Clockwork surges to lead as Three Kings fleet splits north of Auckland

Steve Mair's Shaw 12 Clockwork carved through the field to claim an early lead, the seven-boat fleet fracturing into two distinct groups within minutes of the start gun on the Waitematā.

The Boating New Zealand spectator boat was already on the water a full hour before the 11am start, where Clockwork had quietly positioned itself near the start line. Graham Matthews' Marten / Botin Carkeek 55 Equilibrium arrived shortly afterwards, both crews settling into reading conditions that were lively from the outset. Rowan Smith's Elliott 1060 Carpe Diem came through roughly ten minutes later, emerging from beneath the Auckland Harbour Bridge from the west, having clearly departed its berth well ahead of the rest of the fleet.

The race committee had set a reporting deadline of 10:30am. The last boat to check in was Nick Roberts' Dehler 41 Ākonga, which glided through the assembled fleet and into a brief, pointed exchange with the committee over the cutoff. The crew's retort that it was not yet 10:30am was delivered with considerable relish.

Conditions were every bit as lively as expected. A purposeful northeasterly was running, the air cool without being cold, and swells at the start line were nudging a metre at roughly five-second intervals. The Haines Hunter spectator boat rode the troughs with enthusiasm. In the remaining minutes before the gun, crews rigged spinnakers across the fleet, ready for an immediate hoist the moment racing began.

Ten minutes before the start, an orca fin broke the surface less than 100 metres from the line, directly in the path of the oncoming fleet. It proved no obstacle, and the race got away on time.

Damon Jolliffe's Thompson 1150 Motorboat III was first off the line, the execution so clean it would have earned admiring glances from a SailGP crew. Clockwork got away hard behind and moved through quickly, both boats committed from the gun. Nathan Williams' Cape 40 Mr Kite II followed in third, with Equilibrium fourth. The fleet split almost immediately into two distinct groups, the gap between them growing rapidly.

The spectator boat dropped back to observe the trailing three before pressing north to rejoin the leaders. Carpe Diem, Ākonga, and John Seely's Ross 1066 Higher Ground were left to fight their own race. Several hundred metres had already opened between the two groups before the fleet had even cleared the Waitematā Harbour. By the time the spectator boat caught up with the front of the race, the leading four were well clear.

Reading from back to front within the lead group at that point, Motorboat III sat fourth, working the middle of the channel. Mr Kite II was third, positioned slightly to the east but with a fluttering kite. Clockwork held second, tracking back toward the middle, and Equilibrium led, clocked at 15 knots.

North of North Head, conditions eased as the leaders rounded and turned north. The water settled, the breeze dropped back, and Equilibrium's pace fell to around 13 knots. The lull was brief. Further north, conditions rebuilt with larger swells running, and Clockwork seized the moment, wound up, and drove hard to gain the lead. A short drag race with Equilibrium followed, and then Clockwork was gone, pulling clear.

Past the Rangitoto lighthouse, Equilibrium re-hoisted its spinnaker. The spectator boat left the leaders at that point, with Clockwork in front, Equilibrium close behind, Mr Kite II third, and Motorboat III fourth.

Around the three-hour mark, an on-board update from Damon Jolliffe confirmed what the gaps already suggested. Motorboat III was approaching Cape Rodney under a reefed main and furled headsail, nursing its way north rather than pushing hard into difficult conditions. The tone was cheerful despite the circumstances:

"Here we are, Motorboat III, on the Three Kings Race, just coming up to Cape Rodney on our bike — we've got a furl and one reef in. Equilibrium, Mr Kite and Clockwork have gone off into the distance, but these guys here seem to be having a good time. They don't really look like it, but they're having a good time. Anyway, we are on our bike — happy days."

At three hours and fifteen minutes into the race, approximate positions showed Clockwork just south of Ruakaka, leading the fleet. Mr Kite II was south of Waipu, running well offshore. Equilibrium sat between Pakiri and Waipu, north of Motorboat III, which was north of Pakiri. Higher Ground was positioned between Pakiri and north of Kawau Island, with Ākonga in a similar position. Carpe Diem was around or south of Kawau Island, last in the fleet. Nearly 60 nautical miles of coastline separated first from last, and the race was barely three hours old.

The estimated elapsed time suggests this could be a very fast race overall. The current Three Kings Offshore Yacht Race record on corrected time belongs to Rob Bassett's TP52/Bakewell-White Wired, set at 1 day 22 hours 20 minutes and 9 seconds. At this early stage, the PHRF handicap and line honours leaderboards look almost identical, with only Higher Ground and Carpe Diem swapping positions between the two.

PHRF handicap

Line Honours