Coastal Classic Race - Win a trip aboard Steinlager II

by Zoe Hawkins on 12 Oct 2012 Coastal Classic Race 2012, hosted by New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club, gets underway next Friday.

The NZ Sailing Trust was originally established for the preservation of Lion New Zealand. It has now grown with the recent acquisition of Steinlager II. Sir Peter Blake took the lessons learned from the 85-86 race with Lion NZ and applied all of it into the design and build of Steinlager II. She became a world class competitor winning every Whitbread leg over the line and on handicap, a record still standing today.

Steinlager II was planned to enter into the Coastal Classic but unfortunately has had to withdraw due to work being required on her rig. The Trust is currently raising money for this and other projects to see her fully restored so we can all enjoy seeing her out on the water.

The Coastal Classic starts at 10am on Friday 19 October, and it is 119nm in length. To give you an idea of the fastest speeds so far, TeamVodafoneSailing set a new record last year when it finished the race in 5hr44:31 - an average speed of 20 knots across the course, and peaking at 34.8 knots. The supermaxi AlfaRomeo still holds the monohull record, of 6hr:43:32. As far back as 1996, Satellite Spy set the Under 12.19 record of 10hr33.53, and in the same year, the Mumm30 set the Under 10.66 record of 11hr53.25. In 2009 Overload broke the dry spell with a record of 10hr:23:56, as did Frantic Drift, setting a new record for small multihulls, of 7hr58:35.

Win an opportunity to spend an afternoon sailing Steinlager II. All you have to do is guess the finishing time, and the name, of the winner of the 2012 Coastal Classic. You can enter up to five times, and the person to guess not only the right boat, but the closest finish time, will receive the prize. Email your entry, including your name and email address, to ccinfo(at)coastalclassic.co.nz.

Using a long range wind forecast obtained today from www.PredictWind.com, an Orma 60 similar to TeamVodafoneSailing starting the race next Friday would complete the event in just under 7 hours, and an Open 8.5m multihull would finish in around 9 hours. A TP52 like Kia Kaha would finish in about 14.5 hours, and a 30 foot keelboat such as a Young 88 would finish in about 18 hours. A more detailed and accurate prediction will be issued in the middle of next week, and the official PredictWind forecast will be issued at the race briefing on Thursday night.

The winner of this prize will get to spend an afternoon on board Steinlager II for a sail around the Hauraki Gulf. Sailing starts at 4pm from the Auckland Viaduct, and involves a 2½ hour sail. This will take place in February 2013 (with the specific date to be confirmed directly with the NZ Sailing Trust). The prize will be announced on the race website and Facebook page in the week after Labour Weekend, conditions apply, and the judge's decision will, of course, be Coastal Classic Race website