The Solo Trans Tasman Race will start at Midday this Saturday. Opua Cruising Club’s bar and restaurant will be open from 10.30am
Great viewing of the start from OCC, on the Opua Wharf and on headlands on the way down the Veronica Channel.
Boat owners are welcome to join the fleet on the water. For those on the water, please keep clear of competitors. And observe the exclusion zone around the start area (see below).
Check out the boats and meet the skippers before they race to Australia!
The magic is coming to Opua Cruising Club!
We’ve got the incredible Ngati Soul bringing his signature sound to the waterfront — think laid-back live music, good vibes and an easy Sunday evening with friends.
Come down, grab a drink, settle in and enjoy 🙂
Sunday 24 May 2026
From 6:00pm @ Opua Cruising Club
Free Entry
Full bar and bistro menu available.
Coming to Opua Cruising Club on Saturday, 23rd of May, join Andrew Fagan for ‘Time and Tide’ – a captivating evening of storytelling, live music, poetry, and a powerful visual journey sharing the raw reality of solo sailing in a 5.1 metre yacht.
Tickets are just $15 available at the Opua Cruising Club. The club’s bar and the Galley Bistro will be open.
There were 11 tropical depressions, but only two developed sufficiently to be named – Cyclone Urmil and Cyclone Vaianu. So, the 2025-26 season was one of the least active on record – it tied with the 1990-91 season.
The first named feature formed in late February…. the latest start on record.
The highlight of the season was in April. Shown below are Cyclone MAILA in the Solomon Sea (west of 135E and thus outside the South Pacific basin) and Cyclone VAIANU near Fiji.
MetBob. Bob McDavitt is the weather guru that uses //etBoB to provide meteorological information for cruising sailors, primarily for those in the South Pacific.
The South Pacific Convergence zone was poorly organised, and the LA NINA climate driver has rather weak. Also, I think the stratosphere was rather windy and this tends to disrupt cyclone formation.
The MJO is a significant climate driver and helps trigger (when active) or suppress (when inactive) tropical cyclones. Its acts like a wave of extra energy that travels east from Indian to Pacific oceans.
Here is a time-longitude map of Outgoing radiation – a good proxy way to measure the MJO. Basically, OLR is high when there are few clouds, and low when it is cloudy the MJO is active. Low OLR or active MJO is shown here a blue shading:
I’ve added the timing of URMIL and VAIANU to the above diagram – and yes, they seem to fit the theory that MJO can trigger cyclones.
Bob McDavitt
The Opua Cruising Club AGM is coming up on Saturday, 23rd June and we’re on the lookout for a few enthusiastic new faces to join the committee.
If you’ve never been involved before, don’t worry, it’s a great way to connect with the club, meet people, and have a bit of fun along the way. It’s also not nearly as daunting as it might sound!
From experience, it’s easy to drift a little when you’re not involved, so being part of the committee is a great way to stay connected to the club and have a say in what’s happening.
If you’ve been thinking about getting more involved, now’s the perfect time to put your name forward and come aboard. We’d love to have you!
As part of its Annual Prize Giving Opua Cruising Club will be enjoying an evening of live music and great vocals from local singer Thera van Poppel from 5.30pm on Satuday 9th May. Come along and enjoy the vibe with a cold drink and some awesome food from the Galley bistro.
Enjoy the excitement of the Solo Trans Tasman Yacht Challenge start line from the comfort of the R. Tucker Thompson – awesome spectator voyage!
The Solo Trans Tasman Yacht Challenge is organising safety training for its competitors and has limited additional spaces available for OCC members and supporters.
The Offshore Personal Safety (Advanced Sea Survival) course will be held at OCC / Kawakawa Pool on May 19th and 20th.
This course covers the following training areas:
Members and club supporters can attend for just $450 per person.
We currently have just six spaces left, so please contact race@transtasmanchallenge.org to register if you would like to attend.
The Solo Trans Tasman Yacht Challenge is organising safety training for its competitors and has limited additional spaces available for OCC members and supporters.
We are two day Ocean Medic Course at Opua Cruising Club on May 16th and 17th.
Course content;
Members and club supporters can attend for just $375 per person. The cost includes morning and afternoon tea. There will be a maximum of 25 participants.
We currently have just four spaces left, so please contact race@transtasmanchallenge.org to register if you would like to attend.
