SSANZ Enduro Race starts Thursday
by Sarah Wiblin 8 May 2019 23:40 NZST
Wired - SSANZ Enduro Race © SSANZ
Originally designed as the qualifier for the Round North Island Two Handed yacht race, the Chains Ropes and Anchors ENDURO has taken on a life of its own, now one of the most popular destination races of the short handed sailing calendar.
The Chains Ropes and Anchors ENDURO is all about finishing a challenging shorthanded distance race in a great location, coupled with a great party and a rally home.
With a total fleet of 41 boats set to start this year's Enduro the event is shaping up to be an exciting weekend of racing. The long-haul division starts on Thursday 8th May at 5:30pm with a fleet of 27 yachts, 20 of which are using this as the qualifier for entry for the 2020 Round North Island Race.
The long-haul division will sail approximately 215nm, firstly heading north to the Poor Knights, which is expected to have breeze from the North and be on the wind, before turning the corner and heading south to Cuvier Island, then rounding the top of the Coromandel and finishing at the bottom end of Waiheke.
Angus Small and Andrew 'Tiny' Duff on Wired, a Bakewell White 52, and William Goodfellow and Graeme Wilson on Miss Scarlet (Reichel Pugh 52) are likely to lead the pack around the course. Keen to ensure they continue to be at the front of the pack, AJ Reid and William Reid on Anarchy will also be one to watch.
Fresh from the recent Round New Zealand (RNZ) race you can expect to see Damon Jolliffe and Josh Tucker pushing the Elliott 10.5 Motorboat II hard around the track with unfinished business to settle with the Titanium crew of Shane Bellingham and brother Casey Bellingham, who pipped them at the post to claim victory in the RNZ.
At the smaller end of the fleet the Ross 8m C U Later crewed by Logan Fraser and Nikola Henry, along with the Thompson 850 Waka crewed by Sam Cremer and Brett Elliott and the Shaw 9 Deep Throttle with crew of Ned Dalbeth-Hudson and Nikolas Black will all be boats to watch as the race heads towards the later stages.
The Short-haul fleet consisting of six boats start on Friday 9th May at 5:30pm with a 53-nautical mile course, firstly heading north to Flat Rock, before heading south to finish at the bottom end of Waiheke. With three SR26 designed yachts in this fleet, Mercenary, Rattle n Rum and T-Rex, we expect to see some great racing.
The Cruising Division also starts on Friday night with a nice 36nm course, with the first leg heading north to Shearers Rock before the leg south to also finish at the bottom end of Waiheke. With 8 boats, this division is one for the whole family with children below the age of 13 also able to join in.
All boats will use the Predict Wind Tracker so you can follow all the action at home.
For all the latest from the race course, follow the SSANZ at Facebook, website and Race Tracker.