Last weekend the Kerikeri Cruising Club hosted the Cherub Northland Champs which saw 7 Cherubs line up for two days of mixed racing. With America’s Cup winners, Whitbread sailors and New Zealand Sailors of the Year winners as the race committee, the racing was well planned and included windward-leewards, triangle and coastal courses plus the pinnacle of NZ Cherub racing known as the Destination Races with lemans starts off the beach.
The event was a huge success which saw the leader board change frequently, including three different winners in each of the three races on the final day. However, it was Mike Sanderson and son Merrick onboard their bright yellow ‘Vamoose’ who took out the overall title, followed closely by Scott Beavis and son Jack in ‘Malicious Intent’ with Cleo Boyd and Adrian Pawson rounding out the top three.
The Cherub class has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years with many original boats being restored. The ease of building these at home has meant that there are also a number of new yachts under construction and a significant number being shipped to New Zealand to take part in the exciting fleet.
Doyle Sails has worked with leading One Design sail designers to curate a complete Cherub package to suit this style of sailing. With hands on experience through a number of in-house Cherub sailors, this team is at the fore front of high performance dinghy development and innovation.
The Cherub is a 12 feet long, high performance, two-person, planing dinghy first designed in 1951 in New Zealand by John Spencer (d 1996). The class is a development (or “box rule”) class, allowing for significant variation in design between different boats within the rule framework.
Many Cherub sailors are in their late teens or early twenties but the flexibility of the class and the Cherub’s great sailing qualities mean that they are also attractive to many older sailors. In the 1960s and 1970s the Cherub was a popular sailing dinghy in New Zealand when they were mainly amateur built.
The Kerikeri Cruising Club is only 15 minutes from Kerikeri’s town centre and acts as a stunning backdrop to the Bay of Islands. With waterviews from the club house it was the perfect setting to host the Cherub fleet for a weekend of fun filled, exciting and competitive racing.
Supporting partners for the event included Doyle Sails, Fineline Marine, Ronstan/Mainstay Marine, Adhesive Technologies and CarboTec.
Photo Credit: Bruce Carter // Kerikeri Cruising Club.
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