New record for Thwaites

As his Konica Minolta maxi slashes Auckland to Suva race record

Stewart Thwaites owner of the Wellington yacht Konica Minolta took this 30m Bakewell-White designer maxi to another race record at 47 minutes and 40 seconds after midnight today 8 June.

The crew described the race as a great ride. Rodney Keenan earned fame laying the boat down on its side in a 45-knot squall on the first night. He did lay claim however to a boat speed record of 34 knots first. This wipe out destroyed a 3.8-oz Spectra spinnaker normally considered to be a bulletproof sail.

The record for this race of 4 days 14 hours 42 minutes has now been dramatically reduced to 3 days 10 hours 47 minutes. This reduces Future Shock's record set in 1989 by 1 day 3 hours and 55 minutes.

Stewart Thwaites now holds both the Auckland to Noumea record and the Auckland to Suva record. To challenge these achievements a contender will need to be both fast and lucky.

In this race Konica Minolta maintained high boat speed only faltering briefly before picking up the SE trades after leaving the fresh SW winds of the start behind. The next boat to finish will be Hydroflow, the Elliot 16m sailed by Ron Brittain. This boat is more than a day behind, having suffered much more in the convergence zone of the change in wind.

The high fliers for handicap honours are currently Jive Talkin, a Davidson 35, and Moody Blue, a Cookson 39. Both these boats have two more days at sea and will need to hold favourable winds.