New Zealand to Vanuatu - New Offshore Cruise Event
by Event Media on 20 Feb 2007
Port Vila Harbour Vanuatu, destination for the Tusker Whangarei to Vanuatu Ocean Race in June. - Kirkland Photos
www.kirklandphotos.com
Cruisers in the South Pacific might be interested to know that June of this year will see the start of a new offshore cruising event, to be run alongside the Tusker Premium Whangarei(NZ) to Vanuatu Ocean Race. The event is being run by the Onerahi Yacht Club in conjunction with the Vanuatu Cruising Yacht Club from Port Vila.
The event offers a fresh destination for offshore cruisers with a delightful cruising ground at the end for those that can find the time to enjoy it
At nearly 1300 miles it is a little longer than the popular Fiji and Noumea races and should extend sailing times by another day or two.
The starting area will be at Marsden Point and there will be two start days, with the Cruising Division/s leaving on Wednesday the 20th June while the Premier Division/s leave on Saturday the 23rd. Although the fleet will initially gather in the Whangarei Town Basin, which is extremely handy for provisioning and services, having the new Marsden Cove Marina supporting as a prime sponsor will allow the fleet to join the deep draft yachts in this new marina the day prior to their start which will provide an excellent departure point adjacent to the starting area and easy for wellwishers to move a short distance to watch the yachts starting.
This inaugural event sees the Onerahi Yacht Club re-entering the offshore racing and cruising scene, something it first began in 1964 with the Onerahi – Noumea events which it ran for over 20years until political upheavals temporarily curtailed the use of Noumea as a destination.
There has been an extremely good response to the new event and although entries haven’t officially opened there are already 10 'starters', some of which even have their accommodation booked in Port Vila!!
The clash of dates with the America’s Cup Final is unfortunate but Onerahi have been unsuccessful in getting the AC to move their event!! However after some deliberation they have decided to run with their original plans which will see favourable tides at the start out of the harbour (potentially quite important as those that have sailed out of there before can testify) and a rising moon for the yachts as they sail North.
No doubt the Radio Scheds will have an added interest as we listen to Team New Zealand regaining the Cup.
Those interested in possibly entering the event should contact the OYC at racemanager@oyc.org.nz or PO Box 1131 Whangarei.
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