Matariki Day, also known as the Māori New Year, is a public holiday in New Zealand, timed with the first rising of the Pleiades star cluster. The Evans Bay Yacht and Motor Boat Club pays homage to Tāwhirimātea, the god of wind and weather, with a mid-winter three-day sailing regatta.
Day 1 and 3 are traditional harbour races and day 2 is the Matariki Classic lap race in Evans Bay.
Day One – Harbour Race
Crew: Geoff, Patricia, Grant, Anastasia, Trey.
Forecast: Northwest 15 knots gusting 20 knots.
In a beautiful winter morning with 15 kts of northerly we cast off from Chaffers Marina at 0930 hrs with the No. 2 Jib and full main hoisted. We sailed round to Evans Bay and docked at the wharf. All the contestants crammed into the club house for the race briefing. Rowdy, very appropriately, opened with a welcome in Te Reo and Race Officer Rick Martin went on to explain the details for the racing. The course for keelers was set as a round-the-islands race. On-the-water start from Pania with first warning at 1155 hrs, around Mākaro/Ward Island and Matiu/Somes Island and back to the finish line in front of the start box.
At 1125 hrs we slipped our lines from the wharf and motored up towards Pania near Shark Bay with Trey on helm, Anastasia on mainsheet, Patricia and Grant handling the sail trim, and yours truly on bow.
The race kicked off a few minutes late so we had time to position Halo for a good start sailing onto the line on port tack and then picking a gap in the fleet to tack to starboard into clear air towards Greta Point.
We rounded Pt Halswell at 1230 hrs and then eased into a reach towards Ward Island.
Our usual rivals Tamerlane, Upcycled , Sea Beagle and Grenadier were ahead of us as we rounded Ward and we tensioned the sails for the beat up to the top of Somes Island. We made a couple of good tactical choices on this leg enabling us to pass Upcycled and Tamerlane and get closer to Grenadier and Sea Beagle.
We had our medium spinnaker rigged up ready to hoist after we rounded Somes at 1341 hrs. Unfortunately the kite went up with a wine glass twist in it. After easing the halyard and pulling on the sheet we got the twist out and then we were away sailing on a broad reach towards Evans Bay.
By now the wind had dropped to under 10 kts and I was regretting my decision to not fly our maxi spinnaker. Tamerlane with their big blue kite were able to easily pass us followed by Upcycled who also flew off into the distance.
We glided across the finish line at 1448 hrs. The sails were lowered and we fired up the trusty motor and made our way back to Chaffers. What a splendid day of sailing it was, in a lovely warm winter’s day!
Race Qs Replay Day 1 – http://raceQs.com/event/1595934
Back at the clubhouse we all enjoyed pizzas and beers and the usual post-race banter. The results were published online. Halo came 13th on handicap but as Phil would say, we won on fun!
Day Two – Matariki Classic
Crew: Geoff, Patricia, Murray, Anastasia.
Forecast: Variable 5 kts. Northerly 10 kts developing in the morning then rising to 15 kts.
A glorious morning for the Matariki Classic race today!
Anastasia, Patricia and I cast off from Chaffers at 0925 hrs and motor sailed Halo round to Evans Bay hoping we would get some wind for the race. We hanked on the light No. 1 Genoa in anticipation and tied up at the Evans Bay wharf at 1003 hrs while Murray attended the race briefing at the clubhouse.
Over teas and chocolate at the clubhouse we checked out the course: four marks from the bottom of Evans Bay up to almost Pt Jerningham, a long start line right across the bay from the start box through Shoal Pile to Burnham Wharf, and a lap gate in front of the start box. Warning signal at 1055 hrs.
The race started on time with the Start Box lights and we were off with Patricia and Anastasia on sail trim, Murray’s steady hand on helm, and me on mainsheet and bow duties. We crossed the start line a bit behind the fleet but from the east side. With 52 boats registered for the Open Division race it was a good choice to have the extended start line. We made slow progress tacking up the bay in about 6 kts of northerly.
As we neared the first mark near Pt Jerningham we could see some keel boats and dinghies ahead of us that had got into a wind hole to the left of the mark. We were moving well and with some trepidation sailed straight into the melee to round the mark without incident although it was a close call!
After rounding the mark we looked back and saw Tamerlane, Wakarere and ZigZag were still stuck in the hole as we cruised off on a nice beam reach towards Mark #2.
As we were rounding mark #2 we did a quick spinnaker hoist as we passed Veloce and settled in for a relaxing run down the bay.
As we neared the bottom mark we doused the kite a bit too early so we had to pole out the genoa until we rounded mark #3.
We then sailed on a beam reach over to Mark #4 then through the lap gate. First lap completed in 1 hr 20 mins.
By now the wind had picked up to around 10 kts and we now able to get up to the top mark in only two tacks by beating across to the bay to the point below Shark Bay and then on to starboard tack right to the top mark (compared to the 12 tacks we had to do on the first lap). It also helped that the fleet had spread out by now. Zigzag had now passed us but Tamerlane, Sea Beagle and Wakarere were still well behind us.
We completed the second lap in 1 hr 9 mins and as the wind continued to increase we were able to complete the third lap in just 48 mins to finish the circuit at 1358 hrs. We dropped Murray off at the Evans Bay wharf and then motored back home to dock at Chaffers at 1443 hrs.
A thoroughly enjoyable day’s sailing on Halo!
Race Qs Replay Day 2 – http://raceQs.com/event/1595937
Day Three – Win for Halo!
A northerly front came in overnight. At 7 am Sunday it was blowing 30 kts gusting 40 kts so sailing was cancelled for the day but Murray and I attended the prize giving at the club and picked up the award for coming first on handicap for the Matariki Classic race on Saturday. Well done team Halo!
We were also presented with four of these lovely pendants for each of Saturday’s crew:
Congratulations to Rowdy and all the volunteers at Evans Bay Yacht and Motor Boat Club for organising another amazing regatta. We look forward to the next one!
Halo Log Book 