Evolution Sails Northern Triangle sells out in three minutes
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 16 May 17:43 PDT
17 May 2021
Clockwork - Start Leg 2 - Evolution Sails - Round North Island Race 2020 - Mongonui, Northland NZ - February 2020 © Deb Williams
The two handed race is a qualifier for the double-handed Round North Island Race to be sailed in 2023.
A list of accepted entries for the Northern Triangle is expected to be announced in the next few days, and in the meantime a wait list for the 2022 race has been opened with places being offered to those on the wait list if accepted entries drop out.
Unlike the proposed Olympic Mixed Offshore race now proposed to be contested inside a 20mile square box, the Evolution Sails Round North Island Race will consist of three legs from 126nm to 230nm) and is open to monohulls longer than 8metres and multihulls of up to 10metres. The top end of the fleet is expected to consist of 50fters and TP52's. Two handed racing has been popular and strongly contested in New Zealand since Peter Blake and Martin Foster launched and sailed in the first Round The North Island in February 1977.
The Lewmar Triple Series, the next event on the SSANZ calendar gets under way on July 10 with a 50mile two-handed race, followed a month later on August 7 with a 60nm two-handed race and concluded on September 4 with a 100nm two-handed race. Almost 180 boats contested the 2020 Lewmar Triple series in which the first race was cancelled due to a COVID knockdown.
The Evolution Sails Northern Triangle from Auckland to Mongonui (154nm) at the top of the North Island, to Tauranga (230nm) on the eastern coast of the North Island and concluded with a 126nm leg back to Auckland.
The two-handed Round North Island Race gets underway in February 2023.