With six days until the 2026 Bay of Islands Sailing Week, it’s time to take a look at the growing fleet. Starting on Monday 19 January, most crews heading north to Opua will be finalising their plans, pulling their last bits and pieces together, and setting departure times. Strengthening south-easterly wind patterns may well push crews north in the lead-up to Monday’s first race.
Not all arrivals are coastal. Class40 Vixen Racing recently returned from competing in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, where the team retired due to a crew injury. The crossing back served as a qualifying passage, sailed double-handed to log miles toward Shorthanded Sailing Association of New Zealand (SSANZ) Round North Island requirements. Sharon Ferris-Choat and boat captain Taylor Edwards departed Sydney late last week, briefly joining the departing Globe40 fleet heading for Chile.
Vixen Racing sails with Globe 40 fleet before turning for New Zealand
Registrations for the BOI Sailing Week remain open. Current entry numbers sit below last year’s 92. Fewer boats will change the on-water picture, with more space on start lines and fewer compromises early in races.
There are many familiar boat and crew names in the entered fleet, recognised from previous BOI Sailing Weeks. Boats also arrive with form from offshore events such as the PIC Coastal Classic. This is a quality line-up, and competition is expected to be intense.
Looking down the list of entries, what stands out this year is variety. Aside from six Magic 25s and two Young 88s in separate divisions, there is little duplication across the entry list.
The clearest concentration sits in the Open S sportsboat division, where six Magic 25s line up together alongside a couple of Shaw designs and a Houghton Dibley, all well-known boats in their own right. The Magic 25 has a long local history, and the class is known for close starts, fast manoeuvres, and races decided by tight margins.
Island Racing Spinnaker remains the largest division, with 36 boats entered so far. Lengths range from under eight metres through to seventeen-metre-plus offshore and grand prix designs. Most sit between nine and eleven metres, the size band that has long defined New Zealand cruiser racing.
Larger boats are present without dominating the fleet. A TP52, a Verdier 40 (Vixen Racing), and an Elliott 50 SS sit alongside older designs and newer performance cruisers.
In a fleet with so little duplication, this year’s BOI Sailing Week shapes as highly watchable, with outcomes driven by sailing skill as much as hardware.
Nina and Tony Kiff: The visionaries behind the Bay of Islands Sailing Week
