The resurgence of the mighty P-Class • Live Sail Die

It is incredible that we are fast approaching the centenary of the P-Class, designed by Harry Highet in 1923.

The ‘P’ has often been cited as the reason New Zealanders have been so successful on the world sailing scene, the term often used ‘if you can sail P class you can sail anything’ rings true for anyone who has tried. P’s former sailors, who include this author, have vivid memories stretching back decades of some time trying to endure the snub-nosed beast around the top mark, or ducking its nose wildly over a litter with too much water in it. the cockpit, pitch-poling and flying over the front. Good memories after the fact and maybe embellished slightly over time.

Looking back on past winners is like reading a kiwi sailing roll call Who’s Who. From Graham Mander, David Barnes, Chris Dickson, Russell Coutts, Jon Bilger, Dean Barker, Jo Aleh, Paul Snow-Hansen to current ILCA World Champion Thomas Saunders.

There has been a resurgence in fleet numbers over the past year and the 2022 Cassidy Construction Class P Tauranga Cup, hosted by the Murrays Bay Sailing Club, January 7-9, will have a fleet of 53, small by comparison. to numbers at its peak. but a substantial increase in recent times. 18 female entries continue a growing trend in the number of women in junior races, with girls making up 33% of the fleet.

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A great initiative sponsored by Osbournes Ltd, this national championship features daily bullet prizes for boys and girls and a horn for each boy and girl race winner, as well as separate results pages for the fleet, boys and girls. girls.

The Cassidy Construction Tanner Cup, which is the interprovincial event, has 18 entries before the open Tauranga Cup from January 4 to 6.

Covid restrictions, and the busier Opti regatta schedule in the second half of summer, gave more children the opportunity to try P-class over the past winter and the first half of summer, allowing children to learn different sailing skills and fall in love with this cool little boat, see the numbers increase.

There is also a stacked presence of former P-class sailors / parents ashore with many P sailors from the ’80s and’ 90s rekindling the love of this great Kiwi class, many even looking for their own boats from there. decades and keeping the family ties to “their” P alive. We’ll get more details about these family ties in our daily video highlights during the events, which are supported by our friends at PredictWind.

Nick Olson sailing P # 62 – Photo provided

Finn Olson, sailing on his father’s P # 62. 2021 P-Class Auckland Champs. Photo: Adam Mustill – Live Sail Die

It’s exciting for me to have my son sailing his mother’s boat in our home club for this national championship, he loves his time in the P, it’s a challenge to sail well, he takes up the challenge. Most importantly, it’s nice to see the fun and sense of accomplishment he shows after disembarking.

Our Live Sail Die team will be on the water to take photos thanks to Marine Concierge and film a synthesis video for the P Class Association.

We hope to see a lot at the Murrays Bay Sailing Club in January, big smiles, big stories and new and stronger friendships among our future sailing stars.

The P-Class was designed by New Zealand civil engineer Harry Highet as a simple ship in which children and young people could learn to sail. This is a 2.13 meter long, flat sided, single sail, V-bottom monohull dinghy rigged in Bermuda, and is designed to be sailed by one person. The low-aspect Bermudan platform took over from a Gunter platform in the 1950s. The boom overlooks the stern of the boat. It has a small, deep cockpit with the rest of the hull making watertight buoyancy compartments. Once capsized, the boat floats very high in the water. The hull has a minimum weight of 90 lbs and is therefore very strong. Even 40 year old boats can be bought in good condition.

The first example appeared in Onerahi near Whangarei on New Years Day 1920. However, it was not until Highet and his family moved to Tauranga in 1923 that the full potential of his conception became apparent. Soon, a fleet of ten boats raced every weekend in the port of Tauranga. The P-Class was initially known as the “Tauranga Class”. The boats had the letter “P” on their sails, to indicate that they were the main trainers.

By 1940, an interprovincial competition had been established for the P-class, but this did not take place until 1940 and 1941, before being extinguished for the remainder of World War II. Competition resumed in 1945, with sailors racing for the Tanner Cup, a trophy donated by Mr. George Tanner. A separate club competition for the Tauranga Cup started around the same time. Both competitions are still held every year.

Originally constructed from solid wood, plywood was introduced in 1956 and fiberglass hulls were permitted in 1975. Aluminum spars were introduced in 1976 and carbon fiber composite masts in 1998. The class is a design class with strict construction restrictions ensuring that the hull spars, sails and foils are very similar in weight and dimensions.

The most important event on the P-Class calendar is the Tanner Cup (Interprovincial) and the Tauranga Cup (National Championships). These two Competitions take place at the beginning of January. The Tauranga Cup is an open championship in which all P-class sailors can participate.

The Tanner Cup involves a representative from each province competing for New Zealand’s largest P-class trophy. These representatives are selected from trials organized each year in each province.

Class P rules are administered by the Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club. There has been no rule change since August 2016.

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