Steve Mair is pointing Clockwork back toward the Three Kings Offshore Yacht Race, with the Shaw 12 set to depart on 16 April. Run by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the demanding 500 nautical mile course tracks north past Cape Reinga, swings wide beyond Surville Cliffs where the Tasman and Pacific meet, rounds the remote Three Kings Islands, and returns to the Waitematā.
For Clockwork, this will be a second tilt at the race. The 2024 edition proved brutal: eight of the fifteen starters retired with torn sails, seasickness, and gear failures. Clockwork pushed through all of it, finishing third on both line and handicap in a time of 2 days, 11 hours, and 59 minutes.
Boat swaps a-plenty
Damon Jolliffe sailed in the 2024 campaign but has since moved on to campaign the Thompson 1150 Motorboat III. The crew configuration shifts again for this year's race. Joining Mair is Josh Adams, a sailor who previously owned Serena, the vessel that later became Motorboat III. Completing the trio is Harri Wren, who has run her own two-handed Round North Island offshore programme aboard the Ross 930 Start Me Up.
The movement of sailors between boats and campaigns reflects the depth of this fleet, with accumulated offshore experience staying within the group as more youth sailors come onboard.
Clockwork has been making her mark beyond this race as well. The Shaw 12 finished third on PHRF and third on line at the 2024 PIC Coastal, and now the crew is back for another crack in 2025. Mair has let slip a murmur about a Transpac campaign further down the track, though for now the focus remains local.
She will be quick
Mair is anticipating a fast race. The forecast is showing solid breeze, and he has his sights set on a quick run north and a straight return, targeting mid Saturday back into the Waitematā. If conditions deliver, Clockwork's canting keel and downwind power should come into their own.
Thursday's fleet of seven includes Equilibrium, which Graham Matthews steered to overall honours in 2024, as well as Akonga, also coming off the Round North Island. Clockwork will race fully crewed under PHRF.
