Auckland to Tauranga Race - TeamVodafoneSailing takes rare double
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 25 Mar 2016
- TeamVodafoneSailing - 2016 Auckland Tauranga Race TeamVodafoneSailing
The ORMA60, TeamVodafoneSailing has taken a rare Line and Rating win in the Auckland to Tauranga Race.
The Simon Hull skippered trimaran took 12hrs and 19 minutes to complete the 130nm course, after struggling along with the rest of the 21 boat fleet to make the first real milestone of the race - Channel Island at the entrance to the Hauraki Gulf.
She rounded Channel Island at 4.00pm and sailed into a breeze which took her all the way to Tauranga, hitting speeds of over 20kts.
The rest of the fleet were not so fortunate and remained in very light winds and a big left-over swell from an easterly gale the day before. The remainder of the fleet had until 4.00pm Saturday, or 30hrs after the race start to finish within the time limit.
When the time limit ran out there were three yachts still racing - Open Country, General Jackson and Timewarp none had made any of the next three waypoints before the finish in Tauranga..
As the only finisher, TeamVodafoneSailing has scooped wins on Line and Ratings - quite a feat for the 60ft trimaran which enjoys one of the most unfavourable ratings of any yacht in New Zealand.
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