Race record for the big one

Just nine hours for supermaxi Konica Minolta to finish New Zealand's HSBC Coastal Classic

A New Zealand supermaxi made yachting history today when it set a new race record in the HSBC Coastal Classic.

Konica Minolta, at 98 feet, completed the course in eight hours and twenty nine, comfortably beating the record of 9 hours and 22 minutes, which has stood for the keelboat divisions since 1996.

However despite the record, Konica Minolta wasn’t the first boat across the line: the first three placegetters were multihulls: the Noumean entry called Rongtudjuu, followed by Isis (Murray Ross’s yacht on which Dennis Conner was sailing) and X-Factor. None of the multihulls set a new record for their division.

Philippe Coste, who sailed his 60 foot catamaran here from Noumea in just three and a half days, says the conditions were quite difficult, especially around Tutukaka, where it was light and shifty. When asked to come back and set a record for next year’s 25th race anniversary race he replied that he certainly would if the weather provided the right conditions.

Conditions were described as fresh with winds up to 30kts and occasional squalls, as well as patches of light air at certain parts of the course. Sea conditions were lively but not as rough as many had feared they would get during the afternoon.

Brian Carter, Spokesperson of the New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club, says, “It was interesting to see a fair contest between a supermaxi and the 60 foot catamarans. This was a great race and the fact that Konica Minolta took line honours in the race is a reflection of the big improvements made in technology and boat design since 1996.”

The HSBC Coastal Classic commenced at 10am on Friday 21 October. It is New Zealand’s most famous coastal yacht race, starting in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour and finishing at Russell Wharf in the Bay of Islands. 232 yachts started the race.

Major sponsors include HSBC, Sunday Star-Times, Mount Gay Rum, Steinlager, Masport, Loaded Hog, CRC, Russell Cottages, Trade-A-Boat, Dubarry, Line 7, SailNZ and Quantum Sails. The current race record is 7 hours, 20 minutes and 51 seconds, set by Split Enz in 1996. The prize pool is worth $40,000.

At the time of this release, many boats are still on the course but are expected in by breakfast Saturday morning. For full results see http://www.coastalclassic.co.nz