The Starling dinghy is designed to be a transitional youth class, offering exciting and more technical singlehanded sailing, for sailors who are ready to move on from the Optimist or P class.
Usually, once a sailor is tipping the scales at 50kg or over, then it is time to consider moving up to Starling. Some sailors sail in both P Class and Starling for a season or two. The upper guideline for sailor weight is 70kg.
Murrays Bay Sailing Club welcomes sailors of all abilities. We offer two fleet options for the Starling sailor. The Starling Open programme which is recommended for competent sailors moving on from other classes and were at Open fleet level. We also offer a Starling Development fleet which is recommend for any sailor that is between a ’Learn to Sail’ course and Green Fleet in the Optimist class or similar, or anyone that would like to gain skills and confidence first.
The Starling Development fleet have organised coaching on Tuesday afternoon’s and Saturday morning’s. And the Starling Open fleet has a coaching session on Thursday afternoons. There is also club racing, arranged for all club classes, that runs Sunday afternoon, through the summer season. This is a great way to get accustomed to fleet racing and improving the skills on a busy start line!
Typically, there are a number of regattas throughout the summer that can be raced in the Starling i.e. MBSC Winter Champs, Auckland Champs, North Island Champs and the Sir Peter Blake Regatta, culminating in a major Nationals event around Easter. There is also a match racing event each year. The regattas will typically offer a Starling Development and Starling Open class.
Read more about the history of the Starling class.
Helpful Links:
http://www.starling.org.nz/
https://www.facebook.com/nzstarlingclassassociation/
http://www.mackayboats.com/index.cfm/boats/starling/
https://northsails.com/sailing/en/od/starling