nz radio yachting association

New Zealand Radio Yachting Association Inc.

The home of Radio Sailing in New Zealand

Sailing radio-controlled yachts in New Zealand … a range of classes and affilated clubs nationwide… Join us…

Radio Sailing

Radio sailing is a popular exciting sport in New Zealand. There are a number of classes of radio-controlled yachts that you can choose to sail for fun and in competitions.

The NZRYA have affiliated Class Associations for these different classes of RC yachts.

There are radio-controlled yacht  sailing clubs  around the country that you can choose to join. Clubs are located as far north as Keri Keri and as far south as Otago and Cromwell.

Latest Radio Yachting News

Gulf harbour events postponed.

The Gulf Harbour Radio Yacht Club Sailing Committee has decided to postpone two upcoming events.

2024 North Harbour DF95 Championships

The entry list for the North Harbour DF95 Championships has been added to the event.

2024 South Island IOM Championships Results

Here are the results of the South Island IOM Championships sailed at Lake Dunstan on 2 – 3 March 2024.

Latest Race Results

2024 north harbour iom championships results.

Here are the results of the North Harbour IOM Championships sailed on 17-18 February 2024. IOM North Harbour Champs 2024 (Standard Scoring) Sail Sailor Club … Read more

2023 North American IOM Continental Championship

NZRYA and the NZL IOM NCA wish to acknowledge Ian Vickers success in the 2023 North American IOM Continental Championship which was held recently in … Read more

North American National Championships

Ian Vickers is competing in the North American National Championships. With a day of racing left and 12 races, he is in second place. The … Read more

Latest NZRYA News

2023 agm chairman’s report and treasurer’s report, minutes of the 2023 nzrya agm.

Attached are the minutes of the 2023 NZRYA AGM.

Reminder to Vote – 2023 NZRYA Inc AGM Ballot

Dear Members, Thank you to all those members who have voted on the motions in the NZRYA Inc 2023 AGM. To those that have not … Read more

Ranking Regatta

Event Location

Anzac Bay - Waiheke Island Radio Yacht Club

Awatea Lake, Paraparaumu - Kapiti Radio Yacht Club

Best Island - Nelson Radio Sailing Club Inc

Kai Iwi Lakes

Lake Dunstan - Cromwell Radio Yacht Squadron

Lake Manuwai - Kerikeri Radio Yacht Squadron

Lake Pegasus - Pegasus Radio Sailing Club

Lake Rotomanu - New Plymouth Radio Control Yacht Club

Lake Rotoroa, Hamilton - Waikato Radio Yacht Club

Lake Rua, Harewood - Christchurch Model Yacht Club

Lake Taurikura - Tauranga Radio Sailing Club

Orakei Basin - Oarakei Yacht Club

Quarry Lake - North Shore Radio Yacht Squadron

Regency Lake - Gulf Harbour Radio Yacht Club

Southern Reservoir - Otago Radio Yacht Club

St Mary's Bay, Westhaven, Auckland

Vauxhall Yacht Club

Victoria Lake, Hagley Park - Christchurch Model Yacht Club

Wattle Farm - Northern Marine Model Society

Whitby Lower Lakes - Wellington Radio Yacht Club

Winstones Lake, Otaki - Kapiti Radio Yacht Club

Event Organizer

Christchurch Model Yacht Club

Cromwell Radio Yacht Squadron

Gulf Harbour Radio Yacht Club

Kapiti Radio Yacht Club

Kerikeri Radio Yacht Squadron

Nelson Radio Sailing Club

New Plymouth Radio Control Yacht Club

North Shore Radio Yacht Squadron

Orakei Yacht Club

Otago Radio Yacht Club

Pegasus Radio Sailing Club

Tauranga Radio Sailing Club

Waiheke Island Radio Yacht Club

Waikato Radio Yacht Club

Wellington Radio Yacht Club

Westhaven Radio Sailing

Past and Future Events

Only Past Events

Only Future Events

Events Status

Moved Online

Rescheduled

2024 sat 23 mar All Day sun 24 Cancelled Kai Iwi Championships (Cancelled) Class IOM Event Type Regional Event Organized By Kerikeri Radio Yacht Squadron Kai Iwi Lakes , 296 Domain Rd

