Two Man Round North Island Race- All yachts have finished in Auckland

by Sail-World on 7 Mar 2011
12 March 2011 All yachts have finished in Auckland at the end of the 2011 Two Man Round North Island Race. No other reports are to hand.

Meanwhile the Gisborne Herald reports on the dismasting of the Ross 930 Pepe a few hours after the start:

A yacht race around the North Island came to an abrupt end for two sailors Monday morning when their mast snapped, forcing them to accept a tow to Gisborne.

Auckland men James Horner (18) and Thomas Connal (20), were sailing to Auckland on the final leg of the Two-Handed Round North Island Yacht Race when their mast snapped about 17 nautical miles east of Gisborne.

Maritime New Zealand received a distress signal from the yacht Pepe at 10.30pm on Monday. Napier fishing trawler Voyager was in the area and was asked to tow the yacht to Gisborne.

Mr Horner said they were below the deck when they heard a bang. Their mast was broken into three pieces.

The yacht was well placed in the race when the mast broke.

'We are absolutely gutted. We were coming first in our division and held an overall position around the third and fourth place mark. I can’t express how gutted we really are,' he said.

Mr Horner said although the weather was calm, one of the main stays holding up the mast was fraying and 'the wind might have helped'.

In Gisborne, the two men waited for family members to arrive from Auckland.

For the rest of the report http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=21769!click_here

10 March 2011 Ten yachts have now finished the 2011 Round North Island Race of the fields of 19 who started the fourth leg from Napier on Monday. They are (times as of Wednesday morning (9 March 2011): Akatea (2.15am), M1 (18.00.32), Karma Police (19.04.32), Zindabar (18.58.45), Surreal (19.50.32), Coppelia (20.02.49), Midnight Express (20.12.05), Valium (20.50.41), Physical Favours (20.57.15), Second Nature (20.57.47), Bird on the Wing (21.35.55)

08 Mar 2011

Akatea has reported they have a nice breeze, as of 0600hrs on 8 March and are hopeful ETA of 2200hrs tonight!

From Karma Police: Becalmed in the Bay of Plenty...had a wild night in up to 35 knots but the wind had dropped steadily since the sched this morning. In 2.8 knots now. Had a chat to M1 when they sailed past us and can see Zindabar inshore. Frustrating!


07 Mar 2011

The Ross 930 Pepe has become the third yacht to be dismasted in the 2011 Two handed Round North Island Race.

Race control has reported that she lost her mast just a few hours after leaving Napier at the start of the final leg to Auckland.

Pepe was handily placed at the time astern of race leaders Akatea and Karma Police.

The latest report on the www.ssanz.co.nz!SSANZ_website states that Pepe 'has lost the top part of their mast. All crew and boat are otherwise fine. A cruising yacht is standing by and a fishing boat isn't far away. Maritime radio has advised Pepe not to motor and the Fishing Boat will tow them in.'

www.predictwind.com!Predictwind.com shows winds in the area staying moderate to fresh from a southerly direction all Tuesday before beginning to ease on Tuesday night and then becoming more variable with maybe better more consistent winds offshore, through the rest of the week.

Just 19 out of the original 37 starters remain in the race, underlining its claim to be the toughest race on the New Zealand sailing calendar. The other 18 yachts reported their status as 'all is well onboard'