Yachting: Time to air trophy cabinet

For 51 weeks of the year, 50 cups and plaques of varying sizes and stature sit in a glass cabinet at the Maritime Museum in Auckland.

But in the second-to-last week of January, the cabinet is opened and the trophies - some more than 100 years old - are carefully removed and prepared for one of the biggest days of the sailing year, the Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta.

It is these 50 prizes that children as young as 8 and adults well into their 70s compete for on January 31.

It is these cups that young sailors strive for as they take to the water in more than 30 classes.

The glass cabinet, located at the end of the yachting section of the museum, makes it difficult to really appreciate the history behind each cup.

You cannot get close enough to see dates that go back into the 1800s, when the regatta first started.

Nor can you see the names - such as P Blake and D Barker - engraved on small silver-plated plaques.

Museum registrar Vicky Spalding said that because of the cups' ages and history, the winners were not allowed more than a few hours with their prizes.

The trophies were instead returned after prizegiving, sent to be engraved and then returned to the cabinet for the public to view.

Ms Spalding said each cup had its own history and story to tell.

Some had been bequeathed by sporting fans.

Others were so old there were no records of where they had come from. Not all of them were presented every year, she said.

While the oldest trophy dates back to the 1700s, the 1862 Agnes Cup is the oldest that has actually been used in the Herald-sponsored regatta, which started in 1865.

Among the tall, wide, short and oddly shaped cups, the biggest would have to be the golden 1938 Alby Braund Cup.

"It was massive," said last year's winner, 16-year-old Kate Ellingham, who was disappointed she had to give back the giant trophy just hours after she had won it.

Instead, she makes do with a plaque to remind her of her win in the P Class division.

The Auckland teenager has also won the Sir Peter Blake Memorial Trophy.

Although the new cup is not as large, it is just as special, if not more so for the young sailor, who was helped by the late Sir Peter while she was out sailing one day.

The Regatta

When: Monday, starting 9am.

Where: All round Auckland, sailing from various yacht and boating clubs.

Predicted weather: Rain with easterly winds. Humid.

Entertainment: Radio-controlled yachts, class racing, Te Kaha under the harbour bridge, parade of classic motor launches, Heritage Sail on the Waitemata. Onshore activities round the Viaduct.

How to race: Entry forms can be found online at www.regatta.org.nz and faxed to 09 634-3555. Only centreboard entries can be made on the day at the club concerned.

Famous Regatta cup winners

Sir Peter Blake Heather Cup 1981

Dean Barker Cogswell Cup 1989

Penny Whiting Moana Cup 1990

Hamish Pepper Cogswell Cup 1993

What boat is that? The P Class

Designed by Harry Highet in Whangarei, the P Class made its first appearance at a New Year's Day regatta in 1920. It is the yacht most youngsters move into after learning to sail in an Optimist. Most P Class sailors are usually aged between 10 and 14.

Many of New Zealand's top sailors, including Chris Dickson, Russell Coutts and Dean Barker, have spent plenty of time in a P Class before moving on to bigger things.