The New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club (NZMYC) has taken last summer’s regatta under its wing and given it a new name, with Evolution Sails on board as naming sponsor. It runs over Auckland Anniversary Weekend, from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 January 2027, and the Kawau Boating Club in Bon Accord Harbour is home base.
It also gives the club a summer fixture between its two big ones. The PIC Coastal Classic sends the fleet from Auckland to Russell at Labour Weekend, and the PIC Harbour Classic wraps up the season in March. Kawau asks something different of crews. There’s no long passage north, just three days in the one anchorage, with shorter races and more time ashore.
“The Evolution Sails Kawau Classic is the third event in what we always envisaged as a trio of great sailing events across the season,” NZMYC spokesman Simon Hull said.
“We wanted something for everyone. There will be proper racing for crews who want the challenge, and the rally for families and cruising sailors who simply want to get out there and be part of it.”
Race or rally
Racing is on general handicap over five races, with divisions set by boat speed and type. The courses mix windward-leeward work on laid marks with passage races around Beehive, Challenger, Motuketekete and Moturekareka islands.
Nobody needs to hurry on the Friday. The first warning signal isn’t until 3:55pm, late enough for crews coming from home, or down from the Bay of Islands, to get to Kawau without pushing it. Saturday and Sunday then have two races apiece.
The rally covers the same water each day but sails under the collision regulations, not the racing rules. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to play for. Prizes go to the best-dressed boat and the biggest fish, and there’s a poker run as well.
Insurance is simpler for the rally fleet, too. Every boat must carry at least $5 million of third-party liability cover, but only racing boats need a racing endorsement, so owners whose policies exclude racing can enter the rally without ringing their insurer.
Evenings at the club
Bon Accord Harbour is a favourite with Auckland cruising boats, and once the day’s sailing is done both fleets come ashore to the Kawau Boating Club. There’s a bar, a live band and prizegiving every night.
“Then everyone comes back together at the Kawau Boating Club at the end of the day,” Hull said. “That social side has always mattered to our club.”
Getting in
Keelboats, multihulls, trailer yachts and sports boats are all eligible, provided the owner or skipper is a financial member of a club affiliated to Yachting New Zealand. Racing and rally share a single cap of 100 boats, filled in order of payment.
Early entry costs $150 until 16 December, rising to $195 until entries close at 8pm on Monday 18 January, or earlier if the fleet fills first. Boats in Bay of Islands Sailing Week can enter for $100 and break the trip home from Opua with a weekend at Kawau.
“We can only take 100 boats, so I’d encourage anyone thinking about it to enter early,” Hull said.
The Notice of Race, the entry link and the current entry list are at kawauclassic.co.nz.
