Doyle Sails Round North Island: Consistency propels Ragnar into overall lead
by Richard Gladwell Sail-World.com 7 Mar 18:56 PST
Kick - 2026 Doyle Sails Round North Island Two Handed Yacht Race - March 2, 2026 © SSANZ
Ragnar, a Sunfast 3300 sailed by Brett Elliott and James Glidden, has finished second on the 476nm Leg 2 of the Doyle Sails Two Handed Round North Island Race, backing up their second place in Leg 1, and putting them into the overall lead.
Leg 2 was won by Kick, an Elliott 1050, sailed by Brendan Sands and Ben Roff, who made a strong comeback after their 10th place in the overall standings, on Leg 1.
Another to make a big improvement on their Leg 1 placing was Nicksen (Logan Fraser and Marc Michel) a Dehler 30OD. They placed third for Leg 2 a big improvement over their mid-fleet placing of 12th on the opening leg from Auckland to Mangonui.
Already the overall honours race is developing into a battle between the Division 3 international short handed designs, and the locally designed Elliott 1050s and the Thompson 1150 Motorboat III (Josh Tucker and Damon Joliffe). The Sunfast 3300, is a popular two-handed international race boat designed by Daniel Andrieu and Guillaume Verdier.
While the Dehler 30OD was designed as a one design race boat by Judel/Vrolijk, many of its design advantages (apart from the lighter weight and Stealth drive) have been incorporated into the Sunfast 3300, Ragnar, by its former Melbourne owners. These included the addition of ballast tanks, a new carbon mast, a B&G H5000 autopilot and electronics package, and new inventory of Doyle sails.
Competitors sailing near them through the notoriously rough Cook Strait a couple of days ago noted Ragnar aggressively flying their asymmetrical spinnaker in 20 to 30-knot winds, pulling off big-air gybes to break away from the pack.
For full results Click here
As of Sunday evening, a start time for the 215nm third leg to Napier has not yet been posted by Race Management.
For live tracking, and race results for the event, visit the race website www.ssanz.co.nz/round-north-island-2026 or follow Short Handed Sailing Association of New Zealand social channels.