A storm warning wasn’t enough to deter the 13 entries in this Friday’s North Sails Rum race 8. To be fair the squalls had already blown through, and the fleet revelled in the conditions on a perfect evening out on the water.

Six entries joined the fleet to contest the Pacific Cruisers Cup for international cruising boats and local liveaboard cruising boats and each one accounted well for themselves in the conditions.  It was fantastic to have these boats join us as part of the Bay of Islands Marina Cruisers Festival.

The 10.4 meter Vardo design catamaran sailed by Jeff Goff showed real pace particularly with sheets slightly cracked and were always in contention.  

Grace of Longstone the Hans Christian 43T was sailed incredibly well by owner David Savage and his crew and looked amazing out there.  

Follow Me the Hanse 531 also sailed well to finish 5^th overall and 2^nd in the Cup.  The Moody 47 Walrus were in it right till the end as the fleet closed up for the finish while the crew of Pania (Omega 56 ) did very well to handle a big boat around a short sprint course on a breezy day. 

In the end, the honours went to Davdon Guillaume and his young crew on the Whiting 29 Uenuku who pressed hard and sailed well to finish 1^st in the cup and 3^rd overall. 

Well done guys you sailed beautifully!

Les Alderton and his crew on Kotahi Rua sailed well again this week to become the first boat in the series to win twice!  Congrats guys!

Last night’s race showed again that all sorts of boats can be competitive in this format and we encourage anyone who is up for a bit of fun on a Friday night to come and join the fleet at OCC.

Thanks again to everyone who participated. 

Here is a short video of the action.