The P Class was designed in 1923 by Harry Highet and was officially known as the Tauranga Class.  Over the years it has grown more sophisticated and has embraced modern technology but it remains more or less the same snub-nosed little seven-foot sailing boat, which first took New Zealand by storm so many years ago.  It is, without doubt, the most enduring of all classes.

Competition in this class is fierce and to be successful it is necessary to have a good boat with good gear.  Do not hesitate to get advice before purchasing a P Class without a racing record.  The P Class is a difficult little boat to sail well.  It is sometimes said that if you can sail a P Class you can sail anything.  It is certainly true that the success which New Zealand has had in international youth and other sailing competitions is due in part to the good grounding in the boat handling skills provided by the P Class.

New skippers in the P Class start in the Junior Division and are promoted to the Senior Division if they perform well or at the discretion of the class co-ordinators.

All P Class skippers are encouraged to enter the P Class events mentioned in the programme plus any other out of town events as they occur.  It is by experiencing the competition in different waters against different competitors that improvements in performance are made.

The most important event in the P Class calendar is the Tanner Cup (Interprovincial) and the Tauranga Cup (National Championships).  These two Competitions are held in early January and this season will be held in Christchurch.  All P Class skippers are eligible to sail in the Tauranga cup.

The Tanner Cup involves having one representative from each province racing for New Zealand's foremost P Class trophy. These representatives are selected from trials held every year in each province.  The Bay of Plenty trials were held in early November 2009. Congratulations to Geneve Saunders who will represent the BOP and Issac McHardie, Waikato/Thames.

Download the P Class rules here [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 300.55 KB].

Registration Form.

The P Class National register is administered by the TYPBC. This is a register of all of the P Class in New Zealand.  To compete at the P Class Nationals and some other regatta it is a requirement that your boat is on the register, updated July 2009.

Download the register of current owners, updated December 15,  2009.

For more information please send a email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

If you require a new registration please, download the form here [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 14.06 KB].

Forward this with $10 to ...
P Class Registrar,
TYPBC,
PO Box 14352,
Tauranga.

If you are changing the registered owner then use the same form, enclosing your $10 and post to the same address.