Event Details

Cancelled NoR SI Entry Form Entry List

march 23 (Saturday) - 24 (Sunday)

Calendar GoogleCal

296 Domain Rd

Get Directions

2024 sat 06 apr All Day sun 07 North Island IOM Championships Class IOM Event Type National, Ranking Regatta Event Organized By Kapiti Radio Yacht Club Winstones Lake, Otaki - Kapiti Radio Yacht Club

NoR SI Entry Form Entry List

april 6 (Saturday) - 7 (Sunday)

2024 sat 06 apr All Day Postponed IOM 4 Hour Race (Postponed) Class IOM Event Type Club Event Organized By Gulf Harbour Radio Yacht Club Regency Lake - Gulf Harbour Radio Yacht Club , Regency Park Drive, Gulf Harbour, Whangaparāoa 0930, New Zealand

NoR SI Entry Form Entry List This event has been postponed.

This event has been postponed.

All Day (Saturday)

Regency Park Drive, Gulf Harbour, Whangaparāoa 0930, New Zealand

2024 sat 27 apr All Day sun 28 2024 EC12 South Island Championship Class EC12 Event Type Ranking Regatta Event Organized By Pegasus Radio Sailing Club Lake Pegasus - Pegasus Radio Sailing Club , Lake Pegasus, Kaiapoi, South Island, New Zealand

 NoR SI Entry Form Entry List

april 27 (Saturday) - 28 (Sunday)

Lake Pegasus, Kaiapoi, South Island, New Zealand

2024 sat 11 may All Day sun 12 DF95 North Island Championships Class DF95 Event Type Regional Event Organized By Kapiti Radio Yacht Club Winstones Lake, Otaki - Kapiti Radio Yacht Club

 NoR SI Entry Form Entry List 

may 11 (Saturday) - 12 (Sunday)

2024 sat 25 may All Day sun 26 2024 North Island DF65 Championship Class DF65 Event Type Regional Event Organized By Wattle Farm - Northern Marine Model Society Wattle Farm - Northern Marine Model Society , Wattle Farm Rd

may 25 (Saturday) - 26 (Sunday)

Wattle Farm Rd

• Boat Reviews
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• Digital Edition
• Competitions

Radio waves

Continuing our series on the yacht clubs of New Zealand, we thought we’d visit a couple in each island with the easiest access to an introduction to sailing.

Here’s how to go sailing, no worries, without getting your feet wet. No HR issues either with finding and retaining crew. And all for a lot less outlay than a boat and a mooring or a trailer or new marina berth. And, probably, more bang for your buck by way of uncomplicated fun.

Welcome to the world of radio-controlled yachting, via the Waiheke Island Radio Yacht Club or Nelson Radio Sailing Club Inc – the newest and perhaps the oldest clubs for radio-controlled yachts in the country.

Here’s how to get into it.

STEP ONE: Mosey on down to their patches of sailing water, to chat with the yacht racers and to see if steering one of these slim sailing machines rings your bells. The skippers will be happy to talk while piloting their craft. Only don’t expect eye contact. That’s reserved exclusively for the diminutive sailboats out there.

STEP TWO: Buy a DragonForce 65 one-design model yacht. They are surprisingly cheap; only a coupla hundred bucks, and come complete with the radio, a display stand, and options for three rigs of differing mast height and sail area. There are other, often more complicated, classes of radio-control yachts – but these DragonForces appear to be the best/easiest place to start

STEP THREE: Personalise your boat with dazzle paint or groovy graphics, all the better to identify it in the fleet from a distance. Maybe fit an oversize burgee too.

STEP FOUR: Get sailing! Do a few private trial runs to avoid beginner bungles. Then enter the races. Though at first, you may be in the starters’ fleet. For among the model yacht sailors at every New Zealand club are some very experienced, very fast, big boat racing helms. These folk know their stuff!

