Yacht race: waiting for winner

Wild weather has slowed the Auckland/Tauranga Yacht Race with boats still completing the race and a winner not expected until later this afternoon.

The annual Easter race started at 4pm yesterday in Auckland with the first boat crossing the finish line at 5.48am this morning.


The Giacomo racing.

Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club member Nick Wrinch says five boats have crossed the finish line and they are waiting on another 12.

'Because of the handicap system we need to know all the finishing times before we announce a winner.”

He says bad weather forced some boats to cancel their entry in the race and others to pull out yesterday evening.

'It was a very rough crossing of the Hauraki Gulf yesterday evening, and several boats pulled out at that stage with various sea sickness-type problems.

'It was a pretty horrendous trip we hear. Those who have hung in there have come around across the Coromandel overnight and are now coming down the coast.”

Former Volvo Ocean racer Giacomo was to be the glamour boat in the race but failed to make the start line yesterday afternoon.

Nick would not comment as to the reason why.

Giacomo was repainted in Tauranga last October after Delegat Wines' managing director Jim Delegat bought the 2011-2012 winning Volvo Ocean racer as Groupama, before renaming it.

Race chairman Roger Rushton told SunLive ahead of the race that Giacomo would be impossible to stop in the right conditions.

A winner is expected later today.

For more information, visit Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat's website www.yacht.org.nz or call club secretary Christine Headey 07 578 5512 or race chairman Roger Rushton 0274 714 715.

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