Internationals combine for assault on 2025 Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race
by Di Pearson / Sydney to Auckland media 29 Jan 2025 15:29 PST
11 October 2025
Awen in the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi
Competition between Australian and New Zealand in any sport is endemic - and it's no different in sailing - but in the instance of the Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race, an Australian entry, skippered by a prominent sailor and her mixed crew, will work as a team in the second edition of this epic 1250 nautical mile endurance contest.
To be skippered by Canadian/Kiwi two-time Olympian, Sharon Ferris Choat, Awen is an IMOCA Open 60 high-performance ocean racing yacht. She was launched as Ecover 2 for British sailor, Mike Golding, who participated in short-handed events such as Vendée Globes and the IMOCA Ocean Masters.
David Hows, an expat Kiwi from the South island, who has called Australia home for 18 years, bought the yacht to complement his Ocean Sailing Expeditions fleet in Queensland. Awen has competed in Kiwi coastal and offshore events, but arrived in Australia to compete in the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart and Sydney to Auckland Race.
Awen competed in PHS with international sailors embracing New Zealand, Australia, UK, USA and Singapore. This time, Ferris Choat's crew to-date is Swiss and seven Australians (from Western Australia, ACT, South Australia, NSW and Queensland).
Hows, who has done an incredible 22 Tasman crossings, including a solo race, says the crew is 80 percent decided and all but one are repeats from his commercial sailing school who have done events with the school before. "The crew will be finalised soon," he said.
"Two other pros will join the crew and I hope I'm one of them. The nine existing customers (crew) will do a pre-qualifying passage and other training. Some also race on their own boats and some race with other people. Only one hasn't sailed or raced with the school before."
In relation to Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race, Hows emphasised: "The most important thing to us, is to get the boat and crew to Auckland safely - and to still be friends at the end. It's a team who will support each other from start to finish."
Awen will line-up with a variety of boats, among them Richard Hudson's modified Farr 45, Pretty Woman and Ian Edwards' Dehler 46, Wings. They represent Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) in NSW, organiser of the race in association with New Zealand's Royal Akarana Yacht Club.
The two boats will be doing their best to bring home the historic Lipton Cup Perpetual Trophy, awarded to the overall winner of the race.
Hudson and Edwards regularly face-off against each other and race in Australia and abroad every chance they get. Hudson has won his share of trophies in major races with a consistent crew that includes youth sailors from the Club.
Edwards says, "Year before last we did the Transpac Race (2300 nautical miles) and delivered Wings back home, so Auckland is a short distance by comparison!
"I love these long races with navigation and strategic decisions to be made with weather and currents. I find that exciting. And you get into a race pattern. I was to do the first Sydney to Auckland, but Covid got in way, then a change of dates, so I missed out. I'm looking forward to doing it finally and I'm glad the Club (RPAYC) came up with this race," he said.
"I have a large pool of crew, so I'll do it with people who've done Transpac and/or Sydney Hobart with me. I like putting together a team that can handle the amount of time and the range of conditions."
Starting on Sydney Harbour at 1pm on 11 October, the fleet will turn left at North Head, then round a turning mark off Barrenjoey Headland at Pittwater before setting sail on the Trans-Tasman crossing to Auckland.
The Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race is a Category 1 event open to fully crewed racing and cruising yachts, two-handed yachts, superyachts and ocean-going multihulls.
Entries close on 11 September 2025. For all information, including access and Notice of Race, please visit: www.sydneytoauckland.com.
For enquiries regarding the race, please contact Race Director, Nick Elliott on +61 2 9998-3700 or email: .