Six days out from the 2026 Bay of Islands Sailing Week, the fleet is taking shape and most crews are well into their final preparations. The event gets under way on Monday 19 January, and for those making the coastal run north to Opua, departure times are being set and last-minute checklists are being worked through. A building south-easterly pattern could well give crews a nudge in the right direction as the weekend approaches.
Not every boat in the fleet will be arriving from New Zealand waters. Class40 Vixen Racing has just made the crossing from Australia, having competed in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race before a crew injury forced the team to retire. The return passage was put to good use, sailed double-handed to accumulate qualifying miles towards Shorthanded Sailing Association of New Zealand (SSANZ) Round North Island requirements. Sharon Ferris-Choat and boat captain Taylor Edwards left Sydney late last week, briefly sailing alongside the Globe40 fleet as it departed for Chile.
Registrations remain open, with entry numbers currently sitting below last year's total of 92. A smaller fleet changes the character of racing in practical ways: start lines breathe more easily, and the positional compromises that stack up in a crowded early race become less of a factor.
The quality of the line-up is not in question. Many of the entered boats and crews are well-known faces at Bay of Islands Sailing Week, and a number carry strong recent form from offshore competition including the PIC Coastal Classic. The racing is expected to be hard-fought.
Scanning the entry list, the most obvious feature is how varied the fleet is. Beyond six Magic 25s grouped in their own division and two Young 88s in another, there is very little repetition across the classes. Each division tells a different story.
The most defined concentration is in the Open S sportsboat division, where the six Magic 25s are joined by a couple of Shaw designs and a Houghton Dibley. The Magic 25 has deep roots in New Zealand club racing, and its class reputation rests on tight starts, rapid manoeuvring, and margins that stay small from the first gun to the finish.
Island Racing Spinnaker is the biggest division in the regatta, with 36 boats entered at this stage. The range of lengths is striking, stretching from under eight metres to grand prix and offshore designs measuring more than seventeen metres. The majority cluster between nine and eleven metres, which has long been the heart of New Zealand cruiser racing.
Larger performance boats are present without overwhelming the rest. A TP52, the Verdier 40 Vixen Racing, and an Elliott 50 SS share the water with older designs and newer performance cruisers, adding another layer to an already diverse mix.
With so little class duplication and such breadth across the divisions, the 2026 Bay of Islands Sailing Week looks set to be a regatta where sailing ability will count for as much as the boat underneath you.
