...will be racing this week in Auckland, which as far as we were concerned never left "the world sailing scene." From the RNZYS website....

The City of Sails will be back on the world sailing scene with the New Zealand Match Racing Championships.

Hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS), the Grade 3 sailing event will take place on the Waitemata Harbour from the 22th to 26th November.

Ten NZ teams, consisting of a skipper and four crew members, will sail against each other in two round-robin flights with the four top qualifying for the semi-finals followed by final on Sunday.

Heading the list of entries is Dean Barker. Skipper of Team New Zealand, the event’s reigning champion has returned to try and make it three in a row.

The starting line up also includes BMW Oracle Racing's Chris Dickson, who was runner up here last year.

Entry List:

Dean Barker (NZL, Emirates Team New Zealand)
Chris Dickson (NZL, BMW ORACLE Racing)
Simon Dickey (NZL)
Phil Robertson (NZL)
Simon Minoprio (NZL)
Adam Minoprio (NZL)
Gavin Brady (NZL, BMW ORACLE Racing)
Scott Dickson (NZL)
Laurie Jury (NZL)*
Graeme Sutherland (NZL)*

*top two skippers from last week's qualifier series