New Zealand’s biggest multi-day keelboat regatta, the CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week, enjoyed a record turnout this year, with a 137-strong fleet competing in near perfect conditions in late January.

The regatta is now in its 18th year after being founded by UK ex-pats Tony and Nina Kiff in 2002. Its popularity has grown substantially in recent years as entrants bring racing of an international standard to New Zealand’s sailing community.

Regatta Chair Manela Gmuer-Hornell says entries jump by around 20 per cent each year as more sailors from all over the country get involved in the action.

“I always say it’s location. People just want to come to the Bay of Islands. It’s fabulous sailing up here. It doesn’t matter where the wind comes from or what the swell is like, you always find a way around the islands and it’s just spectacular.”

This year’s regatta enjoyed fantastic weather with a 10 to 15 knot wind. “The first day we had quite a big swell which the big boats like. There was plenty of sunshine and a spot of dolphins which everyone likes to see.”

This year Mayhem, co-skippered by Harry Dodson and Tony Bosnyak, won Division A on line and general handicap but the coveted PHRF national championships trophy went to Jim Farmer’s Georgia after a solid three days of racing.

Elsewhere in the standings, Steve Purton’s Icebreaker won line honours in B Division, with a string of podium placings across all nine races in the regatta, but Matt Kerr on Satellite Spy took the win in B Division on general handicap and Clockwork won on PHRF.

E division saw a much bigger fleet than previous years, but it was first-time entrant Rob Clifton in a humble Pied Piper named Kiore who gave the locals a run for their money and walked away with the win on general handicap. Although he didn’t compete in the PHRF Nationals, and locals 4 Fox Sake, skippered by Peter Boyd, took the PHRF Nationals trophy.

The Tornado Nationals saw a last-minute lead change on day three, with Bay of Islands local Dave Lineham’s C4 putting in a strong performance to take the overall win from Wayne Limbrick on VMG.

Another strong fleet this year was the Young 88 class, with nine boats competing, up from just three in the previous year. With ‘rock stars’ like Gavin Brady among the fleet, competitors knew it would be no shoe-in to the podium, and sure enough it was Brady’s Slipstream III that took every gun. But a disqualification in one race and a handicap that reflected Slipstream’s performance put Brady well down in the fleet on general handicap. Phil Rzepecky’s Medium Dry came out top of the pack, with Carl Webster’s Nona second, and the youngsters from Lyttelton on Undercover taking a well-deserved trophy home with third place.

In the Sport Boats, Aaron Reynolds on Snatch was streets ahead on general handicap, while it was a close fought battle for line honours between the locals on Angry Dragon, and the visitors on Ghost Rider, which eventually ended in a tie for first place.

Top placing in the Multihull division was comfortably claimed by Radix, while possibly the biggest upset of the event was in the Weta fleet, where Ian Sutherland on Suds swiped the series from Paralymian Chris Sharp with a win in the final race.

In the cruising divisions, Island Racing A was taken out by Brian Wheeler’s Omega8 on both general handicap and PHRF. In Island Racing B Frenzy, skippered by Morgan Brodie, took the win on general handicap, while on PHRF it was Kerikeri boat Tongue Twister, skippered by David Ferris and Brian Hutching, at the top of the podium.

Regatta founders Nina and Tony Kiff on Wetherley were pleased with their win on general handicap in Island Racing C. And on PHRF, Andrew Pardington on High Spirits claimed the top spot.

Island Racing D with no spinnakers was won by John Allemann’s Glory Days, and the Island Racing E multihull division was taken out by Russell local Antonio Pasquale on Ave Gitana.

Several boats from outside the region chose to participate in the regatta’s ‘room for one more’ programme this year. Gmuer-Hornell says the fleet was asked in October who would be prepared to take a local youth sailor out racing with them, and several boats – including Tauranga’s Formula One skippered by Carl Smith, happily agreed.

“Formula One actually took three of our young sailors out which was fantastic. The idea is to give Bay of Islands youth a taste of big boat racing. We want young people to come through our sport from the provinces. It’s easy to be in Auckland and a sailor but it’s not so easy when you live further afield.”

Gmuer-Hornell also praised the volunteers who took part and went the extra mile to ensure a fantastic event.

“The whole regatta is run by volunteers, including our committee. We had about 63 people give up their time. I’m blown away every year by this. It’s probably how we work together up here. We know the regatta is such a good thing for our region. We do look after our volunteers – we feed and water them, give them clothing. There’s a great camaraderie involved.”

The annual event is sponsored by CRC, NZL Sailing Foundation, North Sails, Explore, Mount Gay Rum, KZ Leisurefurl, Luxury Real Estate, Bay of Islands Marina, Gurit, NZ Spars & Rigging and Bluefix Boatworks.

For more details and pictures from this year’s regatta, including a full list of results, visit https://bayofislandssailingweek.org.nz