Damon Jolliffe will point Motorboat III north on Thursday as skipper of a boat he knows from the other side of the rivalry. The dark blue Thompson 1150 raced the 2024 Three Kings as Serena, with Josh Adams at the helm. Adams has since sold the boat to Jolliffe, and the story took a neat turn from there: Adams is back in this year's fleet, crewing aboard Clockwork, one of Motorboat III's closest rivals. Jolliffe himself raced that 2024 edition on Clockwork. The two men have effectively traded places, and the Thompson 1150 keeps returning to the Three Kings no matter whose name is on the transom.
The Three Kings is still a young race, now in only its third edition. Run biennially since 2022 under the flag of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, it sends its fleet 500 nautical miles from the Waitemata Harbour, past Cape Reinga, out to the Three Kings Islands, and back to Auckland. The course has already built a reputation for attrition. In 2024, eight of the fifteen starters retired, their campaigns ended by blown-out sails, rigging failures, and the punishing sea state that builds where the Tasman and the Pacific collide above the North Island.
Jolliffe heads north with five crew. Josh Tucker, his regular sailing partner, brings Three Kings experience from the 2022 race, when he raced aboard Kick. The two have accumulated considerable offshore time together since then. Their most recent outing was the 1250 nautical mile Doyle Sails Round the North Island Two Handed Yacht Race, where they took first in Division 1 on handicap. Earlier, Motorboat III claimed line honours after a 46-hour contest with Equilibrium and the trimaran Ocean's Tribute. The Thompson 1150 was the smallest of the three, yet she crossed first, pulling clear in the closing stages.
Rounding out the crew are Jacqui Jolliffe, Damon's wife and co-owner, who grew up racing dinghies in Christchurch and whose enthusiasm for offshore sailing was one of the reasons they bought the boat; Chris Beaumont, known on board as Chopper, who also crewed in the Cavalli Island race; and Mike Grant, whom Damon has known for 25 years, the two having come through the sailing scheme together at the RNZYS.
Seven boats will start after Vixen Racing, Perservere, and Flyer withdrew over the weekend. The absence of Vixen Racing is felt across the fleet. She and Motorboat III are similar in size and have been trading places on the offshore circuit for some time, making a renewed contest between them one of the pre-race talking points. Cyclone damage at the boatyard settled the matter: repairs could not be completed in time.
Jolliffe has a clear read on where Motorboat III sits in the order. "Equilibrium's going to go, then it'll be Clockwork, then Mr Kite II, and then it'll be us," he says. "Something's got to go drastically wrong for us to beat them. But it's actually kind of handy having a few more boats in front of us this time. Unlike the RNI, where we were kind of going a little bit blind with what was happening further up the track, at least we're going to have a few more indicators."
The forecast points to a quick race. A southwesterly start, slowly clocking forward, with the bulk of the course on a reach or a run. The complication arrives on the return leg, where a building northerly is expected to be well established by the time the fleet turns for Auckland. "The strategy will be to conserve a little bit of energy throughout the first half and get around the Three Kings in good shape so we can hold on for the ride home," Jolliffe says. "For us, sailing downwind in breeze is a lot harder than sailing upwind in breeze, particularly when it comes to crew rest in the middle of the night." His routing has them finishing between 2pm and 8pm Saturday.
With five crew across an estimated two-plus days at sea, the watch system is central to how the boat is run. Jolliffe pairs with Tucker, while Beaumont partners with Grant, the two pairs rotating opposite each other with one person changing every hour. Jacqui moves freely between both watches, putting out four meals a day and keeping the boat in order. "A two-hour watch goes real fast," Jolliffe says. "You're only just settled in with one person before it's time for them to go and the next one comes up."
Away from racing, Damon and Jacqui run Hauraki Fenders, a mobile marine fender business they have owned for twelve years, working out of Albany and covering marinas from Auckland to Tauranga.
Two previous editions, two demanding finishes, and a fleet that thinned before the start gun even fired. Motorboat III has been to the Three Kings before, even if she was wearing a different name last time. Jolliffe knows the course, knows several of the skippers he is racing against, and has a crew around him that he trusts. Thursday's 11am start cannot come soon enough.
