “There is nothing quite as much fun, my dear boy, as mucking around in small boats”.