An Australian sailor with a Kiwi-built trimaran returns to New Zealand’s great race north with a message of preparation and environmental purpose.
When the start gun fires off Devonport Wharf next Friday, 24 October, few entries will carry more sea miles or experience than Ocean’s Tribute. Australian sailor Guy Chester, fresh from a global circumnavigation, joins the 2025 PIC Coastal Classic fleet with a proven multihull built in Auckland more than three decades ago.
The Crowther Design 93 trimaran, launched in 1991, is one of only two ever built. Her sistership, Bullfrog (racing as Verbatim at the time), famously finished behind Sir Peter Blake in the 1988 Goodman Fielder Wattie Bicentennial Around Australia Yacht Race. Since then, Ocean’s Tribute has crossed the world’s oceans three times and still holds the solo Trans-Tasman record, set by her original Austrian owner when she sailed as Shark’s Angel.
Chester purchased the boat in 2020 while completing a circumnavigation aboard his previous catamaran. After a major refit in 2021, he set off again, this time sailing single-handed through the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans before competing on the Caribbean regatta circuit. His results include a second in the Groupama Race, a win at Antigua Sailing Week, and another at the Anakin Regatta in St Martin.
Now based in Opua for the summer, Chester has assembled a local Kiwi crew for the Coastal Classic and a string of upcoming New Zealand races including the Route 66, Three Kings, and solo Trans-Tasman.
“She’s fast but solid,” Chester says of the 12-metre trimaran. “We’ve clocked 300 miles in 22 hours and averaged 20 knots in the right conditions. She’s happiest reaching in a good south-westerly, and if that arrives, we’ll be smiling.”
Beyond competition, Chester brings a strong environmental ethos to the water. A long-time sustainability consultant and founder of Eco Sustainability, he relies mostly on solar and hydrogeneration, burning less than 60 litres of diesel since leaving Panama.
“I’ve spent 40 years in environmental work,” he says. “Boating reminds you what’s really changing out there: fewer seabirds, fewer flying fish. The ocean tells the truth.”
With more than 100 boats entered for this year’s race, organisers say Ocean’s Tribute is a fitting example of both seamanship and innovation in the fleet.
“It’s fantastic to see boats like Ocean’s Tribute bringing such rich offshore experience and purpose to the race,” says Adrian Percival, Commodore of the New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club. “The PIC Coastal Classic celebrates everything great about sailing, from adventure and preparation to the connection we share with the ocean.”
With his global miles logged and New Zealand summer racing ahead, Ocean’s Tribute adds both pedigree and purpose to this year’s Coastal Classic. For Chester, it is a homecoming of sorts; back to the waters where his boat was born and back to the thrill of fast sailing in company once again.
