Seawind Racing at Onepoto Basin

With the weather gods lining up a 23-knot westerly for tomorrow, we’ve decided to cancel our scheduled match racing event.
Instead, we’ll meet for a coffee and a catch-up at Constellation Cafe at 11:00am. ☕️

With the forecast of 20+kts, the Spring #2 fleet racing event scheduled for tomorrow, Sept 20, has been cancelled. Meeting for coffee, brunch, lunch at Constellation Cafe, 11am.

Spring Series #1 – Onepoto Lagoon

13 September 2026

Spring racing got underway at Onepoto today, and the SW wind brought with it all the usual Onepoto ingredients — up and down, left and right, and generally doing whatever it felt like! Conditions were certainly varied, keeping everyone on their toes throughout the afternoon.

We started with 10 skippers, but as the racing progressed the fleet gradually reduced to six, with boats 9, 18, 47 and 800 all retiring for various reasons.

Bruce arrived a little late and joined the fleet for Race 3 and taking the fleet to seven boats. He wasted no time getting into business, taking the win in both Race 3 and Race 4.

There was a little drama for Mikey G, who suffered a broken mainsheet line. After tying the loose ends back together, he discovered that he had neglected to run the line through the bridle. This meant his next move was a rather more drastic one — cut the line and tie it again properly! Sometimes the quickest repair is the one you have to do twice.

Noel retired after Race 4 after experiencing problems with water ballast entering the boat, along with a few other gremlins that had Boat 47 ignoring his commands and seemingly deciding to do its own thing. Hopefully, a dive into the bilge will reveal the culprit, and Noel will be back on the race course next week.

The w**d situation was actually not as bad as expected, although a few boats did manage to pick up the occasional keel or rudder rider. I gave the launch area a good rake before racing, which seemed to work well and made launching considerably easier.

Rick has added a new bow bumper to Boat 234. As you can see from the photo, it certainly looks like a “bumper” bow bumper!

Rick guided Boat 234 to a well-deserved victory, taking the top spot with an impressive 11 points.

Brian, steering Boat 23, seemed to be in the right place at the right time throughout the afternoon, securing a very solid 2nd place with 18 points.

Dave took out 3rd place.

A good start to the Spring Series, with plenty of close racing, a few mechanical dramas, and thankfully, less w**d than we were expecting!

Next week is Spring Series #2 — same time, same place.

See you on the water! ⛵

Onepoto Lagoon Update
As you can see, the algae is very thick in places around the lagoon and is now impacting our sailing.
However, I am pleased to report that with the recent increase in both outflow and inflow, which we have been managing via the weir and water-control flaps, water clarity has improved considerably. I can now clearly see the bottom in areas of the lagoon, as there is significantly less fine suspended matter in the water.
Our current focus is on controlling the Pithophora (filamentous “horsehair”) algae by increasing the salinity of the lagoon, as Pithophora is known to be less tolerant of saltwater conditions.
Early indications suggest this may be having a positive effect, particularly with water clarity, but time will tell whether increased salinity provides a sustainable means of controlling the dreaded algae.
We intend to operate the weir and water-control flaps during weekdays. With the weir boards removed, the pond can get quite low; however, with one flap open, the water level quickly returns to normal with each tide.
The aim will be to have the pond water level returned to normal over the weekends so that we can continue our sailing activities..... however the algae may stop us.
We will continue to monitor the lagoon closely and assess how the algae responds over the coming weeks.

The scheduled match racing event for today, 30 Aug, has been cancelled due to a less than favourable forecast of high winds.

Winter Series – Event Cancelled

With a forecast of 16kt winds for today’s event, conditions were looking reasonably promising. Unfortunately, the 12 skippers were dealt much higher winds, making sailing — let alone fleet racing — extremely difficult.

After battling through the potentially boat-breaking conditions in the first race, with a couple of boats actually suffering breakdowns, we decided it was best to call the event off. A few hardy skippers elected to stay on and have some so-called “fun sailing”, while most of the fleet sensibly packed up and headed home.

Our Winter Series has certainly been challenging, with three of the scheduled seven events cancelled — two due to a lack of wind and one due to having far too much!

