The Short Handed Sailing Association of New Zealand has confirmed that the 2026 Doyle Sails Round North Island Two Handed Race will run from 28 February to 15 March 2026. Doyle Sails holds naming rights sponsorship, with further backing from NZL Sailing Foundation, Henri Lloyd Australia & New Zealand, The Chandlery, and Sea Lovers Gin.
The course takes competitors anticlockwise around the North Island, starting and finishing in Auckland's Waitematā Harbour across a total distance of approximately 1210 nautical miles, divided into four legs. Leg One gets underway at 1000 hours on Saturday 28 February 2026, covering the roughly 154 nautical miles from Auckland Harbour to the entrance of Mangonui Harbour. From Mangonui, Leg Two carries the fleet approximately 475 nautical miles to Queen Charlotte Sound. Leg Three then heads from the top of Queen Charlotte Sound to Napier Harbour, a distance of approximately 215 nautical miles, before Leg Four completes the loop with the approximately 366 nautical mile run back to Auckland Harbour. Start times for Legs Two, Three, and Four are at the Race Officer's discretion.
Mandatory stopovers are scheduled at Mangonui, Waikawa, and Napier, with minimum lay periods to be confirmed once the majority of the fleet has completed each leg.
Twenty-six yachts have entered the 2026 edition, a field that reflects the range of designs active in New Zealand double handed offshore sailing.
Among the larger yachts is Whichway, a Davidson 52 sailed by Bruce Gault and Craig McMillan. At the most recent running of the event in 2023, Whichway finished second overall on PHRF corrected time and fifth overall on elapsed time. The 2023 overall and line honours winner, Wired, is not entered for 2026. Whichway is joined by Explore Racing, an Elliott 50 sailed by William Goodfellow and Jesse Turner, and High 5, a Cookson 47 sailed by Bernie and Thomas Hyde, rounding out the upper size range of the current fleet.
Contemporary offshore performance designs are well represented. Sharon Ferris-Choat and Taylor Edwards campaign Vixen Racing, a Verdier design, while Indis and Ragnar both contest the Sun Fast 3300 class. Pipi, a Pogo 36, and Niksen, a Dehler 30OD, add further variety to the performance contingent.
Several established New Zealand designs also feature across the entry list. Ross yachts appear in Ross 8, Ross 930, Ross 9.1, and Ross 1066 variants, while Elliott designs span Elliott 10.66, Elliott 10.50, and Elliott 1350 Tourer configurations. Farr, Bakewell-White, and Davidson designs are similarly represented.
On the cruiser-racer side, entries include a Beneteau First 45, a First 40.7, an Azuree 46, a Dehler 41, and a Dufour 455 Grand Large, all combining offshore capability with cruising practicality within the race format.
Fleet divisions are determined by PHRF ratings across four bands, from Division 1 for ratings of 0.9500 and above down to Division 4 for ratings of 0.7899 and below. Major prizes will be awarded for first PHRF Overall and first Line Overall across all four legs, with divisional prizes also presented according to fleet numbers.
