There is a strong case building that small boats will again feature at the top of the handicap results at the 2026 PIC Harbour Classic, with evidence stretching back across several seasons of racing.
The trend became hard to ignore in 2023, when four of the ten highest-placed finishers on corrected time at the PIC Harbour Classic measured 10 metres or less. Juniper, a J88 skippered by Lode Missiaen, led the charge for the smaller designs. Sham Pain, an MG Whitbread 30 skippered by Greer JK, was close behind, and Legless, a Young 88 skippered by Karen Reid, and Motorboat, an SR26 skippered by Nick Charles, both claimed places inside that top-ten group.
The 2024 race did nothing to disrupt the pattern. Two Pied Pipers made their mark: Minx skippered by Sam Stenson and Red Label skippered by Tim Lynch Blosse. The Magic 25 class contributed through Magic Dragon, skippered by Brent Gribble, and Team Sex, skippered by Anne Hirst. Split Decision, a Young 88 skippered by Sally Garrett, rounded out the group of small-boat finishers inside the top ten on corrected time that year.
By 2025, the small-boat dominance had sharpened. Three Flying Fifteens finished inside the top four on corrected time, with FFORTUNE skippered by Jenny Price, FFLYING CLOUD skippered by Sarah Reynolds, and THE GODFFATHER skippered by Sally Garrett all finishing at the sharp end of the fleet. The Magic 25 class again performed well, Team Sex once more in contention under Anne Hirst and joined by Enigma, skippered by Chris Hirst, and Magic Dragon again under Brent Gribble. Weapon of Choice, a Houghton Dibley 7.5 skippered by Phil Houghton, and Cool Change, a Ross 850 skippered by Richard Limbrick, also featured within the top ten.
The same tendency has shown up in other events. At the 2026 Marsden Cove Route 66 Coastal Race, Ex Machina, an Elliott 7.8 skippered by Jamie Caisley, topped the corrected time standings despite being the smallest boat in the fleet. Three other designs joined her inside the handicap top ten: T-Rex, an SR26 skippered by Lanny Walker; Juniper, the J88 again with Lode Missiaen at the helm; and Chico Too, a Chico 30 skippered by Trish Beken.
The 2026 Doyle Sails Round North Island Two Handed Yacht Race produced a similar outcome. Ragnar, a Jeanneau Sunfast 3300 with a hull length of 9.99 metres skippered by Brett Elliott and co-skippered by James Glidden, took overall handicap honours. Joining Ragnar in the corrected time top ten were Niksen, a Dehler 30OD raced by Logan Fraser and Marc Michel; Indis, a Sun Fast 3300 raced by Andrew Benton and Andrew Hall; and Hotdogger, a Ross 930 skippered by Nigel Bish and Sinisa 'Sin' Grujicic.
The entry list for the 2026 PIC Harbour Classic reflects that backdrop. A large portion of the fleet sits at 8.5 metres and below, forming a dense and competitive core of sportboats, trailer yachts, and small keelboats. Among them are Sailena, a Moonraker 23 of 7 metres skippered by Malcolm Robertson, Radioactive, an Elliott 7.9 skippered by Daniel Leech, Red Line, a Whiting Quarter Tonner skippered by Brett McPhee, and Buoy Racer, an Elliott 8 skippered by Holger Zipfel.
Several Open 8.5 and similar designs add depth to that group. Attitude skippered by Steve Dunlop, Epsom Salts skippered by Andrew Johnson, Hooters skippered by Craig Haslip, and Lucifer skippered by Ed Ayre are all entered, alongside Freedom and Espresso 8.5, both Great Barrier Express designs skippered by Coen Ursem and Justin Lee respectively. Blue Sapphire, a Marauder 8.4 skippered by Mike Fokin, and Cool Change, a Ross 850 skippered by Richard Limbrick, sit alongside them in the same bracket.
Just above this cluster is a secondary band of entries in the 9 to 10 metre range. Xstatic, a Farr 9.2 skippered by Harry Clark, features here, as do Scarlet Fever and Wasted Away, both Ross 930s skippered by Simon Devoy and Luke Judge respectively, and Alien, a Turissimo 10 skippered by Jackson Keon.
Smaller boats look well placed to feature prominently once again when the handicap calculations are made. Attention now turns to the race start.
