Navy sailors prevail in gruelling endurance race

by Carl McRae

The third Lowry Bay Yacht Club 24-Hour endurance race was sailed in almost perfect weather conditions on the weekend of March 16/17.

Race organiser Theo Muller said a sizeable crowd gathered at Days Bay Wharf as Mayor Ray Wallace officially started the race.

Fourteen yachts jostled for the best possible position at the count-down for an 11:00am start. The smallest yacht in the fleet was 25 feet and the biggest 50.

“The ‘pin end’ - a marker buoy laid approximately 150 metres south-west of the wharf - was the favoured starting position,” Theo says, “as the wind closer to the wharf was quite fluky.”

Ten to 15 knots with gusts of up to 25 knots from the north greeted the departing flotilla, the wind dying away during the night to a mere 3 to 5 knots for a short period, a sure sign, said Theo, that the wind would turn to the south.

Sailing conditions remained very pleasant with mild temperatures, even during the night, and the forecast rain stayed away.

“On board Freedom, we maintained a watch plan of three hours on, three hours off,” he said, “always having at least three crew on deck at all times with the remaining crew resting in the cabin or performing cooking duties.”

Theo said that eating well was important and one of the crew aboard Freedom cooked a roast dinner, appreciated by all on board.

Race officer Bob Rowell had set out a challenging course. The first two circuits took the yachts from Days Bay, via Point Howard, to the north-western corner of Petone Beach, Horokiwi, Ngauranga Gorge, then to the front leading light in the main shipping channel. From there they returned to Point Howard.

“This circuit covers about 18 nautical miles,” Theo says, “and was sailed during daylight hours.

"A shorter circuit of approximately 9NM at the northern end of the harbour followed, which kept us out of the main shipping channel during the hours of darkness.”

Work on deck got very busy from time to time, he says, especially when setting and taking down and packing the spinnaker.

“We did this nine times during the 24hour period. Cockpit crew were constantly trimming sails.

"Do this for 24 hours and the body starts to react. We reminded ourselves that this was an endurance race, presenting the usual challenges that come with an event like this.”

The race finished at exactly 11:00am on Sunday morning, when Theo says all competitors returned to the Marina, awaiting the prizegiving while consuming a few welldeserved drinks.

Masterpiece, a Beale 45 owned by Steve Gaskin took out line honours, sailing 127.19NM during the 24-hour period.

This earned the crew (which included seven Navy sailors from Auckland) the Heineken Centennial Tankard.

They also won on handicap and with that the Gibson Sheat Cup” presented by Edward Cox, one of the partners of that company. Mr Cox and his crew came 2nd on Pulse, a Noelex 25.

“The Navy boys said they will all be back again next year,” says Theo, “possibly in one of the Navy’s training yachts.”

Next year’s 24-Hour Endurance Yacht Race will be sailed on the weekend of March 14 and