Less than 60 hours out from the start of the 23rd Bay of Islands Sailing Week, activity at Opua is building steadily. Crews are arriving from around the North Island, and the volunteer workforce that makes this event possible has moved into full operational mode.
The regatta is something of a rarity on the New Zealand sailing calendar, a genuine stand-alone event conceived, planned, and delivered entirely by volunteers. Since its first edition in 2003, it has been built by the sailing community for the sailing community, and that founding philosophy has never shifted.
The scale of the effort required each year is substantial. More than 60 volunteers spanning a wide range of ages and experience levels give their time across every corner of the operation. On the water, that means race management, safety vessels, and mark laying. Ashore, it means logistics, social functions, and all the infrastructure that holds a regatta together across long days and late nights. The collective goal is a professionally run event that feels welcoming enough to draw people back year after year.
That volunteer-driven character has been present since the very beginning. The 2003 inaugural edition was modest compared to what the regatta has since become, operating out of makeshift headquarters with a small but motivated fleet. What it lacked in resources it compensated for with determination and community spirit. More than two decades later, the fleet has grown and the sailor count with it, yet the values at the heart of the event have remained intact.
Cees Romeyn has competed at every Bay of Islands Sailing Week since the regatta launched. He returns again this year, his 23rd, aboard his Whiting 29, Nexus, having watched the event develop from its early, formative years into a fixture of the national sailing calendar.
Chairperson Andrew Kearney is clear about where the event's purpose lies.
"We do it for the entrants. It's a big commitment for them to come, and as long as they want us to keep doing it, we'll endeavour to do so. Without the committee and volunteers, delivering a stand-alone event like this would not be possible."
Bay of Islands Sailing Week exists to put people on the water doing what they love. As the starting guns draw closer, the passion, continuity, and quiet dedication of its volunteer community keeps one of New Zealand's enduring big-boat regattas going.
