Mastercard Superyachts: Scintillating day of Superyacht Racing on the Hauraki Gulf
by Andrew Delves – RNZYS PR & Communications Manager 27 Feb 2021 05:35 PST
28 February 2021
Day 4 - Mastercard Superyacht Regatta - February 27, 2021 - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron © Jeff Brown
A glamour day of beautiful Auckland weather and scintillating superyacht sailing has brought the Mastercard Superyacht Regatta 2021 to a close at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
After four days of racing on the Hauraki Gulf, it’s the team on Tawera who have won the first superyacht regatta in the world for over a year, claiming the Mastercard Superyacht Regatta trophy by a nine-point margin. Tawera owner Mike Mahoney was thrilled with how the week unfolded -
“Unbelievable, given the climate we are operating under now, it shouldn’t have happened, but thanks to the Squadron, to get this regatta underway was just unbelievable. Everyone’s had a wonderful time, the races were fantastic, the courses were brilliant, and we are really happy to come out with a good result.”
Today’s Barfoot & Thompson Race Day 4 consisted of one final race, with a 16.5 nautical mile course set by Harold Bennett and his Race Management team. The racing was again outstanding, with plenty of tight crosses, lead and sail changes, as well as lots of hard-fought battles right down to the finish line.
One of the highlights included the battle between Miss Silver and Sassafras who were both pushing each other to the limit for the entire day. Miss Silver held a slender lead at the final mark, forcing Sassafras to tack away and split off in the opposite direction as both boats plotted their final run to the finish. As it turned out, the experienced team on Sassafras made the right call, sailing the best lines and picking the wind beautifully to cross the line ahead of Miss Silver by just over a minute.
However, it was Silvertip who claimed the Barfoot & Thompson Day 4 winners honours, picking up their third win of the regatta. Captain Tom Kinver was stoked to finally get some wins on the board and thoroughly enjoyed the week -
“It was great, just a completely different atmosphere sailing here on the Hauraki Gulf with it’s incredible backdrop. It’s been a long time since the boat has had any wins so it’s good to change that, hopefully we can now move forward from those wins and make something happen in the overall sense.”
Tawera finished off their brilliant regatta with a second-place finish, meaning they never slipped outside the top two in any races this week, followed by Miss Silver, who even though they were beaten to the line, still managed to pip Sassafras on handicap and finish third.
The overall standings though were clear, with Tawera (ten points) sailing away with the overall Mastercard Superyacht Regatta victory. Miss Silver (19 points), who sailed a brilliantly consistent regatta, took home second place overall, followed by Silvertip (20 points) riding their three race wins to finish in third. Whirlwind (22 points) finished fourth overall, followed by Sassafras (24 points), Catalina (35 points) and Aschanti IV (38 points).
Although they didn’t get any wins on the board this week, the biggest boat in the regatta, Catalina, captained by Sean Whitney, still had a great time, as Whitney describes -
“It was the best experience for us because we could engage with people, have fun, and get so much enjoyment out of being in a country like New Zealand, the sailing was fantastic, and we had a really enjoyable time.”
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron would like to thank all of the wonderful sailors who took part this week, as well as all of our amazing sponsors and volunteers who made this event possible, we can’t wait to host another Superyacht Regatta in the city of sails.