Dan’s friend Jordan joined us for racing today, sailing one of Dan’s spare boats. Jordan who sails full-size yachts, took well to RC sailing and looks to be well on his way to becoming a competitive Seawind skipper. Hopefully, he’ll become a regular competitor at our weekly events.

With the Winter Series now complete, the standings remain as posted last week. Congratulations to Bruce Watson for taking gold, with Rick Royden just one point behind claiming silver, and Dave Larsen taking bronze. 🥇🥈🥉

Hopefully, we’ll have better luck with the weather for our next event which is:

🏁 Match Racing #7
📅 Sunday, August 30
⏰ 10am–midday
📍 Quarry Lake, Takapuna

Onepoto Lagoon Algae Update.
The nasty stuff continues to grow and is now appearing throughout the pond. It is still mostly concentrated on the pond floor, although clumps of floating algae can be seen on the surface when conditions are calm.
The wind tends to break up this floating algae, so with 17 knots forecast, I don't expect it to be a significant problem for our fleet racing event tomorrow. That said, we will probably encounter the stringy Pithophora algae catching on our keels and bulbs, particularly when sailing through the shallower parts of the pond.
As mentioned in previous updates, and I know I keep going on about it, my concern is that the algae will really take off once the warmer weather arrives, as it has done in previous years. It has that familiar feeling of a ticking time bomb!

Hi everyone. Just confirming that we will hold our final winter event this coming weekend, Aug 23, Onepoto, 1-3pm. Winter Series standings and an AI generated report attached.

NZRYS Winter Series 2026 – Final Raceday Preview

With 4 races now completed, there is just one Raceday remaining in the 2026 NZRYS Winter Series.

The final event on 23 August will be particularly important because the championship is being decided on the best five Raceday scores. There is still plenty of opportunity for positions to change.

🏆 The championship is still wide open

Bruce Watson currently leads on 52 points, just one point ahead of Rick Royden on 53.

This is the closest possible battle at the top. Because only the final Raceday score will be added to their current Best 4 totals, the difference of just one point means either skipper can still take the Winter Series.

A strong final result from Rick could see him overturn Bruce's lead, while Bruce will be looking to finish ahead of Rick and secure the championship.

🥉 Third and fourth could change

Dave Larsen is currently third on 76 points, with Mike Gardiner fourth on 87.

The 11-point gap looks reasonably comfortable, but it is still possible for Mike to close it.

If Mike has a very strong final Raceday and Dave has a poor one, the two could swap positions.

So while Dave is currently favourite for third, third place is not yet guaranteed.

The battle for fifth to seventh

There is another close group involving Mike Renner, Chris Yates and Daniel Leech.

Current standings:

Mike Renner – 108
Chris Yates – 116
Daniel Leech – 126
Mike Renner has an eight-point advantage over Chris, while Chris is only ten points ahead of Daniel.

All three can therefore still change positions.

Mike Renner could finish as high as 5th or drop to 6th.

Chris has the greatest opportunity for movement and could finish anywhere from 5th to 7th.

Daniel can still move ahead of Chris and finish 6th, although he cannot catch Mike Renner if Mike has a reasonable final result.

This makes the final Raceday particularly important for this group.

Tom Clark looks safe in eighth

Tom Clark currently sits eighth on 144 points.

The gap to Daniel in seventh is 18 points, while Tom has a 36-point advantage over Noel Heerdegen in ninth.

Even the best or worst possible final Raceday result cannot bridge either of those gaps.

Tom is therefore guaranteed to finish eighth overall.

A big battle from ninth down

The positions from 9th to 14th could see some significant movement.

Noel Heerdegen currently occupies ninth place on 180 points, but Laurie Glover and Brian Christensen are both on 189.

That nine-point gap means Noel can still be overtaken.

Laurie and Brian can both move up to 9th, while Noel could potentially drop as far as 11th.

Peter, Andrew and Lance could all move

The lower end of the table is also far from settled.

Peter Newfield – 198
Andrew Hunter – 203
Lance Allen – 215

Only five points separate Peter and Andrew, while Lance is just 12 points behind Andrew.

