Brothers Island Race opens Wellington's offshore season on Saturday

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The 2026/27 Barton Marine Offshore Championship begins this weekend with the Brothers Island Race, a 67-nautical-mile return passage from Wellington around the lighthouse station at the western edge of Cook Strait.

Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club is the host club with both monohulls and multihulls expected in the line-up.

The course sends boats from the club's Oriental Parade base around Barrett Reef Buoy to starboard, then west along Wellington's south coast past Sinclair Head, Karori Rock and Cape Terawhiti before crossing Cook Strait toward The Brothers near Arapaoa Island. The route demands two strait crossings and close attention to tidal streams that can reach seven knots near Karori Rock and Cape Terawhiti.

Competitors face a tactical challenge uncommon in Cook Strait racing: the return leg to Wellington. Most RPNYC offshore races finish elsewhere to avoid battling the strait's tides twice. Crews must negotiate the south coast again after rounding The Brothers, making the outward passage only half the navigational problem.

The race identifies Awash Rock south of the islands and craypot lines along the south coast as hazards. It also marks obstruction lines at Point Jerningham, Steeple Rock and Thoms Rock. Strong streams, rips, overfalls and whirlpools also exist around Cape Koamaru and the island group.

The Brothers hold comprises two principal islands—North Brother, where the 1877 lighthouse stands, and South Brother—plus surrounding rocks and islets. The station was New Zealand's last to lose resident keepers when automated in 1990. The islands hold the Māori name Ngāwhatu-kai-ponu and are a wildlife sanctuary supporting tuatara.

RPNYC dates to 1883, with Brothers Island racing traced back to the 1920s; the club says it has run the race every year since. Saturday's race opens a seven-event championship season that runs through to April's Ship Cove race.