Starling sailors who have made good

Under the heading of Starling sailors who have made good you couldn't ignore Peter Burling, well known as skipper of Team NZ, winner of the America's Cup and at the same time winner of the Gold medal in the 49ers at the Olympics. Peter won the Starling Nationals and the Starling Match Racing Nationals in both 2005 and 2006. I once asked Peter's father Richard, what was the reason for a string of succesful sailors coming from Tauranga and he said he thought it was the mix of sailing classes they gave to the kids. This included some sailing in their trailer sailer and keelboat fleets as well as a wide range of dinghy classes, including of course, the Starling.

An article some years ago in Tradeaboat about Peter said-:

 "The Starling is his favourite design. "It’s an excellent boat – fast and exciting. The competition is great and, with practice, you can get to the top of the class."

While he agrees most Starlings are competitive, subject to boats being minimum weight, he questions whether all sails and rigs are equal despite being from the same manufacturers.

"Some sails are fuller than others and some masts are softer. It can make a big difference, so it pays to check them out. Tuning for the conditions is also important but you have to try lots of different things to work out what works best."

The Starling is arguably the finest looking centreboard dinghy to come out of New Zealand, it’s also one of the sweetest yachts to sail with excellent all-round sailing performance.

Today, the class is as strong as ever, with fleets of up to 150 boats lining up at the nationals every year. Originally designed as a stepping stone from the junior P Class to the adult dinghy classes, the Starling has turned out more national champions than any other design. Now second only in numbers to the international one-design Optimist dinghy, its longevity looks as assured today as it did in the halcyon days of the mid-1970s.

Article added: Sunday 12 January 2020