The Doyle Sails Gold Cup Series enters its penultimate race with the championship fight as close as it has been all season, and Hauraki Gulf conditions set to test every boat in the fleet.
From the outset, Equilibrium established herself as the one to beat, building an early lead through the opening pair of races. That dominance came to an abrupt halt at the Bean Rock Race in early November, when Alegre hit back and forced the series wide open. The rivalry since has turned what might have been a procession into one of the most compelling Gold Cup campaigns in recent memory.
Race 4, the Percy Jones Memorial, gets under way tomorrow from Bucklands Beach Yacht Club. At around 48 miles, it is a substantial test, and with only the Balokovic Cup remaining after it, the results this weekend will go a long way to settling the championship picture in both Line Honours and PHRF.
Last weekend's Doyle Sails Cavalli Islands Race injected fresh intrigue into the series. Equilibrium spent much of the race trading blows with Motorboat III (Thomson 1150) and Ocean's Tribute (Crowther Design 93 trimaran) before finishing second on line honours. The catch came on handicap, where boats at the back of the fleet found a tailwind that delivered them a quicker run home, leaving Equilibrium to slip to last on corrected time.
The real story from the Cavalli Islands was Carpe Diem. Having posted a difficult sequence of Gold Cup results earlier in the season (2-7-RET), the crew claimed a valuable handicap victory that should sharpen their confidence heading into Saturday's start. Fair warning: they are a force to be reckoned with.
To understand how the series arrived at this point, look to the Bean Rock Race. Vaughn Clark's Soto 40, Alegre, read the pressure lanes well and beat Equilibrium on corrected time to take the win. Liquid Luck rounded out the top three with another composed, well-managed sail. Carrera 3 and Fulcrum both recorded their best results of the campaign, while Kaizen, Carpe Diem, and Champosa VII retired, leaving each of them with very little room to manoeuvre over the final two races.
Line Honours: Equilibrium leads on 5 points, Alegre sits second on 7, Liquid Luck third on 13, Nirvana fourth on 17, and Flying Boat fifth on 24.
PHRF: Liquid Luck and Nirvana are locked together at the top on 12 points each, with Alegre third on 15, Apparition fourth on 17, and Equilibrium fifth on 18.
No drops have been applied yet, so every position remains genuinely contestable. Liquid Luck continues to punch well above her waterline length on corrected time. Nirvana's consistency has earned them a share of the PHRF lead. Alegre's Bean Rock triumph has put Vaughn Clark's crew in contention for both titles, while Equilibrium's Cavalli Islands experience is a reminder of how quickly conditions can shift the leaderboard.
One of the more intriguing additions to the Percy Jones entry list is Sassinate, the Melges 40 skippered by Mikayla Plaw. Built for speed, Sassinate showed exactly what she is capable of in the 2025 PIC Coastal Classic, winning line honours in PredictWind Division 1b. In light to moderate conditions on Saturday, she has every chance of disrupting the familiar contest between Alegre and Equilibrium at the front of the fleet.
Also worth watching is Another Duchess, the Davidson 55 co-owned by Evan Davies and Evolution Sails' Rodney Keenan. Keenan, who lives at Snells Beach overlooking the racecourse, was the first entrant in the inaugural Kawau Race Week 2026, in which Another Duchess is already entered. The boat made a strong impression in the 2025 PIC Coastal Classic as well, topping Doyle Sails Division 1A with a corrected time of 22:04:27 and winning the division on handicap by almost fifty-five minutes after an immaculate run north. Their form heading into the weekend puts them squarely among the boats to watch.
