The excitement is building for nine young Rarotonga Sailing Club (RSC) sailors heading to Tahiti to compete in the annual Oceania Optimist and ILCA4 2025 Championship Sailing Regatta next fortnight.

Hosted by Yacht Club De Tahiti in Arue, 5km east of Papeete, the regatta will run from April 1 - 4 with up to 20 races to be sailed.

The RSC has been building towards this regatta for over 18 months with this being a great addition to the club's activities, and sailors have been committed to their training under the guidance of coach Jacobo Miquel.

Sailors will depart for Tahiti on Saturday March 29. They will have two days to practice on the water in the race area before the event begins.

Yacht Club De Tahiti Yacht was hosted by the RSC in October last year for the revived Rarotonga - Tahiti Challenge. Tahiti won the challenge which had sailors competing in the Optimist Class, Laser 4.7 Class and Vaka from October 21 – 25, 2024.

Next month, Yacht Club De Tahiti director is expecting a strong turnout in terms of fleet numbers.

Three RSC sailors will be sailing in the ILCA A4’s (Laser Class) and six sailors will be in the Optimist Class.

Optimist sailor Edmund Postrzygacz, a Year 10 student at Tereora College says: I’m extremely excited because we’re going to be racing against Australia, Papua New Guinea and other countries in the Pacific so it’s going to be an extremely big competition for us.”

This regatta will be the second competition for Postrzygacz where he will be competing with 100+ boats.

“I love sailing because it's such a cool sport I can be in the ocean and can just move with the wind without having to use any engines or anything,” he added.

John Hoff, a Year 9 student at Papaaroa School says: “I’m so excited to be going to Tahiti with our team, I can’t wait to make new friends and get sailing in the competition.”

RSC Commodore Chris Fenwick said: “It’s fantastic to see this group heading to the championship. We have some sailors that have come through the 2024 Learn to Sail Program, progressed to club racing and then qualified for this event. This is a huge opportunity for that group to learn and develop even further.”

Fenwick added a group of experienced sailors will be heading to the regatta to advance their regatta and race experience.

“I have no doubt our team will do us proud in Tahiti,” he said.

Yacht Club De Tahiti has been great in supporting the RSC efforts to get a team to the Oceanian Regatta.

“We are very grateful for their support and assistance with logistics and accommodation.

“We hope to reciprocate this in kind later in the year when hosting the Rarotonga Tahiti Challenge as we did in 2024.

“It is important to be able to run these regattas in the Pacific Region to allow these talented sailors to race each other and compete at a high standard,” said Fenwick.

The sailors heading to Tahiti needed to qualify through a local qualification series run by RSC.

Fenwick said the battle in the Optimist class was particularly close and the RSC is very encouraged by the depth of the fleet and level of the sailors coming through.

The Rarotonga sailors travelling to the championship are: ILCA A4's (Laser Class) - Olivia Postrzygacz, Klaasje Nia, and Niva Malcolm. Optimist Class: John Hoff, Edmund Postrzygacz, Duke Burgess, Aroko Kirkwood, Jiro Daniel, and Omni Tauakume.