Like Richard Potter, long-time giant-killer in the Waiheke Boating Club’s full-size fleet, aboard his radical converted Pied Piper Beep Beep. Or Dave Humpherson, a savvy, technical sailor of all boats from Jollyboats upwards, and a gifted amateur yacht designer too. Or Ross Barnett, he of trimaran cruising and kayak adventuring fame.

At Nelson a competitor in both the IOM class and DF65 class is gracious grandmother Linley Morten, née Atkinson. She’s yachting royalty, being the daughter of Keith Atkinson who built winning M Class boats along with Laurie Davidson, and a winning big-boat helm herself. Or her partner Peter Foster, long-time campaigner of an Alan Wright-designed Quarter Tonner. Or Bob Spearman, 92 years young – there’s experience for you! Other notable big and small boats sailors at Nelson include Basil Hart, Kendal Allcott, John Levy and Peter Jensen.

Expect to be humbled on the race course.

STEP FIVE APPEARS A GIVEN: You’ll get hooked!

DRAGONFORCE 65

These yachts are small works of naval architecture art. They are quite beautiful. And radical too. If a DragonForce 65 were a 30-foot keelboat say, its draft would be… about 20 feet!

Despite its extreme draft and bulb keel, your Dragon Force 65 will heel alarmingly in responding to gusts on the water. On a real yacht this would have the crew sliding off the deck and into the water like hapless lemmings. But you’re firmly based on dry land so you can drive the boat as hard as you like, heeling be damned! The narrow hull of the DragonFroce 65 is obviously very easily-driven.

Waiheke’s Radio Yacht Club fleet is the newest addition to those of the 14 clubs affiliated to the New Zealand Radio Yachting Association. Nelson Club has been around for almost 30 years and membership has doubled in the last year.

Waiheke’s club was established in 2019 by Glenn Fowler, an experienced yachtie from way back. He initially bought a second-hand boat on Trade Me, but soon found “like everything in life, it was not a lot of fun on my own.”

So he bought another model boat, and invited a mate to join him. Then another old salt saw them at the Causeway, and also bought two boats – one for his wife. And the club was away from there.

It has rocketed to prominence, now being one of the most active clubs with among the biggest racing fleets in the country (the club’s Facebook group has 93 members!). Though, in the researching of this story, the good folk in Nelson contacted me to remind us that, hey, they have big racing fleets there too – and of different classes. On our summer circumnavigation of New Zealand, we popped in to visit.

This connection with other clubs means that model yacht sailors can enter regional and national championships, and even international regattas.

As the blurb has it, “The DragonForce 65 is one of the fastest growing classes of radio-controlled yachts worldwide… it is the boat for those who want an excellent performance boat at a fraction of the cost of other boats.”

Glenn fills me in with the detail of what you buy: “I sell at cost, $450 with a basic radio transmitter/receiver, and $550 with an upgraded trans/rec. Additional rigs complete with sails – $150 A+. Boat comes with A set, B rig and C rig.”

Linley reminds me that very fine second-hand boats can be found on Trade Me. In fact, her current race-winning yacht – a Frank Russell Ellipsis – was one of those. She also has the advantage of Peter working tirelessly to keep their boats ship-shape. He also does fine videos of the racing – Google them on Youtube. His Yacht Renovations During Lockdown has had over 9,000 views! https://youtu. be/32KC1JHr3z8

The copy on the DragonForce 65 website then gets a bit technical: “The new version 6 now comes with 50 micron Mylar film sails with a clean new style… the digital rudder servo has been given a 10% boost in torque and improved electronics.”

The mast of the DragonForce 65 is free-standing, but it does have a single backstay, adjustable to set up a bend in the mast to de-power the mainsail if required – a before-the-race tweaking made on shore.

While sailing, the controls at your fingertips are in-out on the mainsail and jib sheets, and steering via the rudder arm.

There’s one tiny wee piece of fine print: “Not recommended for use in salt water.” Richard Potter tells me cleaning up the boat after a session on the briny becomes a much-loved ritual.

OTHER CLASSES

The New Zealand Radio Controlled Yachts Association races halfa-dozen different classes. The most popular has been the IOM (International One Metre), which is raced in over 30 countries. The hull cannot exceed one metre in length and the complete boat ready to sail must exceed 4kg. Two-channel radio equipment is required; one operates the winch, the other the rudder. The class was created in 1988 by Jan Dejmo, aided by Graham Bantock and the Technical Committee of the IMYRU (predecessor of IRSA).

