Another Duchess wins DivA twice as Kawau Race Week recovers from weather washout

Evolution Sails Kawau Race Week 2026 was built on a straightforward premise: give Auckland sailors a quality summer regatta close to home, sparing them the trek north. A joint venture between the Ponsonby Cruising Club and the Kawau Boating Club, the event was scheduled for Friday 23 to Sunday 25 January, combining competitive racing with a lively social programme on the island.

The concept gained traction during a period of uncertainty around Bay of Islands Sailing Week, which did ultimately go ahead later in January. While questions hung over that event, organisers identified a gap and moved to fill it with something local, structured, and genuinely community-focused.

Early interest was strong. Some 37 boats appeared on the Kawau Race Week Facebook page as entries, drawing from a wide cross-section of the Auckland fleet. Established race boats sat alongside less regular campaigners, reflecting the event's deliberately open approach.

The weather had other ideas. The same severe system that had already forced the cancellation of the opening day of Bay of Islands Sailing Week tracked south and arrived squarely over the scheduled race dates. Persistent rain and strong winds left organisers with no realistic option but to cancel the debut programme, with safety taking priority.

The story did not end there. As conditions improved the following week, a revised schedule was confirmed. Kawau Race Week was rescheduled alongside the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's Squadron Weekend, condensed into a coastal race on Friday evening and an island course on Saturday. The fleet was smaller, but the regatta was on.

A fleet reduced

The weather disruption and compressed timeline roughly halved the original field, though a handful of late entries, including some arriving fresh from Bay of Islands Sailing Week a week and a half earlier, pushed the total to 22 boats.

DivM carried a single entry: the multihull Push Play.

DivA brought together seven of the bigger boats. Rodney Keenan skippered the Davidson 59 Another Duchess; Geoff Harden campaigned his Ross 40 Big Don't Argue; Steve Mair helmed the Shaw 40 Clockwork; Kyle Bryant sailed Longfellow, the Alan Warwick design; Kathryn Hobcraft entered her Farr 46 Mustang Sally; Ian Russell raced the Elan GT6 Pace; and Mike Mahoney was aboard Tawera, the A Class Logan.

DivB opened the series with a compact group. Brian Trubovich skippered the Elliott 9.5 Elliphunk; Mark Roberts raced the 9.1 Rocket Extreme; Andrew Benton sailed the Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300 Indis; Karen Reid and Grant Crawford shared the Young 88 Legless; Nick Charles sailed the Gary Lambert SR26 Motorboat; Wendy Muir skippered the Stewart 34 Patrician; and Paul Stroobant entered his Stewart 34 Prince Hal.

For the second race, DivB swelled to twelve boats. New arrivals included Aaron Wharton's Young 88 Babe; Clark Maddren's Anastasia-designed day sailer Integrite; the Bavaria 35 MisMatch, skippered by Neil; Princess, sailed by Chris Dickson; the Farr 1020 Share Delight, sailed by Mike; and a second Farr 1020, Near & Farr, sailed by Matt, which retired during the race.

Race 1: Westhaven to Kawau, Friday 30 January

The 6pm warning signal sounded off the Westhaven start tower and fifteen boats headed north into the Hauraki Gulf, with the finish line set between the RNZYS committee boat at Te Kouma and Momona Point on Kawau Island.

Push Play sailed the course without a rival in DivM, recording a corrected time of 03:16:57.

DivA produced the tightest margins across the whole fleet that night. Another Duchess led the division home on corrected time in 3:14:25, a little over two minutes clear of Push Play and just under 16 minutes ahead of Mustang Sally. Big Don't Argue was close in third, 1 minute and 43 seconds further back. The keenest battle played out for fourth, where Clockwork edged Pace by just 17 seconds on corrected time. The spread from first to last across DivA was 47:57.

DivB delivered the sharpest racing of the night. Indis took the corrected time win in 3:21:13, with Prince Hal 9 minutes and 28 seconds back and Extreme a further 1 minute and 40 seconds behind in third. Just 57 seconds separated third and fourth, and the overall corrected time spread across the division came in under 30 minutes.

Race 2: Island course, Saturday 31 January

Saturday's island course started at 12.16pm, with the fleet's composition having shifted notably. DivA trimmed to five boats, losing Pace and Longfellow, while DivB grew to thirteen starters. Push Play again completed the course as the sole multihull, posting a corrected time of 02:20:50.

Another Duchess made it two wins from two in DivA, finishing in a corrected time of 1:44:54 to extend her series lead. Clockwork came home second, with Big Don't Argue third. The gaps between the finishers were fairly even throughout the division, though the spread from first to last reached 29 minutes on corrected time.

DivB produced the closest finish of the entire regatta. Extreme won on corrected time in 1:53:52, with Motorboat just 13 seconds in arrears. Babe was third, a further 1 minute and 41 seconds back. The tightest margin in the division was 11 seconds, separating Indis and Elliphunk in fourth and fifth.

Finally, in the end, success

By Saturday afternoon, the atmosphere at the Kawau Boating Club reflected how well the weekend had come together. As the sun dropped and the breeze softened, the lawns filled with crews and supporters, while Bon Accord Harbour sat packed with boats: Kawau Race Week entries, Commodore's Cup competitors celebrating at Lidgaard House, and supporters all quietly at anchor in the warm light. Drinks were poured. It was the kind of unhurried, golden end to a regatta that cannot be manufactured.

What made the weekend stand out was not the racing alone but the resolve behind it. When the original dates were lost, organisers declined the easy path of cancellation. Instead they reworked the format, aligned with the Squadron Weekend and the Commodore's Cup, and put together a condensed but purposeful programme that kept boats on the water and people engaged.

Kawau Race Week 2026 did not unfold as originally drawn up, yet it delivered genuine competition, a strong sense of community, and a reminder that a good regatta is built as much through resilience in the planning as through conditions on the water.

The organisers' closing message said it plainly:

"As the sun sets on the very first Evolution Sails Kawau Island Race Week, I just want to say massive thanks to everyone who made this revamped version such an epic weekend."

Final Standings

Div M

DivA

DivB