RPNYC Winter Series – 13 July 2025

Crew: Geoff, Murray, Jamie, John.

Forecast: Northerly 12-18 kts gusting 21 kts.

As we rigged up Halo for the race we discussed our sail choices. With the northerly averaging around 16 kts we resisted the temptation to use our shiny new genoa and opted for the smaller no. 2 jib together with a reef in the mainsail.

An interesting course was announced by Port Nick race control: Start – Somes (s) – Ward Is (p) – Front Lead (s) – Falcon Shoal (s) – Mark 5 (p) – Finish.

Thirteen boats were entered in the race which was due to start at 1200 hrs. For some reason we didn’t hear the call for the five minute countdown at 1155 and started our timer at the 4 min call which meant we were one minute late getting to the line. We weren’t the only ones…

The fleet soon spread out with Halo about in the middle. Currahee, a Lotus 9.5, was pointing well, with more sail up than us, and crossed ahead of us.

As we headed up the harbour towards Somes Island, Zigzag, who had started well back, stole our wind for a while as they overtook us to windward. They were pointing lower though, as we sailed close-hauled towards Somes.

After two tacks we rounded the top of Mokopuna Island at 1255 hrs. As we shook out the reef in our mainsail for the downwind run, we saw Haumuri ahead of us having some issues with their spinnaker.

We decided to just pole out the jib. With Murray now on helm we sailed dead downwind past Hope Shoal light.

As we approached the Front Lead we could see the new Bluebridge ferry Livia entering Wellington Harbour and steaming towards us. I checked the AIS and calculated that we would be clear as we rounded the Front Lead at 1336 hrs.

We started our beat across the harbour and looked back to see the yachts behind us getting a bit close to the ferry who sounded his warning horn! The last boat (Annie?) bailed out and turned back.

We did our first tack off Kau Point and then headed NE up the harbour. We couldn’t see Mark 5 but Murray made the call when to do our second tack which worked out perfectly! We rounded the mark at 1427 hrs. (We learned later that Haumuri ahead of us, had hit the mark and did a 360° penalty turn).

For the final run down the harbour we hoisted our reaching spinnaker and had a great sail down the harbour. We crossed the finish line with a flash of lights from the start box at 1500 hrs.