Crew: Eduardo, Dean, Jamie, Geoff.
Forecast: 10 kts northerly rising to 15 kts in the morning and up to 20 kts in the afternoon.
A cracking autumn morning greeted us as we slipped lines from Chaffers at 0830 and powered across the harbour. The forecast promised a building northerly so up went the No.1 and full main for a lively start to the day.
The course dropped via WhatsApp from RO Ingrid H.: Start – 23p – 26p – 25p – 6p – 26s – Finish. Committee boat: Y-Not. Start time: 1000 hrs.
Come start time, it was all on. Seventeen boats in the Combined Division all jostling between Y-Not and the orange buoy made for a tight, high-energy line. No room for hesitation.
We picked a mid-line slot, hit the timing nicely, and managed to thread the needle cleanly — no barging, no panic, just a solid getaway in the middle of the fleet.
Sails drawing and crew dialled in, we settled quickly and pointed toward the Jessie Street mark off Petone Beach, with the fleet already stretching and the day shaping up for a fast, tactical race.
We caught a handy lift in the 10 knots of NE, which set us up perfectly for the Jessie Street mark — no tack required. Perfect.
From there, we bore away and headed south, slipping past Somes Island and accelerating down the harbour. With the angle opening up, Eduardo wasted no time sending the maxi spinnaker skyward — and we were in business.
We enjoyed a duel with Shardik, a Lotus 9.2, trading pressure and positioning as both boats pushed for speed. Dean, cool on the helm, edged us up just enough to steal their wind. It was a slow squeeze, but it worked — their kite softened, ours kept pulling, and we rolled over them to windward.
About halfway down the harbour we made the call to gybe — earlier than most of the lead pack — committing to the left-hand side toward Evans Bay.
It felt like a bit of a gamble at the time, with several of the front runners holding on longer but once gybed, we were on a fast, direct lane, the kite pulling steadily as we carved a clean track toward the Bay.
Entering Evans Bay, we gybed back onto starboard to set up the approach to Shoal Pile — putting Phil’s “Jenny Craig technique” into play: wide in, narrow out.
The timing came together nicely. Genoa up, kite down — a clean, well-controlled drop — and a quick final gybe had us perfectly positioned to round the mark at speed without any drama.
Up ahead, things weren’t going quite as smoothly for everyone.
We slipped past Laissez Faire and Sliver, both sailing beyond the mark while wrestling with spinnaker drops. Always a reminder of how quickly things can unravel at that moment.
And thanks Phil for the photo — great capture of the moment.
With the mark behind us, it was straight back to work — re-trimming for the beat. We hardened up and settled into a close-hauled slog up Evans Bay in around 15 knots of northerly, the boat nicely powered and punching to windward.
After four tacks, Sliver the fast Davidson 37, was ahead again as we rounded Point Halswell.
Once around Kau Point, it was time to open things up again. Eduardo sent the spinnaker aloft for the second run, and the boat quickly settled into a fast groove with Dean back onto the helm, guiding us onto a broad reach toward the Front Lead – fast, focused, and in the hunt.
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As we closed in on the Front Lead, Jamie and Eduardo were straight into action — kite down, neatly gathered and stowed through the forehatch in good time before the rounding at 1215 hrs. Another tidy manoeuvre under pressure.
Then it was back onto the wind again.
We re-trimmed for the long beat up the harbour in a steady 15 knots of northerly. The fleet split, with several boats heading west of Ward Island. We committed to the eastern side, looking for better pressure and better VMG.
The call paid off — we worked our way up and around Somes Island in just two tacks, keeping the boat moving and losses low.
Laissez Faire crossed astern and then managed to roll us during our second tack toward Mokopuna Island, capitalising on their boat size and speed to sail ahead.
After rounding the Virtual Mark north of Mokopuna, we settled in for the final push. Sails trimmed, crew focused, and nothing left to do but squeeze out every last bit of speed.
We crossed the finish line at 1333 hrs, rewarded with a satisfying toot from the committee boat Y-Not — always a good sound at the end of a solid race.
With the race done, we turned for home and enjoyed a fast sail back to Chaffers in 15–20 knots, Halo stretching her legs one last time.
Lines were secured at the berth at 1438 hrs, bringing to a close a great day on the water.
Race Replay
Replay of boats with AIS tracking (Halo, Tamerlane, Laissez-Faire, Sliver, Amnesty, Rattler and High Society):
https://placebojim.github.io/player/?id=1_4E2-KCuJuFsWOKBh-icushCHB4iFYqQ
Results
A solid day on the water was rewarded with 4th on handicap, and even better, we’re now 2nd equal overall in the series — nicely in the hunt with two more races to go.
An excellent team effort all round: good calls, clean manoeuvres – great crew work all the way.
Well done Team Halo!
Halo Log Book 