A yacht taking part in the round North Island race was dismasted overnight as the fleet battles headwinds down the northland coast.

Davidson 42 Mr Roosevelt has lost her rig and is today motoring towards New Plymouth.

Tauranga based yacht, Windarra, is competing in the round North Island race.

Danaide pulled out Wednesday afternoon with steering problems, and Zen, The Night Train and Gale Force withdrew earlier. Those three boats are heading back around North Cape to Mangonui.

'We have not experienced this amount of withdrawals in the last 18 years,” says SSANZ president Brian Murray.

'It's the conditions – they are pretty tough, big seas and head winds.

'We've got a dismasting. I think there's six withdrawn now, two boats have got people with injuries.

'Zen had an injury. A crewman had an injury to his back. I believe he's now safely back in Mangonui. I understand Truxton has got an injured person on board and they are heading to New Plymouth. There's no indication their boat is damaged, just injury to a person, and I have no idea what the extent of that injury is.”

The wind is meant to be moderating during the day, but it will remain from the south.

Also experiencing some issues is Beneteau 14.5 Laissez Faire, which reported some damage to a hatch and that they took on some water. The crew reports the situation under control and that they are continuing to race.

The race leader is Cookson 50 Akatea. She is making slow progress, and is not much further south than off the Manukau entrance. Ross 45 M1 is second, approximately 20 miles astern, with Shaw 9 Karma Police about 11 miles further back.

On Wednesday evening Karma Police reported winds of 15-20 knots on the nose and moderate seas.

Tauranga boats Windarra and Open Country are still off the Hokianga Harbour. Windarra is tacking down the coast, but Open Country is among a small group including Non Stop, Ilex, Vesper and Laissez Faire that headed well out into the Tasman Sea on a south westerly course overnight. Open Country changed course to the south east after day break.

At their current rate of progress, Akatea will reach Wellington late Friday or early Saturday.

The Progress of Windarra can be viewed either by following the links on the Steve Marine Supplies website, or on the SSANZ website.