Damon Jolliffe and the Motorboat III crew cross the finish line just west of the Auckland Harbour Bridge at 16:58 on Saturday 18 April, completing 531 nautical miles in 2 days, 5 hours, 58 minutes and 20 seconds.
Fourth on line honours, the last of the front four to cross the line. But on PHRF handicap Motorboat III’s 0.931 rating transforms that result completely. A corrected elapsed of 2d 2h 14m 53s puts Damon Jolliffe’s Thompson 1150 first on handicap (at time of finish), over 2 hours ahead of Mr Kite II, nearly 3 hours ahead of Clockwork, and more than 6 hours ahead of Equilibrium on corrected time.
This is a crew that started the race with a SailGP-worthy start, spent a night under reefed canvas bashing north, had someone up the mast at dawn, and still came home first on corrected time. The Red Bull breakfast clearly helped.
From their first report off Cape Rodney to their final charge home past Cape Brett, Motorboat III sailed their own race on their own terms. Fourth across the line. First on handicap (to date). Happy days indeed.
