Twenty-seven boats headed out for Richmond Yacht Club’s Spring Regatta on Saturday, racing 45 and 50 nautical mile courses around Waiheke as a strengthening south-westerly brought rain, gusts and a long beat back towards Auckland.
For more than 40 years, Richmond Yacht Club’s Spring Regatta has sent Auckland sailors around Waiheke Island near the beginning of the summer sailing season. This year 27 boats started across five divisions, ranging from Open 8.5 multihulls to 55-foot offshore yachts. Race officials chose the full courses on Saturday morning, with a south-westerly of around 12 knots at the 9am start.
South-westerly builds around Waiheke
The Gold Cup, Long Haul and multihull divisions sailed 50 nautical miles, around Rangitoto and Motutapu, northeast to Gannet Rock and then around Waiheke. Short Haul and No Extras took a 45nm course, passing Motuihe before joining the same Gannet Rock and Waiheke legs.
The passage down Waiheke’s northern side put the south-westerly behind the fleet. Once around the island, the boats faced a long upwind return towards Auckland. By early afternoon, showers were moving across Waiheke and reducing visibility.
The leading boats rounded the island’s south-east corner close to 1pm. A little over an hour later, from Achilles Point, Clockwork, Equilibrium, Lucifer and Levity could be seen emerging from beneath the rain over Waiheke. They had since rounded the island’s south-western corner and were into the Waitematā, tacking towards the finish in a south-westerly that had built considerably since the start.
At the front was Equilibrium.
Equilibrium fastest as Clockwork takes PHS
Graham Matthews’ Botin Carkeek 55 Equilibrium was the quickest monohull around the 50nm course, finishing in 5 hours 14 minutes 13 seconds. That was 21 minutes 11 seconds quicker than its winning elapsed time in last year’s Spring Regatta.
Steve Mair’s Shaw 12 Clockwork followed just 5 minutes 50 seconds later. Once the handicaps were applied, their order reversed. Clockwork corrected to 5:29:39 to take the Gold Cup division, while Quintin Fowler’s More 55 Rum Bucket came through from third on the water to take second on PHS, just 1 minute 15 seconds behind. Equilibrium dropped to third at 5:32:45, leaving only 3 minutes 6 seconds across the corrected top three.
Flojo and Hooters turn the tables on PHS
Cameron Thorpe’s Bakewell White 37 General Lee led the Long Haul fleet home, nearly 27 minutes ahead of Gary Vogels’ Elliott Flojo. That advantage disappeared on PHS, where Flojo won by 7 minutes 13 seconds. Ben Storey’s Farr 1220 Tonto made an even bigger move after correction, climbing from sixth on elapsed time to third.
Ed Ayre’s Open 8.5 multihull Lucifer was first home in 5:23:32, only 2 minutes 38 seconds ahead of Mike Mackey’s Schionning CM46 Levity. Craig Haslip’s Open 8.5 GBE Hooters was third across the line. On PHS, Hooters jumped both of them to win, ahead of Levity and Lucifer. Coen Ursem’s Open 8.5 GBE Freedom, which won the division on both elapsed and handicap in 2025, retired.
Patere and Katana win both ways
In both 45nm divisions, the first boat home also held the lead after correction.
Alan Retter’s Stewart 34 Patere won Short Haul, finishing 13 minutes 39 seconds ahead of Andrew Macdonald’s Farr 1020 Flashwave. After correction, that margin came down to 2 minutes 56 seconds. Richard Limbrick’s Ross 850 Cool Change, last year’s Short Haul PHS winner, retired.
Nigel Garland’s Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600 Katana also won both ways in No Extras. It finished 37 minutes ahead of Damon Paling’s J/112E Oro Rosa and retained the lead on PHS. Murray Johnson’s Hanse 415 Resonance, which won both line and handicap honours in the division last year, finished fourth on PHS this time.
Spring Regatta fleet races into the evening
The results sheet only partly shows how different the Spring Regatta became across the fleet. Equilibrium had completed its 50nm course in a little over five hours. More than five hours after it finished, John Marshall’s Davidson 35 Dream Machine was still racing, and finally crossed at 20:27:57, having spent 10 hours 42 minutes 57 seconds completing the shorter 45nm No Extras course. For the quickest boats, it had been a fast lap of Waiheke. Further back, the race stretched well into the evening.
After winter, the Spring Regatta put Auckland’s fleet back into long-course racing around the Gulf. With the first big lap of Waiheke behind them, there are plenty more miles to come as the harbour, Gulf and offshore season gathers pace.
