Cole Rippey is the latest Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club member to make national headlines.
The 14-year-old, Year 9 Tauranga Boys' College student, took out the prestigious P Class title at the North Island Championships held in Tauranga.
It was not for the feint hearted with a 10 race series held over three days over Labour Weekend that attracted a top class field of 33 sailors from as far away as Wellington and the Bay of Islands.
Rippey took the title ahead of other notable young sailors in Leonard Takahashi-Fry (Murrays Bay Sailing Club) and Jackson Keon (Wakatere Boating Club).
Rippey sailed his P 989 "Bullet" and showed exceptional good form in the very shifty conditions to claim four wins. His worst result was fourth, when he fought back superbly after his tiller pulled out of the rudder leaving him with no steerage and stranded on the startline.