The Starling is a great stepping stone between the Optimist and P Class, and the Laser or 29er. It suits sailors 50-70kg and has traditionally had a strong following at Murrays Bay.
They are strongly supported for Winter Champs, Auckland Champs, North Island Champs, Peter Blake, and culminating in a major Nationals event at or around Easter every year.
Adult Starlings
Murrays Bay has a growing number of adult Starling Sailors and is popular with some of the Optimist Mums keen to give it a go.
The Starling Darling (adults) fleet trains on Wednesdays and races on Sundays. We're keen to welcome you to join us this Summer. Our coach is brilliant, perfect for LTS in case you're a novice.
Starling History
The Starling class yacht was conceived and the design commissioned by John Peet in the late 1960s. At the time there were no single-handed boats available to teenagers for bridging the gap between the P class and the adult Finn, OK, Cherokee and Zephyr classes. A set of criteria was formulated for the proposed class: -
Des Townson, the designer of the successful Zephyr, Mistral and Dart yachts of the period was approached to design the boat and he completed this in June 1969. To confirm the simplicity of the construction concept, teenager David Peet built the prototype as his first boat-building project. The Starling was launched at Westhaven, Auckland on Anzac weekend 1970.