Two smaller yachts made their Gold Cup debuts at the 2026 Roy McDell Memorial Race, joining a close Doyle Sails Gold Cup PHRF contest. Just 2 minutes 17 seconds separated second from fifth.
John Meadowcroft’s McConaghy MC31 Carrera 3 came close to second, finishing just 33 seconds behind Nigel Hendy’s Dufour 45e Nirvana on PHRF. Third was still a strong start to its Gold Cup season. Luke Judge’s Ross 930 Wasted Away also had fourth within reach. It took fifth, only 54 seconds behind Quintin Fowler’s More 55 Rum Bucket on corrected time.
A colourful start to the Roy McDell Memorial Race
The morning began slowly off Ōrākei. Low grey cloud hung over the start, with red, blue, green and pink spinnakers brightening the departure. Boats edged north towards the Eastern Navy Buoy off Whangaparāoa.
The multihulls started at 10am. Five minutes later, the monohulls followed into the light air.
As the breeze built, the race changed character. From Motutapu’s southwestern corner, the crews faced a beat home. The morning’s slow progress under spinnakers gave way to an upwind return towards Auckland.
Royal Akarana also hosted the Interdominions that week, bringing together 11 school teams from New Zealand and Australia. Auckland Grammar and Westlake Girls went unbeaten in their Schools Trophy divisions, while New Zealand reclaimed the Nations Trophy.
For those school crews, one finishing place could decide a race. The Gold Cup results offered their own close margins. Different boats and different scoring, but Carrera 3’s 33 second deficit gave another reason to race right to the line.
Equilibrium leads the Gold Cup fleet home
Graham Matthews’ Botin Carkeek 55 Equilibrium led the Gold Cup monohulls home at 2.13.57pm, completing the race in 4 hours 8 minutes 57 seconds. It took the handicap win too. With its 1.018 PHRF rating, Equilibrium corrected to 4:13:26, comfortably ahead of Nirvana by 5 minutes 50 seconds.
At Richmond’s Spring Regatta, Steve Mair’s Shaw 12 Clockwork had won on PHRF, with Equilibrium second and Nirvana fourth. Clockwork sat out Roy McDell. Equilibrium took the win this time, while Nirvana moved up to second, just ahead of Carrera 3.
Rum Bucket was second home at 2.54.17pm, but its corrected time of 4:20:39 left it fourth on PHRF. Carrera 3 edged ahead with 4:19:49 at its 0.838 rating. Wasted Away followed in fifth, correcting to 4:21:33 at 0.773. Just 1 minute 44 seconds separated the two newcomers on handicap.
Byron van Vugt’s JT 8.5 catamaran Epsom Salts led the Gold Cup multihulls home, beating Mike Mackey’s Schionning CM46 Levity by 3 minutes 1 second. Handicap reversed their order. At its 1.0099 rating, Levity corrected to 4:43:10 and won by 42 minutes 11 seconds, adding to its Spring Regatta handicap win.
The Roy McDell Memorial Race on Saturday 3 October was the second round of the Gold Cup Series while also counting towards the RNZYS Commodore's Cup.
