Malcolm Dickson, two-time winner of the Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge, tackles the PIC Coastal Classic for the first time tomorrow when he sets sail with the rest of the fleet.
Dickson had originally planned to join two of his 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman comrades and sail the 2026 PIC Coastal Classic solo. He even entered his yacht Sarau as single-handed until his 16-year old granddaughter Lily pointed out that two-handed might be more fun. Malcolm didn't have to be asked twice, and now Sarau will be crewed two-handed.
“We’ve got the oldest, crustiest skipper and the best-looking young crew,” said a very proud Malcolm.
Malcolm crossed the Tasman solo this year at the wise age of 79 and turns 80 in January. That places both crew members at the extremes of the 2026 crew age ranges.
The race he never got round to
Malcolm has been racing offshore since the 1970s, which makes his absence from the Coastal Classic a little surprising.
His record elsewhere needs no help. In June he took Sarau, the 55-foot pilothouse yacht he designed and built, from Ōpua (Bay of Islands) to Southport (Gold Coast, Australia) and won the Solo Trans-Tasman on PHRF handicap. He first won the race in 1978 – 2026 was his fourth Solo Trans-Tasman. 2026 was his quickest crossing yet, through squalls that topped 50 knots near Lord Howe Island.
He put more than a year into preparing his boat, and she came home having coped with the rough weather conditions well. “I didn’t have many failures during the race or the return,” he said.
Washing machine still ashore
For the Tasman, Sarau was stripped of anything that didn’t help her go fast, including the washing machine, the microwave and even the bedroom doors. Since returning to New Zealand, the doors have gone back in. The washing machine hasn’t, with Malcolm deciding to leave the rest of the cruising gear ashore for one more race. After this race Sarau will be returned to her normal state for Christmas outings.
A Tasman boat in a seven-knot forecast
Malcolm admits that what makes Sarau good in the Tasman will work against her tomorrow.
“She’s a heavy, small rig, long waterline,” he said. “Those things make for a fast boat when it blows hard, but it also makes for a slow, sticky boat in light weather.”
He thinks the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman conditions made his result look better than it was, because several faster boats pulled out. With the breeze forecast to fade past Cape Rodney, he expects plenty of the fleet to miss the 2pm Saturday cut-off, and wouldn’t be surprised if Sarau joins them.
We put some rough numbers to him. A heavy cruising yacht ghosting along in light air might take 24 hours to cover the course, which would put Sarau into Russell around 10am Saturday with four hours in hand. He reckoned that was close. “If it’s light, drifty stuff, we’ll be about the same speed as that.”
Grandad does the grinding
Lily has sailed aboard Sarau all her life, sailing with her grandparents, Malcolm and Joan, her parents, Linda and Jeremy, and her older sister Ruby. Lily brought Sarau back over from Australia earlier this year at the completion of the Solo Trans-Tasman with Malcolm and Joan.
Asked about their double-handed arrangements, they've agreed to share the helm, although Lily was quick to say who will be hoisting and trimming: “Probably Grandad.”
Old Tasman rivals
Sarau is one of three boats from June’s Trans-Tasman fleet on tomorrow’s start line. Ben Ball, who finished the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman second to Malcolm on handicap, is racing his Cavalier 36 Camellia single-handed. Peter Bourke, fifth on handicap, is also sailing solo on Diablo, the restored kauri sloop.
Malcolm was quick to praise Ball. “He did incredibly well in the Tasman race,” he said. “He showed them the way to go.”
Follow Sarau and the rest of the fleet in Go Boating’s Coastal Classic coverage.