Then there’s the RM International Marblehead. The modern ‘M’ class yacht is the high-tech option for radio-control sailors. The Marblehead class rules allow for up to six measured rigs, and plenty of additional room for individual boat experimentation, including profiled rotating masts, unstayed carbon rigs, pocket luff mainsails, pre-preg carbon hulls and fins, offering a wide scope for design freedom. These boats are 129cm overall length, and I read that “the restricted development class rules allow both the professional [there must be people who fit this appellation!] or amateur designers/builders/sailmakers an attractive avenue to test their knowledge and skills.”

And the Canterbury J Class which allows handy newcomers to the sport to get started quickly with a good handling model yacht that is easy to build and cost effective. I learn that 270 hulls have been sold and they are found throughout New Zealand, and some as far afield as the USA, Canada and the UK. It is a one-design yacht and all hulls come from official moulds approved by the Canterbury J Association, each with an identification number stamped into the hull.

Plus the bigger sister of the DragonForce 65, the DragonFlite 95 (DF95), noted for its light weight and long, narrow hull, which gives it outstanding light airs performance. The DragonFlite 95 approaches strong wind with alternative lower-aspect rigs. The sales clincher: “Even when the boat is overpowered it still remains easily controllable to windward and always has astonishing speed downwind with almost no tendency to nosedive.”

To make a statement on the water, there’s the East Coast 12 Metre, which at 1.5m in length and with a mast standing 1.8m above the deck, is a very impressive radio-controlled yacht.

The EC12 originated in the USA and eventually made its way to New Zealand in the 1980s, slowly but steadily growing from small beginnings to the class it is today, with more than 160 built, the majority within the last 20 years.

Just like their full-size inspirations, the old America’s Cup 12 Metre yachts, the EC12s carry a certain cachet – and a bunch of rules.

“All hulls are produced from the International One Design mould. New hulls must be purchased through the Owners Association which in turn passes this building instruction on to the Class-approved boat builder who will communicate with the prospective owner discussing as to what level of completion they wish. All boats when finished will be measured by the Class Measurer to ensure compliance with the all-important Class Rule. This ensures compliance to the principal of a one design class where all boats irrespective of age will remain competitive.”

And the class that looks quite charming to me, the ¼ Scale Zephyr, which replicates the legendary Des Townson’s also legendary dinghy design. It would appear these are for more traditional aficionados of boatbuilding.

All model hulls come from the same mould with the concept of continuing with the Des Townson wooden construction principles using light plywood and small timber stringers and keeping with the tradition of varnish work. “Moulds have been completed for a full hull and deck in fibreglass, as the full-size boat has. The idea of taking a scale model of a full size dinghy and making that into a radio-controlled keelboat took a considerable amount of research and development to arrive at what we have today.”

I reckon! But knowing Townson’s talent for drawing lovely boats, I imagine the model works well too.

“All the current owners are either current or past skippers of the full-size Zephyr who not only have a passion for the class but also a love of sailing the ¼ Scale without getting wet or crippled.” Enough said.

The fine website of the Radio-Controlled Yachts Association features some photos of interesting-looking multihulls. But no mention of a distinct class of these just yet.

Chris Heyward at Nelson has a radio-controlled model foiling cat. Top that!

STANDARD RACING RULES

Yes, some of the Waiheke radio yacht sailors do have other models, but all their fleet racing is done with the DragonForce 65s. Nelson, by contrast, has a much more diverse fleet.

The DragonForce 65 is a strict one-design racing class, so you’re sailing against equal boats in every respect. Some accessories are allowed in the class rules, and it is possible to see boats with different rigs in the same race, as skippers may have opted for alternative sail plans depending on what they expected the breeze to do. The one-design ethos still applies, regardless of what rig you’ve chosen. No handicaps. First across the line is the winner.

