Yachting: Wired shows big race potential

The Brett Bakewell-White-designed Wired showed plenty of promise in its first outing, winning the keel boat division of the Coastal Classic race from Devonport to Russell.

The 16m canting keel yacht won its division, finishing 7m 30s ahead of Mick Cookson's 15m Wingz and 10 minutes ahead of the Transpac 52, V5.

Wired was third overall behind multihulls X-factor and McMoggy.

Wired was launched only a week before the 220km race and, Bakewell-White said, they "are still trying to figure out how to make it work".

He said they were well behind Wingz and V5 at one stage but when the breeze fell away near Tutukaka the boat's light-air speed allowed them to sneak past their opponents.

"Halfway between Brett and Whale Rock we took the lead and extended it," said Bakewell-White, who was on board as navigator.

The 25th Coastal Classic attracted 247 entries, making it the largest race of its kind in Australasia.

Starting at 10am on Friday, the giant yellow catamaran X-Factor crossed the finish line first, 11h 55m 42s later.

Early in the race, X-Factor were on track to breaking the race record of 7h 21m, set by Split Enz in 1996, however a windless hole left them motionless for nearly an hour.

"It is not a light boat," X-Factor owner Jon Vincent said. "But it did the job in a light race."

Dalton misses start
New Zealand skipper Graham Dalton missed this morning's start of the Velux 5 Oceans race in Spain because of damage to his boat's mast but hopes to join the solo round-the-world fleet later.

The mast cracked when it was blown to the ground in a storm which hit the marina outside Bilbao two days before the race start. Part of the mast will have to be rebuilt. Dalton said he would start "as soon as it is practically possible".

Under race regulations, that must be within seven days. Dalton is one of eight skippers competing in the three-leg, 48,300km race. The field features 67-year-old British skipper Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, competing 37 years after he became the first person to sail solo and nonstop around the world.

Ainslie faces Dickson
Emirates Team New Zealand's helmsman Ben Ainslie will compete in the Allianz Cup in San Francisco this week alongside Oracle's Chris Dickson and Larry Ellison.

The regatta is the fifth stage of the World Match Racing Tour, which includes 15 events. The inaugural Allianz Cup offers a US$100,000 ($150,000) prize purse and is the only regatta in the series taking place in the US. The 16 teams will race J/105s, a one-design class of boats about 10m long.

BMW Oracle Racing have entered two teams one to be skippered by Dickson, the other by Oracle boss Ellison. Ellison's crew is made up of Kiwis - Gavin Brady, Rod Dawson, Morgan Trubovich, and Brad Webb.