SSANZ Round North Island: Wind on the nose for the 550nm Leg 2
by RNI2020 Media/Sail-World.com/nz 24 Feb 2020 17:05 PST
25 February 2020
Kia Kaha - Start - Leg 2, 2020 Evolution Sails Round North Island Race - February 24, 2020 © RNI 2020
The 550nm second leg from Manganoui to Wellington, and the longest leg of the race, got underway at 12:00 noon – 24th February.
The southerly breeze gave the fleet a good send on the first stretch toward the top of the North Island before turning the corner and being on the breeze for the start of the long stretch down the west coast of the North Island.
February 25 morning update: The weather update brings more southerlies. With the fleet all around the top and heading south this will be making the conditions fairly bumpy for them. They will keen to make as many miles as they can however, as some of the models are picking that the breeze may start lightening off in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
At the 1530hrs report on Tuesday February 25, Wired was leading the fleet with Kia Kaha in second place, 8nm astern, but with Wired being the only boat in the fleet to be exceeding 7.0kts. Her lead is expected to extend with the leaders all on a long tack towards the southern end of the North Island.
From onboard the Farr 38 Coppelia, Sally Garrett reports: After a great start, and sail across Great Exhibition Bay, we rounded Cape Reinga in the company of Sniper, Gale Force and Atamai.
As many of you aware our performance on the West Coast has never been our strong point. Last year in the RNZ we did better than previous, but still in weighs heavily on our minds.
The Tasman Sea greeted us with a very steep and nasty sea, as the south moving current, and wind from the south pushed up the swell. Luckily nothing broken over the top of us, and unlike previously we had enough wind to ensure we were not swept into banks.
We tacked on starboard around 10am. Maybe a bit late, but we remain cautious of being too close to the land here. Full main, # 2. currently lifted on starboard.
Beef roast care of Back Country Cuisine for breakfast, it is still lumpy and I have a major rebuild on our nav PC.
Thank goodness for the girly rose gold laptop which is our spare.
Positions Reports at 7:00am - highlights:
Miss Scarlet: Same same Tasman glass out has some appeal.
Pelagian: Plagued by sea sickness most the nigh Otherwise all well on board
Katana Sun Fast 3600: Note to self: re check all latches on hatches are closed.
Start Me Up Sailing: all good rough night plenty of water across the deck, glad to see daylight. Paul
Anarchy Racing: Bouncy night. No liquid Himalayas but one or two liquid Rangitotos. Very noisy downstairs in the Carbon hellhole but if you’re tired enough you can sleep through in a busy freight train tunnel. Can’t imagine how life is for the boys on MV Sailing Elliott 7.9 - Moving Violation - hats off to them for roughing this one out. Cheers to all Will and AJ
Fifth Dimension Racing: ll good onboard. A few waves onboard last night & still chugging out to sea, #4 & 1 reef at the moment.
Kraken Yachting - Serena: Ugly sea state , trying to keep breakfast in the belly
Urban Cowboy Racing: A bit bang crash. But, a good night
Kick Ass Yachting - Elliott 1050: Pretty Knarly entering into the Tasman last night! All settled now.
The Guarantee: Big. Washing machine at Cape Reinga. Bit bouncy now
Wired Racing: All well, bit tired. Like sleeping in a tin drum but carbon fibre. Hopefully tack today and head for the corner.
Leg 1 Report:
The first leg of the Evolution Sails Round North Island Race started in Auckland on Saturday (22.2) with a 154NM dash to Mangonui at the top of the North Island.
In the lead up to the race, the heavens opened, and a solid downpour soaked the fleet in the hour before the start. By 2 pm the rain had stopped, and the fleet were off, an impressive sight to see as 38 yachts powered across the start line and headed north.
The 52fters Wired, Kia Kaha and Miss Scarlett quickly demonstrated the benefits of waterline length as they quickly pulled ahead of the fleet for a close duel up the Northland coast. They crossed the finish line at Mangonui in that order after taking 16 hours for the leg.
