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How good is it to be out doing the things we love so much about Fridays with mates, sun, fun and Havana Club Rum? It’s been a wonky old 24 months with starts and stops, but it sure feels great to be into the Friday rhythm again.

For me, the most pleasing thing has been the noticeable increase in boats joining the Havana Club Rum racing to see the week out and the weekend in. Notable has been the number of new boats joining the shenanigans in B Div (over 34ft). Special mention goes out to my mates Trubi and Rusty and the resurrection of Ellisunk from the depths of the Waitemata to winning again in the ultra-competitive E Div.

None of this happens without a huge effort in the background from the ‘Squaddie’, the volunteers, Havana Club Rum and the rum race committee. As a committee we are always looking for ways to improve and we welcome any feedback, apart from Extreme moving up to B Div.

Some of the latest tweaks made by the committee include a commitment to $5 Havana Club Rum “happy hour” every Friday and a move to quarterly dress-up parties in an effort to make them something to behold. These coincide with series prize giving – 24th June R Party and 23rd September Cuban Party. These parties will also see the very popular meat raffles return – so get your thinking caps on and loose change at the ready.

In an effort to bolster the RNZYS Rum Race Facebook page, the spot crew draw has been replaced by the best photo of the day sent into the ‘Squaddie’. We always have a cast of 1000’s on Extreme, so always have self-appointed paparazzi and encourage other crews to do the same. Talking of paparazzi, Billy Woodworth took some epic photos of the fleet Beach Boys Party back in March. Always great to get photos of our boats out doing what they love – thanks Billy.

During lockdowns, I may, or may not have organised some rum races, nothing to do with the RNZYS. Of special note, over seven weeks we had more than 20 boats from a number of clubs competing. In what we

are claiming as a world first, the finish for all boats was designated as 6pm sharp. With all boats crossing the line together and finishing first-equal, many a laugh was had.

On a more serious note, in the name of safety we encourage all participants to have an accessible VHF tuned into channel 17 in the cockpit at all times whilst off the dock. The plan is to keep teams informed of course numbers and other safety information. Also keep an eye out for the Y flag – if weather requires, this will signify the compulsory wearing of lifejackets.

Finally, it’s great to be back! See you all out there on the rum racetrack. Moulët, Extreme Billy Woodworth Photos

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