Gulf Harbour to host Marauder 8.4 Class Champs in mid April

by Yvonne McGill on 15 Mar 2015 Gulf Harbour Yacht Club will host the Marauder 8.4 Class Championship will be held the 18th and 19th April.

The event will be sailed in the waters south of the Whangaparoa Peninsula. A large fleet of the popular Alan Wright designed 8.4metre yachts are entered for the weekend competition. The event is being co-organised by the Marauder 8.4 Owners Association and the Gulf Harbour Yacht Club.

The weekend’s competition for the Marauders will be run as follows:

Division One. The open spinnaker division. For fully crewed yachts that compete for the prestigious title of Marauder Class Champion and the Barry Olliff Memorial Trophy.

Division Two. The restricted division. The yacht’s can compete with less crew because no spinnakers are allowed. The trophy for this is the GHM Consulting Cup.

The combined fleet on handicap will compete for the Tony Newmarch Cup.

Racing will start on the Saturday with all yachts sailing a series of windward/leeward courses on the water south of the Whangaparoa Peninsula. It is expected that there will be three to four races on the day, depending on the weather conditions.

Sunday will see the Marauders contesting a long haul harbour course that will be within the confines of the inner Hauraki Gulf. The course will be set to the day’s weather, and anticipated wind strengths to allow boats to cross the finish line no later than 2pm.

On the Saturday night a get together of all crews and officials will be held at the Gulf Harbour Yacht Club to share stories, a beer and a meal.

Most of the fleet will be accommodated at the Gulf Harbour Marina for the weekend.

2013’s regatta was a wild and woolly event. The racing was held at the top end of the wind strength for a championship regatta and the 30-knot plus winds certainly provided some excellent, wild and enjoyable racing. Although the racing took its toll on men and boats, everyone was extremely pleased that they had persevered and completed the two days of racing. 2014 saw idyllic conditions on both days with plenty of sunshine and lighter winds of five -ten kts resulting in a most pleasant and competitive weekend.

The Division Two, restricted class has many entered and should be an exciting, race. Some of the skippers have never entered the regatta before, so they are an unknown quantity. Manawa, usually a strong contender, is off sailing around New Zealand.

Gulf Harbour Yacht Club has hosted the racing for the Marauder Association before. Many Marauder yachts moor in Gulf Harbour and Weiti river, and therefore hosting the event close should entice more yachts to participate.

The organisers are hoping for fair winds, a record fleet of Marauders and some great racing.

The association is very pleased with the generosity shown by prize sponsors. The event welcomes Kiwi Yachting as its main sponsor for the 2015 Marauder Championship. Burnsco, North Sails, Chains, Ropes and Anchors, Rail Blaza and Alan Wright have also donated prizes to date.

Entries close on the 11th April, but late entries will be taken until 0900, 18th April.