Further back in the fleet a close battle was playing out between Anarchy, Blink and Mr Kite for podium positions on handicap in Division 1.
In Division 3's battle of the Elliot 1050 an interesting first leg played out. Kick, skippered by Brendan Sands and Richard Sands, had an exceptional start and pulled well ahead of the pack early in the race.
For Gale Force, Skipper Ken Ormandy described the start as “the worst start in our twohanded sailing career” as they were rolled by the bigger boats at the start, leaving them wallowing in bad air as the rest of the fleet sailed away from them. This has left Ormandy and Co-Skipper Sam Tucker to push Gale Force hard to get back to the front of the pack.
Our all-woman crew of Victoria Murdoch and Emily Riley, onboard High Voltage, struck problems just south of Cape Brett suffering rudder damage and the suspension of their race.
The race is not over for these determined skippers with the boat being lifted at Opua, inspected, repair work undertaken and is now back in the water, with shore crew delivering her to Mangonui in time for the leg two start.
Rodney Keenan, owner of Evolution Sails and skipper of Laissez Faire, describe their first leg – “Leg 1 – it was actually a fast leg for an old girl, with several sail changes to many, it took a while to work out a fast mode for us, and it meant a bit of work for Mike! We probably did more sail changes than most that’s for sure! For the next leg we are just going to go with it and see what happens”.
Mike Beasley co-skipper of Laissez Faire echoed Keenan's thoughts – “The leg was trying at times, we learnt a lot about the boat and its strengths and weaknesses. We are looking forward to Leg 2 being on the wind with a Northerly at the Start, going west, south-west and then back to the North as we head into Wellington”.
While the forecast suggests that Beasley might not get the breeze that he wants, there's definitely one thing for sure – Keenan and Rodney are getting to know the boat fast and will continue to improve her performance as the race progresses.
Sally
Race Tracking: Track the fleet's progress on the Burnsco Race Tracker – visit ssanz.co.nz to access the tracker.
RNI Background
The SSANZ Two Handed Round North Island Race (RNI), proudly sponsored by Evolution Sails, is New Zealand’s most iconic yachting challenge and the 2020 edition will feature 38 yachts from 28 to 52 feet. There are three Mixed gender crews competing and one woman's crew.
This is 13th edition of the race, 43 years after the inaugural event was first planned by Sir Peter Blake and Martin Foster, who both sailed on separate boats in the first event.
The race starts in Auckland with the first leg to Mangonui in the far north (154NM), Leg 2 is from Mangonui to Wellington (550NM), Leg 3 from Wellington to Napier(200NM), and the final leg from Napier returning to Auckland (367NM).
The race is expected to take approximately 2 weeks in total to complete.
Thirty-three feet separate the smallest to largest boat, and the diversity of this fleet will bring with it not only great line honours racing for the larger yachts but an epic handicap battle across the fleet.
With 26 of the total 38 yachts between 34 and 40 feet some very tight racing is expected in the middle of the fleet and each leg will go down to the wire on handicap. Making it to the start line of this epic race is a challenge in itself.
Each yacht must have a Category 2 Safety Certificate issued by Yachting New Zealand, have completed a 250 Nautical Mile qualifying passage with both co-skippers on board.
The co-skippers must both also complete Advanced First Aid training, Advanced Sea Survival qualifications, and provide a medical certificate deeming them fit to compete.
Each yacht must meet an extensive list of safety requirements and have completed safety drills, all of which are in addition to preparing the boat to ensure it is ready for this epic race and getting as many miles under the keel as possible two handed before the race.
Many of the fleet used the SSANZ Anzac Enduro Race as their qualifying race and have also used the SSANZ Lewmar Triple Series, PIC Coastal Classic, RAYC White Island Race and other races to build up two-handed time on their buildup to the race start.