All the standard yacht racing rules apply. Though when Lesley and I were photographing the boats in action, we noticed there didn’t appear to be any penalties for touching a mark on the course. Perhaps this is overlooked given the difficulties with long-distance vision and parallax in knowing exactly where your boat really is. Or even telling whether you really did brush the buoy.

Mostly, we observed fairly generous room given to mark roundings, and boats crossing tacks. Also, from our vantage on the water in our rubber dinghy, we noticed that the small yachts, though able to point really high into the wind, made tacks through unexpectedly wide angles – again, possibly a result of skippers playing safe given the longdistance view. Getting into irons is an embarrassment, no matter what size your sailboat, eh!

I also had the random thought about what the protocols are with regard to bumping into, or literally stepping on the toes of a fellow skipper. I know that would be a possibility with me – so fixated I’d be on controlling my yacht at a remove.

We noticed a variety of burgees, pennants and telltales to help guide the shore-based helmsperson (men and women the day we were there at Waiheke, including the competing couple Dot and Mike Hilburn) to figure out apparent wind on a boat from afar. I know this would be the biggest challenge for short-sighted ol’ me. On the dead downwind legs, the boats’ jibs naturally fly out goose-winged all by themselves, so this would be a help in understanding that wind direction.

But here I am applying thoughts from traditional, fullsize yachting to a whole new arena of this multi-faceted sport. Best I shut up right now, and just accept there are new adventures of learning to be had on the banks of radio-controlled yachting waters.

Just like the good folk of the Waiheke Island Radio Yacht Club, the Nelson Radio Yachts, and all the other New Zealand clubs do. Good on them! BNZ

Power On : Keep trim

Ahoy! Fun free family activity abounds at Auckland Wooden Boat Festival

Lake Tahoe 50 years of elegance

A walk on the wild side

New Zealand Radio Yachting Association Inc.

The home of Radio Sailing in New Zealand

Pegasus Radio Sailing Club

Club Racing

Contacts .

Chris Koskela

• [email protected]

Secretary  

Website : www.prsc.nz

Pegasus Radio Sailing Club was formed in 2018 and is based on Lake Pegasus in Waimakariri District, north of Kaiapoi, South Island, New Zealand. Lake Pegasus covers 18 hectares, is 500 metres long and varies between 100 and 200 metres wide providing 3.5 km of foreshore with five areas we can sail from, depending on the wind. Over 40 members are friends enjoying the challenges and satisfaction of radio sailing. They are always keen to share their knowledge and respond to interest shown by passers-by and welcome enquiries.

A recent Boat Show Day revealed that our Club and members own 71 radio yachts across 14 designs – 12 Canty J; 33 IOM; 7 EC12; 7 DF95; 2 DF65; 2 Laser RC; 5 Marblehead; 1 Ten Rater; 2 scale Zephyr; 1 own design; 1 Mini 40 Trimaran; 1 Fairwind; 1 Sailwind and 6 Pegasus 880 yachts for public, school and business “Have a Go” events as well as challenges against other radio or full-size yacht clubs.

The annual   Activities Program  includes fortnightly  Class Racing  Medal Days for IOMs and DF 95s and  Handicap Racing  with prizes to recognise performance and improvement. The  Development Sundays  in-between focus on fun-based ‘get-to-know-radio-sailing’, boat handling (on and off the water), or knowledge and experience in race management and the rules, health and safety. Another special feature of the club is the  Impromptu Sailing  that happens when members look out over the lake, at any time of the week, check the weather, and WhatsApp other members to put a few buoys out and test each other’s wit and wisdom. Aspiring competitive skippers often create opportunities together to tune their yachts and improve their yacht handling skills.

