The third leg of the 2026 Doyle Sails Round North Island Two Handed Yacht Race is drawing to a close, with the fleet converging on Hawke Bay after a fast and tactical 220 nautical mile passage from Queen Charlotte Sound. At the head of the fleet, Explore Racing has held a commanding lead on line honours throughout the morning.
Writing at 7am, William Goodfellow and Jesse Turner on the Elliott 50 Explore Racing were bearing down on Cape Kidnappers, the striking sandstone headland that Captain James Cook named in 1769 following an attempted abduction of one of his crew. It marks the final turning point before the finish off the Port of Napier, where Explore Racing is projected to cross the line at around 10:21am.
The battle for second and third on line honours has become a genuine two-boat sprint. Vixen Racing, crewed by Sharon Ferris Choat and Taylor Edwards, and Motorboat III, sailed by Damon Joliffe and Josh Tucker, are running bow to bow on the tracker. Current projections suggest Motorboat III may finish just three minutes behind Vixen Racing, setting up an exciting final dash to the line.
On corrected time under PHRF, Motorboat III currently holds the overall advantage, with Vixen Racing only four minutes behind. Despite leading the race on the water, Explore Racing is presently projected to finish third in Division 1 PHRF.
Further back in the fleet, Whichway has built a strong position in Division 2, holding a lead of nearly four hours over Motorboat 2 on corrected time.
Division 3 continues to deliver some of the tightest racing of the entire leg. Ragnar leads the division, but the battle for the minor placings has shifted dramatically, with Kick having overtaken Niksen for second. The two boats are separated by little more than one minute on corrected time, leaving the division result far from settled.
In Division 4, the Farr 1020 L'Avanti maintains a slender advantage over the Elliott 10.66 Carpe Diem. Less than an hour ago the pair were separated by under a minute on corrected time, though that gap has since stretched to just under three minutes.
Conditions approaching Napier remain relatively stable. Light cloud has replaced the city's usual crisp blue skies, with locals expecting rain later in the day. Out on the water, the leading boats are sailing in around 13 knots of breeze with 1.8 metre swells at roughly eight-second intervals, conditions expected to remain consistent through the morning as the fleet completes Leg 3.
