Top of the South School Team Championships

12th March to 14th March 2026 at Nelson Yacht Club

The Top of the South Secondary School Team Sailing Championships brings together teams representing secondary schools in the Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough region for 3 days of 3v3 team racing in 420 dinghies.

The event is organised by Nelson Bays Team Sailing Association with support from Nelson Yacht Club with racing off the beach in the waters of the Nelson Haven.

kSail Single Change Swiss - Version 2

Racing is split into "rounds" during which each team will sail two races.
The race schedule is based on each teams performance and ranking and is automatically generated as racing progresses.
The first round is created using a random draw, the second round is generated as races in the first round are completed. The third round is then generated using the ranking from the end of the first round, the fourth round is generated using the results from the second round and so onward.

In a standard Swiss league, both teams change out after every race. In the kSail Single Change Swiss, just one team will swap after each race which helps keep racing running. To ensure all teams can meet all other teams, the first race in each round will start with two new teams meaning that there is one double change needed near the end of the previous round.

The tie breaks are designed to favour teams who have performed consistently well by winning races, with priority given to winning races against highly ranked teams. Unlike in many round robin formats, there is no consideration given to the points scored by each team in any race.

Following feedback from events which used Version 1 of the Single Change Swiss in 2025, we have spent the winter developing Version 2. This differs from Version 1 in a number of ways:

  • A new optimisation routine has allowed us to update the scheduling engine with the objective of reducing the overall rank difference of teams scheduled in each match.
  • We have changed the order of the Tie Breaks. Version 1 of SCS uses the standard Swiss League tie breaks; however Version 2 tie breaks reward races won against higher placed teams ahead of races sailed.
  • We have updated the Round 2 schedule generation reduce the rank difference of the matches scheduled in Round 2. This means that the schedule for Round 2 will be published quite late in Round 1 - teams should be prepared for rapid changeovers!

The kSail Single Change Swiss is a developing system so please fill out the Feedback Form to make suggestions!




Confirmed Entries (14):
Christ's College
Christchurch Girls Combined
Garin College A
Garin College B
Marlborough Boys College
Marlborough Colleges Combined
Mount Aspiring College
Nayland College
Nelson College
Nelson College for Girls A
Nelson College for Girls Blue
Nelson College for Girls White
Nelson Combined Team
Waimea College

Type Title Updated At
Sailing Instructions Sailing Instructions 11/3/26 10:32 NZDT
Notice of Race NOR Top of the South Team Sailing Regionals 2026 11/3/26 10:34 NZDT
Social Welcome letter 11/3/26 10:36 NZDT
Social TOTS team sailing regatta flier 11/3/26 10:36 NZDT

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