Ranking Regatta

Event Location

Anzac Bay - Waiheke Island Radio Yacht Club

Awatea Lake, Paraparaumu - Kapiti Radio Yacht Club

Best Island - Nelson Radio Sailing Club Inc

Kai Iwi Lakes

Lake Dunstan - Cromwell Radio Yacht Squadron

Lake Manuwai - Kerikeri Radio Yacht Squadron

Lake Pegasus - Pegasus Radio Sailing Club

Lake Rotomanu - New Plymouth Radio Control Yacht Club

Lake Rotoroa, Hamilton - Waikato Radio Yacht Club

Lake Rua, Harewood - Christchurch Model Yacht Club

Lake Taurikura - Tauranga Radio Sailing Club

Orakei Basin - Oarakei Yacht Club

Quarry Lake - North Shore Radio Yacht Squadron

Regency Lake - Gulf Harbour Radio Yacht Club

Southern Reservoir - Otago Radio Yacht Club

St Mary's Bay, Westhaven, Auckland

Vauxhall Yacht Club

Victoria Lake, Hagley Park - Christchurch Model Yacht Club

Wattle Farm - Northern Marine Model Society

Whitby Lower Lakes - Wellington Radio Yacht Club

Winstones Lake, Otaki - Kapiti Radio Yacht Club

Event Organizer

Christchurch Model Yacht Club

Cromwell Radio Yacht Squadron

Gulf Harbour Radio Yacht Club

Kapiti Radio Yacht Club

Kerikeri Radio Yacht Squadron

Nelson Radio Sailing Club

New Plymouth Radio Control Yacht Club

North Shore Radio Yacht Squadron

Orakei Yacht Club

Otago Radio Yacht Club

Tauranga Radio Sailing Club

Waiheke Island Radio Yacht Club

Waikato Radio Yacht Club

Wellington Radio Yacht Club

Westhaven Radio Sailing

Past and Future Events

Only Past Events

Only Future Events

Events Status

Moved Online

Rescheduled

2024 sat 27 apr All Day sun 28 2024 EC12 South Island Championship Class EC12 Event Type Ranking Regatta Event Organized By Pegasus Radio Sailing Club Lake Pegasus - Pegasus Radio Sailing Club , Lake Pegasus, Kaiapoi, South Island, New Zealand

Event Details

 NoR SI Entry Form Entry List

april 27 (Saturday) - 28 (Sunday)

Calendar GoogleCal

Lake Pegasus, Kaiapoi, South Island, New Zealand

Get Directions

september 2024

2024 sat 07 sep All Day sun 08 DF95 South Island Championships Class DF95 Event Type Regional Event Organized By Pegasus Radio Sailing Club Lake Pegasus - Pegasus Radio Sailing Club , Lake Pegasus, Kaiapoi, South Island, New Zealand

 NoR SI Entry Form Entry List 

september 7 (Saturday) - 8 (Sunday)

2024 sat 28 sep All Day sun 29 Canterbury IOM Championships Class IOM Event Type Ranking Regatta, Regional Event Organized By Pegasus Radio Sailing Club Lake Pegasus - Pegasus Radio Sailing Club , Lake Pegasus, Kaiapoi, South Island, New Zealand

NoR SI Entry Form Entry List

september 28 (Saturday) - 29 (Sunday)

This website may not work correctly because your browser is out of date. Please update your browser .

Welcome to Yachting New Zealand's podcast: Broad Reach Radio.

The podcast will feature a range of topics from interviews with top sailors of today and yesteryear to chats with people in the sailing and boating industries. It aims to be informative, entertaining, educational or just something for people to feel connected to the sport. You can find the latest episodes below, or on Podbean , Spotify, Apple and Stitcher.

Ep 52 - Glenn Ashby and the land speed record

The number 202.9 might not mean a lot to most but is a figure Glenn Ashby has become obsessed about. The two-time America’s Cup winner is now leading a group from Emirates Team New Zealand trying to break the wind powered land speed record.

Ep 51- Simon Gundry

New Zealand has a proud tradition in the round the world race and a lot of that started with Ceramco New Zealand in the early 1980s – the first New Zealand-flagged boat to compete in the gruelling event.

Ep 50 - Karl Budge

Karl Budge doesn’t purport to be much of a sailor, but he is one of this country’s leading event organisers having previously turned the ASB Classic into one of the world’s best tennis tournaments.

Ep 49 - Mike Sanderson

Mike Sanderson is one of the most successful sailors of his generation.

Ep 48 - Sharon Ferris-Choat

There’s not a lot Sharon Ferris-Choat hasn’t done in sailing. She’s a two-time Olympian, first woman to be part of a team to win a round the world race, world distance record breaker and the first woman to skipper a GC32 team.

