Light conditions for Leg 1 of Two Man Round North Island Race

by Deb Williams on 27 Feb 2017 Conditions throughout Leg 1 of the SSANZ Round North Island race were frustratingly light for most competitors after they started in a light southerly breeze.

Truxton (Tiller 35) skipper Wil Horne stated “ This was a tough first leg for all the wrong reasons, every time we managed to get a break on the competition the wind dropped out and it was another re-start.”

All boats finished the leg in daylight Sunday afternoon, except the Beneteau Oceanis 58 “Laissez Faire” pulling the pin at 10pm Sunday night when they withdrew from the race and motored to Mangonui. 27 tonnes versus 3 knots of breeze did not make for a quick leg and a decent nights sleep before the re-start so the decision was made.

Ran Tan 11 (Elliott 50) was the first to cross the finish line just after midday, but it was the smaller boats that are placed well in the overall results after Leg 1. All that hard work to get the Mull 9.5 Rigmarole ready (and their request for light winds to catch up on sleep) paid off as they currently lead the overall results over Oracle (Nelson 32) and Pahi (Stewart 34).

The battle of the Ross 40s for line honours was won by Provincial Cowboy who is also leading the class on handicap over Marshall Law and Satellite Spy.

Race favourites Sun Fast 3600 Racing are hoping for more breeze for Leg 2, having described Leg 1 as “painful” but the weather gods don’t appear to be listening much with more light breezes forecast for most of the leg into Wellington.

Full results and photos are on the ssanz website www.ssanz.co.nz and YB trackers are on all the boats to follow the progress.