A fast Cook Strait crossing, tactical coastal routing, and tight handicap racing shaped the run from Queen Charlotte Sound to Napier.
A lively start from Queen Charlotte Sound
Leg 3 of the 2026 Doyle Sails Round North Island Two Handed Yacht Race began just outside Tory Channel at 1pm on Monday, with the fleet charging out of the Marlborough Sounds and into Cook Strait.
Fresh south easterlies and short steep seas produced a lively opening stretch as the boats cleared the Sounds and headed toward the south coast of the North Island. The 220 nautical mile leg would take the fleet along the rugged Wellington coastline, around Cape Palliser, past Castlepoint and Cape Turnagain, then around Cape Kidnappers before finishing off the Port of Napier.
Within minutes the leaders began to emerge. The Elliott 50 Explore Racing, raced by William Goodfellow and Jesse Turner, quickly found its rhythm alongside the Davidson 52 Whichway, with Bruce Gault and Craig McMillan, the Verdier 40 Vixen Racing, raced by Sharon Ferris Choat and Taylor Edwards, and the Thompson 1150 Motorboat III, under the control of Damon Joliffe and Josh Tucker.
Early tactical choices soon split the fleet. Some crews stayed closer to the Wellington coastline looking for favourable current, while others stood further offshore in search of steadier breeze.
Explore Racing controls the leg
By Monday evening Explore Racing had established a clear lead on line honours and was already pushing north along the Wairarapa coast.
The Elliott 50 proved perfectly suited to the reaching angles that developed up the east coast. Goodfellow later reflected on the leg:
“It was a great leg. It was a little bit bouyant coming out of Cook Strait and across the bottom of the North Island there, but then [we had] a brilliant run up from Palliser through to Kidnappers. We had a great ride. It was a good sail.”
By Tuesday morning yacht was approaching Cape Kidnappers with Hawke Bay ahead. Grey skies hung over Napier and locals were walking the promenade trying to work out why a black sailed yacht was racing up the coast (“Is it famous?” we were asked), followed by “many” boat blips on their AIS monitors.
At 10.57am Tuesday Explore Racing crossed the finish line off Napier in 21 hours 57 minutes 36 seconds, securing line honours for the third consecutive leg.
Motorboat III and Vixen Racing duel all the way
Behind the leader, the battle between Motorboat III and Vixen Racing became one of the defining stories of the leg.
For much of the race the two boats traded positions, rarely separated by more than a few miles. Part of Motorboat III’s advantage came earlier along Wellington’s south coast where Joliffe and Tucker exploited a powerful tidal stream running along the shoreline.
“There’s a river of current that goes across the south coast. And so when you find it, you start and just tack back and forth. About four or five knots of current. That’s what we did. Huge gains to be made.”
Working that narrow band of current required repeated manoeuvres in difficult conditions.
“But it was a lot of work trying to tack in three metre breaking seas. It’s quite tough on the boat. Ten or twelve tacks right in there in this little river. But we probably made a four mile gain out of that against the guys who just went out wide.”
Even with that gain the duel remained tight through the final stages of the race.
Sharon Ferris Choat later described the moment the lead slipped away.
“We lost the lead [against Motorboat III] coming around Cape Kidnappers.”
She said the closeness of the boats made the racing particularly intense.
“It’s brilliant racing; it’s when you’ve got that one manoeuvre, you’re in front, the next manoeuvre, they’re in front. It’s really good. And you can monitor the speed, and the boats are completely different, but they’re very similar speed, which is great.”
Motorboat III crossed the finish line in 1 day 23 minutes 41 seconds with Vixen Racing arriving around two and a half minutes later. An hour later the two crews were sharing toasted sandwiches and drinks.
On corrected time the Thompson 1150 secured overall PHRF victory by 9 minutes 35 seconds.
Shortly after finishing, Joliffe summed up the uncertainty that follows every offshore finish.
“We think we’ve done enough, but time will tell. The boats we’re watching are Ragnar and Kick. These are the ones with the tight battle overall.”
Standout performances across the divisions
Beyond the headline duel, several boats delivered strong performances across the fleet.
Whichway, the Davidson 52 skippered by Bruce Gault and Craig McMillan, finished fifth on line honours and secured the Division 2 win on corrected time. Their corrected time of 1 day 44 minutes 4 seconds placed them seventh overall on PHRF and firmly among the leading group of the fleet.
Live: 2026 Doyle Sails Round North Island Two Handed Yacht Race
In Division 3 the Sun Fast 3300 Ragnar, raced by Brett Elliott and James Glidden, produced one of the most impressive results of the leg. Ragnar finished ninth on line honours and fourth overall on corrected time with a time of 23 hours 50 minutes 25 seconds.
Further back in the fleet the Ross 930 Hotdogger, raced by Nigel Bish and Sinisa “Sin” Grujicic, secured the Division 4 win and tenth overall on corrected time.
Division racing remained tight throughout the standings. The closest divisional margin came in Division 2 where Whichway beat the Elliott 10.50 Motorboat 2, raced by Alan Quere and Vincent Trinquet, by just 2 minutes 41 seconds.
Elsewhere the Division 3 Ross 9.1 Physical Favours, raced by Ryan McCready and Andrew Child, finished only 19 seconds ahead of the Division 2 Elliott 1350 Tourer Focus, raced by Craig Fraser and Rob Croft.
A demanding leg for the crews
Leg 3 combined rough early conditions, tactical coastal sailing, and lighter breezes approaching Hawke Bay. For the crews, the leg proved physically demanding as well as tactically intense.
Ferris Choat, building towards her Trans Tasman Solo campaign in May of this year, had originally planned a four hours on, four hours off watch system with Edwards. In reality the pace of the racing meant that plan never properly took hold, and she managed only about one hour of sleep across the entire leg.
“That was a real nice dream.”
By Wednesday morning the final boat had finished and the fleet could finally rest before preparing for the next stage of the race.
Napier had delivered a fast and tactical leg that rewarded bold routing, smart use of current, and relentless boat speed. A hard start, a tactical split, a commanding line honours run, a gripping battle for handicap supremacy, and crews running on few hours of sleep.