Ep 47 - Jo Aleh

Jo Aleh always maintained she hadn’t retired when she stepped away from top-level sailing after the 2016 Rio Olympics but it was still a surprise in some circles when she announced earlier this year she was targeting a third Olympic medal in Paris.

Ep 46 - Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (49er sailing)

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are never far from the action, whether it’s the America’s Cup, SailGP or in their environmental work, but the spotlight for this episode of Broad Reach Radio is on their Olympic sailing in the 49er.

Ep 45 - Steve Ashley and the 1979 Fastnet Race

Steve Ashley was an 18-year-old sailmaker living in England when he was asked to crew on a 34-foot yacht for the 1979 Fastnet Race.

Ep 44 - Dan Bernasconi

The America’s Cup has long been at the cutting edge of yacht racing and we’ve seen incredible development over the last decade or so and a lot of that has to do with Dan Bernasconi.

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Welcome to Rob Nelson Boats (RNB) Based in Auckland, New Zealand. RNB designs and builds sails and rigs, as well as supplying a range of parts for the radio sailing community. This includes our own RNB Sails, Rigs and Kitsets along with brands such as Sailsetc and Hales Micro.

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Pegasus Radio Sailing Club

model yacht radio sailing on Lake Pegasus Canterbury New Zealand

2024 PRSC Sailing Calendar

Pegasus Radio Sailing Club formed in 2018 and is based on Lake Pegasus in Waimakariri District, north of Kaiapoi, South Island, New Zealand. Lake Pegasus covers 18 hectares, is 500 metres long and varies between 100 and 200 metres wide providing 3.5 km of foreshore with five areas we can sail from, depending on the wind. Nearly 50 members are friends enjoying the challenges and satisfaction of radio sailing. They are always keen to share their knowledge and respond to interest shown by passers-by or enquiries through the website.  

Our Club and members own over 70 radio yachts across 14 designs – Canterbury J; IOM; EC12; DF95 and 65; Laser RC; Marblehead; Ten Rater and A Class; Mini 40; Fairwind and Sailwind and 6 Pegasus 880 yachts for public, school and business “Have a Go” events as well as challenges within the club and against other radio yachting clubs.

The annual Activities Program operates mainly for IOMs and DF 95 class racing on Sundays for the Club’s Championship Series, Medal Days, a Founders Day and the Members’ Memorial Day with prizes to recognise performance and improvement. In-between are Club Sailing Days for which members can create their own focus.

During the week, DF 95 owners enjoy Wednesday Twilight Racing, and Thursday Sailing is offered to members and prospective members for – getting to know radio sailing – building confidence in boat handling (on and off the water), – gaining knowledge and experience of the rules, – or simply experiencing the pure joy of sailing a radio-controlled yacht.

Another special feature of the club is the Impromptu Sailing that happens any day when members look out over the lake, at any time of the week, check the weather, and WhatsApp other members to put a few buoys out and test each other’s wit and wisdom. Aspiring competitive skippers often create opportunities together to tune their yachts and improve their yacht handling skills.

With our distinctive trailer , well managed resources and capable administration, we offer all skippers support and fellowship : for those new to radio sailing, to those aiming for competitive success, and for all interests in between. The Club encourages its skippers of all abilities to reach for their aspirations, and to get the most out of their time with each other as well as their boat. At the same time, the wellbeing and progress of PRSC is enhanced by the special and varied skills and knowledge which every member brings to the Club.

On the continuum , members can take up opportunities to learn to sail and enjoy their boats, to whatever level they wish. It might be to simply launch their boat from the peaceful shores of Lake Pegasus and relax away from life’s pressures by themselves, or in the company of friends, or to compete locally, nationally and internationally.

PRSC has also gained a reputation for excellence in running events on our home water. These might be to bring radio sailors together from other clubs socially, or for workshops, or for full blown championship regattas attracting accomplished radio yachties from New Zealand, and overseas.

In celebration of each year, in December , our Club closes with a Prize Giving to acknowledge our members’ achievement and excellence through the year.