The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron was packed for the skippers’ briefing. “I guess we’ll have this many at the finish,” race officer Megan joked as she looked across the room. Whether they all get there before the 2pm Saturday cut-off is another question.
PredictWind’s Nick Olson has been talking about seven knots since Monday’s tactics clinic, and tonight’s numbers hadn’t moved. A high in the Tasman is sitting over a gradient that will fade through tomorrow. Olson pointed out the irony: after two months of solid south-westerlies, Auckland is finally getting a break, and it has picked Labour Weekend.
Off the line, then into the soft stuff
The 10am start off Devonport should be pleasant, with enough breeze for everyone to get away cleanly. The tide will be pushing toward the line, so boats sitting on it early will find themselves swept over.
The race changes at Cape Rodney. Olson ran routings for everything from the TP52s down to the Ross 930s, and every one sails out of the breeze along that stretch. “Whichever fleet you’re in, whichever boat you’re in, it starts to get interesting,” he said. His advice was to stick close to the course and not go wandering out to sea after pressure that may not be there.
There’s a wildcard. A Northland sailor told Olson he expects a sea breeze to come over the land from the east, and some models agree. Beyond that, the breeze builds again for a decent sail around midnight, then eases through the small hours.
“There’s nothing nasty,” Olson said. “It’s going to be long.”
The model run that matters
Olson’s most practical advice was about timing. Tomorrow morning’s high-resolution runs arrive between 5am and 8am, which leaves time for one final routing before crews leave the dock.
The run he really wants crews to watch comes tomorrow evening, when much of the fleet will still be short of halfway. That’s when navigators should look at their routing again. He was dismissive of the global models, which at 25 km resolution show wind everywhere, and told crews to set up observation stations along the coast and trust what they show. It’s the same disciplined approach Mike Sanderson set out in his light-air game plan earlier in the week.
The tide will carry the fleet up the coast as far as Tiri, where it turns, and it turns along the edges first. Anyone who reaches the light patch on a foul tide could be going backwards. Olson suggested a few navigators may have already worked out where the anchor is stowed.
Dinner first
Some crews are approaching it more philosophically. Graham Matthews’ Equilibrium, one of the biggest boats in the fleet and third over the line in this year’s Three Kings race, heads north with a crew of 10 in two watches. On board are a beef bourguignon, broad beans and broccoli from Matthews’ garden, and several bottles of red.
“We will be having a pleasant evening regardless of the conditions,” he said.
He did consider switching to the rally to get an earlier start, then realised it would run into the same hole off Cape Rodney. So Equilibrium will race with everyone else, until the breeze dies. Matthews isn’t going to slat about for 12 hours, and he expects the engine to be on “somewhere about three o’clock”. The truck carrying her hard top is booked for Ōpua, but it may end up at Tutukākā or Marsden Cove.
Hull’s checklist
The NZ Multihull Yacht Club’s Simon Hull picked up Sanderson’s line from Monday about Kiwi crews running at 110 per cent before dropping off a cliff to 40. He expects boats to need second and third watches. The crews that win, he said, will be the ones still sailing well between midnight and three in the morning.
The life jacket rule hasn’t changed. Everyone wears one unless the skipper decides otherwise, and they are compulsory above 15 knots and at night. Hull wants crews clipped on too. “You might go over the side, but you’re going to be pretty easy to find.” He asked every boat to run a man overboard drill before tomorrow and to keep someone watching to leeward, under the headsail, where the helm can’t see.
Every boat checks in on VHF 17 from 8am with the number of people on board. The race office matches starters against finishers, so a boat that retires and doesn’t say so could trigger a search. Boats also report at Flat Rock, Sail Rock, Cape Brett and the finish, and keep a listening watch on channel 16 with a handheld VHF on deck.
Hull also warned about the phone black spot off Cape Brett, which doesn’t clear until boats are half to three-quarters of a mile past Piercy Island. He asked for the tracker to run on a backup phone as well. Most of the panicked calls the race office gets from families turn out to be a flat battery.
The club’s permit means racing boats don’t have to stop for dolphins, though sightings must be reported. That exemption ends at 2pm Saturday.
A record on your own schedule
The most interesting announcement of the night had nothing to do with tomorrow. The club has created a Coastal Classic passage record, separate from the race. Any Category 3 boat can choose its own start time, notify the club, and be tracked down the course.
The race record still belongs to Beau Geste, set in 2019 at 5 hours 0 minutes 37 seconds in a south-westerly gusting near 30 knots. Hull doesn’t expect anyone to beat it during the race any time soon.
Russell
Prizegiving is at the Naughty Penguin. Two water taxis run on channel 08 from 6.30am Saturday until 2am Sunday, with a third working continuously from Friday night to 10am Sunday. Hull’s advice was to book ahead, go ashore in groups, and remember where you’ve anchored. “The white boat in the bay is not much of a description.”
For the trip home, Olson thinks Sunday looks good.
Then Kawau
Hull also gave a first look at the club’s newest regatta. The Evolution Sails Kawau Classic runs from 29 to 31 January out of the Kawau Boating Club in Bon Accord Harbour. There are five races over three days, starting late on the Friday afternoon, and Hull promised crews would be “back in time for dinner and a beer”. He reckons the flat water suits multihulls, but the event is open to monohulls, trailer yachts and sports boats too.
