New rally announced NZ to OZ to join Sail 2 Indonesia

by Nancy Knudsen on 13 Aug 2013 Rally organiser Island Cruising Association has announced a new rally - the NZ 2 OZ Rally - to effectively join the New Zealand coastline to their Sail 2 Indonesia Rally later in the year, and the dates are now confirmed.

Interest in the 2014 Sail 2 Indonesia Rally has been intense with over 50 expressions of interest registered in the first month since the rally launch.

'We've had interest from a wide cross section of the cruising community' says rally boss John Martin from the Island Cruising Assoc.

With the level of interest shown in the New Zealand to Australia feeder rally dates have now been set and venues confirmed and has been coined the 'NZ 2 OZ Rally'.

Departing on 1st May from Opua in New Zealands Magical Bay of Islands, the NZ 2 OZ rally clears into Anatom, the southernmost island in the Vanuatu Chain and will cruise Vanuatu for a month before departing 5th June from Luganville on Espirito Santo across the Coral Sea to Mackay.

The fleet then has four weeks to explore while heading north through the Whitsundays, the 'Hundred Magic Miles' and Magnetic Island before the Muster for Sail 2 Indonesia in Cairns on 3rd July.


New Division for the Sail 2 Indonesia Rally:
Interest has also been high from migrating cruisers looking to sail direct to Saumlaki from ports around the South Pacific.

To accommodate these participants a third division will be addded for Sail 2 Indonesia; 'direct' entries.

This division will sail direct to Saumlaki without the need to clear into and out of Australia and allow participants already west of the Torres Strait in Australian waters to join Sail 2 Indonesia without back tracking to join the fleet on the Far North Queensland Coast.

For all information about the rallies, go to their website: http://www.sail2indonesia.com/