William Goodfellow and Jesse Turner claimed overall line honours in the 2026 Doyle Sails Round North Island Two Handed Yacht Race, sailing the Elliott 50 Explore Racing to a clean sweep of all four legs of the circumnavigation. The result reflected equally on the quality of the boat and the sailors who drove it around the North Island.
Explore Racing was designed by Greg Elliott and built by Salthouse. Over the course of the race it proved capable across the full range of conditions the circuit produced: fast on the opening run north, tough through a brutal Tasman passage, composed through Cook Strait, and assured on the long return from Napier.
*Leg 1, Devonport to Mangōnui*
Twenty-six double-handed crews cleared Waitematā Harbour from Devonport Wharf and pointed north toward Mangōnui Harbour in Doubtless Bay, 154 nautical miles up the Northland coast. Explore Racing looked quick from the start. Once through the Hauraki Gulf the boat found strengthening easterlies and locked into a fast working reach, gradually pulling clear of the field.
The chase behind developed its own interest. The Thompson 11 Motorboat III, crewed by Damon Jolliffe and Josh Tucker, and the Verdier 40 Vixen Racing, with Sharon Ferris-Choat and Taylor Edwards aboard, battled through the middle fleet while the rest of the field streamed past Whangārei Heads. A modest easing in the breeze as the front-runners approached the Bay of Islands and Doubtless Bay overnight did nothing to shake Goodfellow and Turner from their position.
Explore Racing crossed the Mangōnui finish line at 12.47am on Sunday 1 March with a provisional elapsed time of 14 hours 47 minutes 38 seconds, claiming line honours for the opening leg. The time bettered winning elapsed times from several previous editions, an early signal of the pace of the boat and crew. Handicap honours went a different way, with Motorboat III taking the provisional PHRF win on corrected time, but on the water the message was plain. Explore Racing was the boat to catch.
*Leg 2, Mangōnui to Queen Charlotte Sound*
At 480 nautical miles, the second leg was the longest and, in many ways, the hardest. From Mangōnui the fleet rounded North Cape, tracked down the Tasman coast and pressed into Queen Charlotte Sound, a passage that stretched across several days and tested every crew's endurance and tactical thinking.
Explore Racing led out of Mangōnui and was first around North Cape, turning west with Motorboat III in close company. The defining tactical question emerged almost immediately: how far into the Tasman was it worth venturing in search of better pressure and cleaner angles, and how much direct mileage was too much to give away? Goodfellow and Turner backed the wider offshore option, at times sitting further west than anyone else near the front. For a while that commitment looked questionable. Motorboat III, holding a tighter coastal line, closed the gap repeatedly and at certain moments appeared to hold the lead on the water.
The first night handed out a proper beating. Strong southerlies built down the west coast, gusting well into the thirties with seas beyond three metres. Every crew in the fleet absorbed that stretch. Explore Racing came through it and worked back into contention. By Tuesday evening the Elliott 50 had retaken the elapsed lead, though only five nautical miles divided the two leaders.
As conditions eased the race turned more tactical. Explore Racing came back toward the coast after the time spent wide offshore, and by Wednesday morning that adjustment had paid off. The gap on the water had grown into a clear lead, and the Elliott 50 held it through the rounding of New Plymouth and Cape Egmont and into the approach to Cook Strait.
What followed was a genuine sprint to the line. At midday on Thursday Explore Racing still led, but Motorboat III sat barely a mile further from the finish. More than three days at sea, and the margin between them would come down to minutes.
At 2.31pm on Thursday 5 March, Explore Racing crossed the Leg 2 finish at Motuara Island in 3 days 5 hours 31 minutes 42 seconds, a second straight line honours win. The gap back to Motorboat III was just 9 minutes 51 seconds. The offshore routing came at a cost on corrected time, and Explore Racing finished 20th overall on PHRF for the leg. The mission had always been line honours, and on that measure the result was clear.
*Leg 3, Tory Channel to Napier*
The third leg ran 220 nautical miles from Tory Channel across Cook Strait and up the lower east coast to Napier. After the length of the Tasman passage it felt comparatively contained, but Cook Strait's short, steep seas at the start gave every crew plenty to manage and left little room for error.
Explore Racing moved into the lead within the first hour, slipping past Whichway and Motorboat III as the fleet pushed out of the Sounds. Goodfellow and Turner handled the transition cleanly and, once around the south-western corner of the North Island, began to stretch the gap. By late afternoon the boat had turned north-east along the Wellington coast, leading on the water with Motorboat III, Vixen Racing, and the Davidson 52 Whichway, sailed by Bruce Gault and Craig McMillan, organising the pursuit.
By Monday evening the lead had become meaningful. Explore Racing had rounded the bottom of the North Island and was driving north up the Wairarapa coast with 157 nautical miles remaining. The boat's black sail drew the attention of locals and visitors watching from shore as it closed on Napier beneath grey Hawke Bay skies.
At 10.57am on Tuesday 10 March, Explore Racing crossed the finish line off Napier in an elapsed time of 21 hours 57 minutes 36 seconds, a third straight line honours win. The battle behind was considerably more dramatic, with Motorboat III and Vixen Racing arriving hours later and separated by only minutes. On corrected time Explore Racing paid again for its outright speed, placing third on PHRF for the leg. Three starts, three line honours wins. The pattern was plain.
*Leg 4, Napier to Auckland*
The 367 nautical mile return to Auckland was the most tactically demanding leg of the four and, in some ways, the most revealing. The route north from Napier toward East Cape and back through the Hauraki Gulf would reward smart positioning as much as raw boatspeed.
Explore Racing committed to one of the more easterly positions early, pushing offshore while others worked northerly and coastal lanes. First through the Mahia Peninsula turn, the Elliott 50 carried the elapsed lead into more exposed water and continued to favour the eastern track through the run north past Gisborne and toward East Cape. By Saturday afternoon the boat was the furthest north and furthest east in the fleet, sitting well offshore south-east of East Cape Lighthouse. It was an assertive position. The Cookson 47 High 5, sailed by Bernie Hyde and Thomas Hyde, the Bakewell-White 37 General Lee, sailed by Cameron Thorpe and Tim Holgate, and later Motorboat III were all pressing from other angles.
Rounding East Cape into the Bay of Plenty, Motorboat III appeared to have the edge on elapsed time. Explore Racing stayed close enough to respond. By Sunday afternoon Goodfellow and Turner had found Colville Channel first and led the fleet into the final stretch. Both Explore Racing and Motorboat III had cleared the top of the Coromandel and were through the Channel with less than twenty minutes between them.
The decisive moment came in the Hauraki Gulf. Both boats chose the high route, sailing toward Tiritiri Matangi Island before turning south through the gap between Rangitoto and the North Shore. Explore Racing converted that move into the winning run home.
At 6.45pm on Sunday 15 March, Explore Racing crossed the finish line near the Auckland Harbour Bridge in an elapsed time of 2 days 5 hours 45 minutes 21 seconds. Line honours, Leg 4. Four from four.
*The full picture*
The final result should not obscure how much work went into earning it. The second leg alone demanded three days of hard offshore sailing, repeated tactical reassessment, and a margin at the finish that could have gone either way. The third and fourth legs required a different kind of discipline, pressing on elapsed time while the fleet sought corrected-time gains at every opportunity.
A Greg Elliott design, a Salthouse build, and two sailors who knew exactly how to get the most from both across a full circumnavigation of the North Island. William Goodfellow and Jesse Turner, four legs, four line honours wins. Overall line honours, 2026 Doyle Sails Round North Island Two Handed Yacht Race.
