Coastal classic

New 50 footers to line up for New Zealand premier offshore race, but no records expected

MetService Weather Ambassador Bob McDavitt predicts headwinds of 15-20 knots fo the 25th anniversary of the HSBC Coastal Classic this weekend. As of midday Monday he was able to tell us that northwesterly breezes are likely to flow over the racecourse throughout the day, dying off to around 10 knots through the evening.

That’s not the worst forecast the race fleet could receive, but it does mean that a new race record is unlikely: previous records have been set in south and southeasterly conditions, allowing the boats to reach up the coast to Cape Brett, where they bear away and run towards the finish line under full spinnaker. This time the fleet will probably be tacking upwind until Cape Brett, when they will be able to ease sheets for the last leg into Russell township.

Such conditions mean that the new generation 50 foot boats are race favourites, as their canting keels and ballast will greatly assist them in the uphill climb. This includes two brand new boats, each hailed as highly innovative and with the potential to take top honours: Wired, is a Brett Bakewell-White-designed 52 foot performance racer that is said to be dinghy-like yet sports an LCD TV and entertainment centre down below. Wired is owned by former Etchell national champion Rob Bassett and Brett Russell, and while she is yet to race, her specifications have already made her the handicapper’s favourite for line honours.

Wired will be lining up alongside Ran Tan II, an Elliott 50 canting keeled powerhouse, owned by Wellingtonian John Meade, and one of the five members of the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in Wellington to compete in the ‘great race north’. Like her sistership Sportivo, Ran Tan has all of the toys: a retractable, rotating prod from which to fly a gennaker; a canting keel which swings from side to side; a lifting daggerboard for directional stability upwind; twin helms; water ballast for power, and a sail wardrobe by HSBC Coastal Classic sponsor Doyle Sails.

However, despite their impressive credentials, there is no guarantee that the newest or biggest boats will necessarily be the fastest: 25 years of history shows that anything can happen on the 119 nautical mile racecourse between Auckland and Russell, and particularly in the multihull fleet it may be that age and smarts will exceed youth and size, as the likes of Sundreamer, a 23 year old pink catamaran, line up against newer boats like X-Factor. In recent years, both have their share of race victories.

Perhaps the most hotly contested division in 2006 is the IRC division. Introduced by Yachting New Zealand to enable different types of boats to race more fairly against each other, this international rating system has been quickly adopted by many in the fleet, and has attracted more than 50 entries.

The smallest boat to enter is the 6.5m Pied Piper Jim Beam owned by 24-year old Auckland sailor Woody Bould. Other contestants that will be watched with interest include Wellington grandmother Carol Love, who bought her 32ft Whiting half tonner Candu II up to Auckland specifically for the race, and Nereides, a 60 foot motorsailer which claims the honour of ‘New Zealand’s first superyacht’.

The race, which has 241 official entries, begins off Devonport Wharf, and travels 119 nautical miles up the coast to Russell in the Bay of Islands, where most of the boats opt to spend one or two nights.

If Bob McDavitt’s predictions hold true, the conditions will offer an arduous but challenging and tactical race, and with the breeze due to shift to the south-west by Sunday, they will face similar conditions coming home. Bob McDavitt will make his official weather prediction at the race briefing on Thursday evening.

The HSBC Coastal Classic commences at 10am on Friday 20 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. Sponsors include HSBC, Sunday Star-Times, Mount Gay Rum, Steinlager, Masport, Doyle Sails, Dirty Dog, Yamaha, Navman, Loaded Hog, Russell Cottages, Trade-A-Boat, Dubarry, Line 7, SailNZ, the Duke of Marlborough Hotel, Loaded Hog, Telecom, De Walt, and Crew.org.nz.. The prize pool is worth $40,000.