The Northland Yngling crew of Sharon Ferris, Raynor Smeal and Shandy Buckley were putting the finishing touches on their preparations for the Rolex Olympic Class Regatta in Miami yesterday.
The new crew are using the regatta to blow the cobwebs off their boat, ahead of the US national Yngling championships, also
in Florida, next week - and to gain valuable experience racing together.
They stored their Yngling in Florida after sailing in the same regattas last year and were relieved to find it had not been harmed when they arrived in Miami early last week.
"Our NZL 5 is in perfect condition, she has been stored really well, with no rust or mold anywhere so we are really happy," Ferris said.
They reconfigured the rigging but the real work was done on the water with plenty of practising their short course racing and starts.
The challenge for the trio is to adjust to its new member, Shandy Buckley, and absorb her into the team.
"Ray (Smeal) and I just have to remember that Nipper Buckley) is new, she has fitted in so well that it is hard to remember that (she is new).
"Nipper has asked us instead of backing her up and doing it for her that we don't and teach her instead so she learns faster," Ferris said.
The skipper said it was hard for her and Smeal to restrain themselves from doing everything on the boat during practice, to make the boat faster.
"But we are also teaching her the boat, to make sure that Shandy knows her area and can maintain and fix anything in her area in case it needs to be replaced or it breaks."
Racing in the 18-strong fleet started last night (NZ time) with the team lining up against crews from nine different nations. Severe weather was expected for the first few days of racing.
Kerikeri's Andrew Murdoch is also attending the regatta. He lines up in a huge fleet of 114 Laser sailors as one of the sailors to beat.
