They met on a yacht nicknamed the ‘Love Boat’ and now, six years later, an Auckland couple are putting their relationship to the ultimate test by prepping to race offshore for New Zealand.
Andrew Hall, 56, and Sandra Bees, 59, are one of two Yachting New Zealand-sanctioned crews set to contest the Offshore Double Handed World Championship in Lorient, France later this month.
The couple will fly the Richmond Yacht Club (Auckland) burgee off the coast of Brittany in the official World Sailing two-handed championship where 22 mixed gender crews from 16 countries will chase global glory on identical Jeanneau Sun Fast 30s.
Hall and Bees have splashed $40,000 of their own money on the campaign and called on the goodwill of the Auckland sailing community to prepare given one glaring hole in their masterplan – a yacht to train on. Instead, they’ve borrowed as many as five boats to prep on in the outer reaches of the Hauraki Gulf.
They’ve booked three days training on one of the Sun Fast 30s (weather permitting) in Lorient to assimilate themselves with the one design yacht. But the odds will still be stacked against them when they take the gun in one of the two 11-boat, 12-hour overnight races on either September 25 or 26.
They’ll need to finish in the top five of whichever preliminary race they’re drawn into to qualify for the 48-hour final scheduled to run from September 29 to October 1.
The goal is to reach the final but Hall and Bees face a stiff challenge in unfamiliar waters and on a yacht many of the rival crews have vast experience racing. Furthermore, while Bees is an experienced club and coastal racer with blue water experience, she’s undertaken a crash course in short-handed sailing to prep her for the challenges ahead
The coach hollering for tricky sail changes on repeat deep in the Hauraki Gulf? Partner Hall whose offshore experience includes the 2015 Sydney-Hobart, the 2023 Round North Island and 2023 and 2024 Round Three Kings races, along with many other coastal races and blue water experience.
It’s a far cry from the casual Friday night rum race where Hall and Bees met on board Margaritaville, a Ross 10.66 campaigned by immediate past Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Commodore Andrew Aitken. Hall was co-skipper with Aitken on his Elliott 1350 Favourite in the last editions of the Round North Island and Three Kings races.
“Margaritaville is nicknamed the Love Boat because we’re not the first couple to have met on board,” Bees says with a laugh.
“I certainly never imagined that Friday night rum race would lead to a relationship, much less see us about to sail for New Zealand in the offshore world championships. We’re indebted to all the people who have helped us get here, starting with Andrew [Aitken], and especially the five owners who trusted us with their yachts.
“We’re going in as underdogs given our lack of experience on the Sun Fast but we’ll fight to repay them with a good result in Lorient. Andrew is just so passionate about offshore sailing and has some big plans and I want to show that sailors who haven’t necessarily been brought up through the ‘system’, and especially women, can do incredible things like this.”
Indeed, the Offshore Double Handed World Championship is just the start of the racing ambitions for Hall, a North Shore-based sailmaker, and Bees, a Product Manager for insurer NZI.
The couple are using the Lorient campaign as the launch pad for their new team, Sail IQ Racing, which is named after Hall’s bespoke sail loft which services both racing and cruising sailors, including adventurers on the Island Cruising and Down Under rallies.
The growing popularity of two-handed sailing saw the mixed gender idea originally slated as a new Olympic Games class only to be overlooked for Paris. But World Sailing has doubled down by agreeing on a three-year deal with Lorient Grand Large, Yacht Club de France and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) to host the double handed worlds.
While the immediate focus is on Lorient, that has Hall already quieting eyeing the 2025 edition off Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
“We’ve put in a huge amount of work to prepare for Lorient and Sandra doubly so. She’s been incredible with everything thrown at her in the short time frame we’ve had since having our entry ratified,” Hall said.
“We’d love to make the finals but this first year is mostly about getting Sail IQ Racing out there and gaining experience on the Sun Fast to show what we’re really capable of in Cowes and beyond.”
Ultimately, Hall has ambitions to again take on the fabled Sydney-Hobart, this time on his own boat. He’s currently modifying a Rocket 31 into a 38ft canting keeler and hopes to launch it early next year.
“Skippering a boat in the Sydney-Hobart will fulfil a lifelong ambition for me. It’ll be a Kiwi team to its core and we’re hoping the NZL sailing community will get behind us just like they have for Lorient.”
Another Auckland couple, Aaron Hume-Merry and Anna Merchant, are the second NZL team confirmed for Lorient.
