The Spirit of New Zealand under full sail in Saturday's Tall Ships and Classic Invitational Race in the Bay of Islands, with the R Tucker Thompson in the background. Photo / Stephen Western
The Spirit of New Zealand under full sail in Saturday's Tall Ships and Classic Invitational Race in the Bay of Islands, with the R Tucker Thompson in the background. Photo / Stephen Western
Near-perfect conditions and a bumper fleet of classic yachts made this year's tall ships race in the Bay of Island one of the most successful in years.
Almost 100 vessels, ranging from a 110-foot superyacht to century-old mullet boats, took part in the 42nd Tall Ships and Classic Invitational Raceoff Russell on Saturday.
Organised by the Russell Boating Club, the event is more a celebration of sail, a yacht-lovers' get-together and a chance to admire each others' boats than a serious race.
It was a good day for junk-rigged boats which took out first, third and fourth places in the tall ships division.
The winner was Arcadian, a Whangarei-based junk-rigged schooner built in 1983 and redesigned by David Webb for speed.
The classic division was won by Valeria, an Arch Logan mullet boat built in Auckland, circa 1913.
Club commodore Tony Hanlon said the conditions were fantastic with a southerly of 8-10 knots at the noon start taking the fleet out to the first mark, switching to a sea breeze of about 12 knots to bring them back to Russell.
"So the weather gods were good to us, it was a very relaxed and easy sail."
What made the annual event special was the way the Russell community rallied behind it, Mr Hanlon said.
Many of the volunteers who gave up their time to prepare the hangi and run the post-race social were not club members and some weren't even boaties.
The junk-rigged catamaran Oryx, which won a prize for the slowest boat, heads for the finish line in the all-comers race. Photo / Stephen Western
"The generosity of these people is amazing," he said.
More than 50 boats entered the classic division, a big increase on last year. The tall ships division had 24 entries and the all-comers 18, fewer than in previous years.
The tall ships and classics raced about 14 nautical miles to Howe Pt, then to Roberton Island and back to Russell. The 24 nautical mile all-comers course was shortened for the stragglers.
Greatly adding to the spectacle were the square riggers Spirit of New Zealand and R Tucker Thompson, plus the 111-foot superyacht Silvertip.
The 111-foot superyacht Silvertip dwarfed every other competitor. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Line honours in the tall ships division went to Zindabar, a double-masted Elliott 60 owned by Northland's new deputy harbour master Tony Browne.
A post-race social at the club's Matauwhi Bay headquarters featured one of New Zealand's biggest hangi, with food for 850 people, and live music by Merv Pinny's Bootleg Band and the Windjammers.
Results (top 5 only):
Classic division: 1 Valeria; 2 Shanty; 3 Rivale; 4 Cora; 5 Mokena; line honours: Northerner. Tall Ships: 1 Arcadian; 2 Happy Spirit II; 3 Zebedee; 4 La Chica; 5 Zindabar; line honours: Zindabar. First junk: Arcadian. Zeke Patterson award for best gaff-rigged boat: Shanty. Joe Cotton award for best wooden boat: Valeria.
