The Launches Division produced exactly the kind of handicap race that keeps crews coming back, with the final standings separated by seconds and the result shaped by judgement, consistency, and a refusal to overreach.
Leaving the start 30 minutes after the tugboats, the fleet met conditions that were still choppy and gusty. It barely seemed to matter. These are vessels forged through decades of hard work on the water, many of them afloat for a century or more, and they have faced far worse than a brisk day's racing.
My Girl set the benchmark, crossing the line first and converting that into a handicap victory on a corrected time of 22 minutes 37 seconds. From the gun to the finish, her crew kept things tidy and well-measured, never giving the field an opening.
The real drama played out immediately behind her. Ngaio, the beautifully maintained blue and white 36-footer built by Arch Logan in 1921 and owned by Jan Barraclough, finished more than seven minutes later on the water. On corrected time, though, she came within just 17 seconds of taking the win. It was a sharp reminder of what a well-handled classic launch can do under handicap.
Third place went to Pacific, who finished only one minute and two seconds behind My Girl on corrected time. Rather than relying on moments of flair, Pacific kept steady throughout, maintaining contact with the leaders and ensuring the pressure never eased all the way to the line.
Lucinda and Rehia filled out the middle of the fleet with respectable elapsed times, though in a contest as finely balanced as this one, even small margins compounded quickly once handicap corrections were applied. Waiari and Callisto completed the field further back.
Across the division as a whole, the top three finishers on corrected time were covered by just over a minute. The launches mixed freely throughout the race, and when the results were tallied, it was the crews who knew their boats best who took the rewards.
| Boat | Handicap place | Corrected time | Line honours place | Elapsed time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| My Girl | 1 | 0:22:37 | 1 | 0:24:19 |
| Ngaio | 2 | 0:22:54 | 2 | 0:31:48 |
| Pacific | 3 | 0:23:39 | 3 | 0:38:46 |
| Lucinda | 4 | 0:24:41 | 4 | 0:33:22 |
| Rehia | 5 | 0:26:03 | 5 | 0:47:21 |
| Waiari | 6 | 0:28:32 | 6 | 0:47:09 |
| Callisto | 7 | 0:31:08 | 7 | 0:41:31 |
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