Sailing: Daniel Mann for the podium

Whangarei sailor Daniel Mann is keen to continue his hot form after winning two titles at Bay of Islands Sailing Week and the Coastal Classic late last year. Photo/Michael Cunningham

It's fair to say Whangarei sailor Daniel Mann is a pretty competitive bugger.

"I always aim to win, [you] don't do it to come second," Mann said. "But, it all depends on weather conditions and the like."

After having been brought up on boats, the 35-year-old has progressed to racing mainly offshore with the purpose of winning.

Last month, Mann and his crew - which consists of a bunch of old friends - on board 8.7m R 'n' B added two more titles to the mantelpiece at the Bay of Islands Sailing Week - the C division general handicap and the performance related handicap.

The pair of titles, which came from his debut at the event, joins the PIC Insurance Brokers Coastal Classic which was won last November in memory of the late Ray Roberts, who at the time was battling cancer.

However, for Mann and his crew, there isn't a financial reward like some might think.

"The bit of rum at the end of it to celebrate [is as much reward as there is]," Mann laughed.

"Mainly I stick to my offshore events and we've never raced it inshore, it has always been an offshore Coastal Classic type thing so we wanted to see how it went inshore. Usually boats good offshore aren't great inshore."

While Mann was enjoying a top start to his goal of winning as many events as possible this year, he was looking forward to the local racing scene kicking off this weekend with an inner-harbour race ahead of the Route66 Auckland to Marsden Cove event in March.

Hoping to increase numbers in the sport, he added that he was open to having people come along and do a harbour race with him - adding it wasn't always easy to find crew members.

Mann encouraged locals to get involved with sailing, at all ages, and could do so easily by starting with dinghy sailing on Tuesday night's from 6pm at the Onerahi Yacht Club.

He said boats were provided and ages range from 5-70 years old.

Mann is contactable through either the Onerahi Yacht Club or Whangarei Cruising Club.