Peter could finish anywhere from 10th to 13th.

Andrew could finish between 12th and 14th.

Lance could still move up to 13th, meaning even the final two positions are not guaranteed.

Winter Series #7 – Fleet Racing

Onepoto Lagoon – Sunday, 16 August 2026

The forecast of 3–7 knots was pretty much spot on for Winter Series #7, with light and variable conditions making for an interesting afternoon of racing. We thought we might get a shower or two, but thankfully the rain held off, apart from a few minutes of the lightest of spits.

Nine skippers entered the event, although Lance (18) decided to sit out the racing and instead take the opportunity to get some time on the boat outside the race course.

We were a little late getting underway and had a couple of hold-ups during the afternoon, which ultimately saw us run a little over time.

Before Race 1 got underway, Mikey G discovered a non-responsive rudder along with some loose rigging. Rather than attempting a repair on the spot, he took up the offer to sail Dave’s spare boat, Seawind No. 13. Mikey G tweaked the settings to his liking between races and put in a solid performance, including a 2nd and a 3rd place.

Race 5 produced one of the more interesting finishes of the day. Boat No. 3 was leading after rounding the final mark and tacking onto port to make a run to the finish line, only to slip back to 2nd. Noel (47), remaining on starboard after rounding the mark, picked up a nice lift and managed to sail past the now slower No. 3 to steal the win.

In race 2, a scratch race, there was a rather loud collision involving several boats at the far-side yellow mark, resulting in yet another hole in the side of Boat 85 (Captain Citrus). I think that makes three times in recent months that No. 85 has been on the receiving end of a pointy bow! Perhaps a target should be added to the midships hull when the latest repair is completed!

After racing, there was plenty of discussion about fitting bow bumpers to the boats. There are apparently some 3D-printable designs available that look like they could do the job, so we’ll investigate those and see if we can come up with a solution.

The racing itself was certainly challenging. Conditions were constantly changing, with holes and gusts appearing at different times — some working in your favour and others definitely not! It was one of those days where Lady Luck played a significant role, and being on the right side of a shift could make all the difference.

When the final results were tallied, Rick took top honours with 9 points. Bruce secured 2nd place on 14 points, with Noel just one point behind in 3rd on 15 points.

A big thanks to everyone who came along and made the most of the light and tricky conditions.

Next on the schedule is our Fun Day on Sunday, 23 August. No doubt a number of us will make it along to Onepoto for some relaxed sailing, a bit of fun and, of course, a few races!

Onepoto Lagoon – Algae Update - 11/8/26
Very little wind at Onepoto this morning left the lagoon with an almost mirror-like surface, which made the floating algae particularly noticeable, with clumps dotted across the pond.

While the floating clumps of algae are a relatively new development, their appearance at this time of year is not unexpected. Based on previous years, without intervention, I would expect the algae to increase significantly over the coming months, once again rendering the lagoon unusable for NZRYS, Electrons Club, Ancient Mariners and other RC boat users.

The water remains extremely murky, as it has been for the past few years, and there is also a yellowy-brown scum on the surface. This gunk sticks to our boat hulls and can leave staining if the boats are not cleaned immediately after sailing.

Runoff from the surrounding fields continues to flow into the pond, carrying visible contaminants and potentially nutrients that may be contributing to the algae growth.

Last year, Council (KLB) advised us that three doses of algaecide had been secured and would be applied as required. To date, only one dose has been applied, in November 2025, and it was successful in controlling the algae. Given the recent emergence and accumulation of algal growth, we feel it is now time for the second dose to be applied.

Addressing the problem now would appear to be a far more practical and cost-effective approach than dealing with the consequences once the problem has become much more severe. Allowing the algae to proliferate also results in a significant accumulation of organic material and dead algae, adding further sediment to the lagoon and potentially contributing to the need for costly dredging in the future.

On behalf of all users of Onepoto Lagoon, NZRYS, Electrons and Ancient Mariners, we would strongly encourage Council (KLB) & Healthy Waters to consider applying the second algaecide treatment now, while it can still be effective in preventing the algae from becoming a much larger problem.