Twenty-nine young sailors are entered for this weekend's Harken P Class North Island Championships at Royal Akarana Yacht Club.
Royal Akarana Yacht Club hosts the 2026 Harken P Class North Island Championships from its Okahu Bay clubhouse on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October. Twenty-nine sailors have entered so far, and late entries are accepted until 5pm on Friday.
Last year the event was held at the Kohimarama Yacht Club with 21 entries. It is also a noticeably different fleet.
Hamish Brown who won the 2025 North Islands by a single point from Blake Batten over five races, with Zofia Wells third will not be lining up in 2026. All three went on to big summers. Batten won the Tauranga Cup for the second time at the January nationals, Brown won every race of the Centenary Cup, and Wells won the Tanner Cup before going on to become the first girl to win the open Optimist national title. Earlier this month she added the Wihau Shield in Tauranga, where the top five from a day of fleet racing swap boats for a final series. Her win has set up an interesting dynamic for the upcoming 2027 P Class Nationals in January, as she has laid down a major challenge to the rest of the fleet.
Instead, familiar sail numbers are turning up under new names. Napier Sailing Club's Theo Dacre is entered as P308, the sail number on Trampus, which Brown raced through last season. Dacre raced Trampus at the Wihau Shield weekend. Sail number 722, which Batten raced at last year's North Islands and the Tauranga Cup, is entered under Wakatere Boating Club's Adam Gillies.
Who has the form
January’s nationals and this month’s Wihau Shield weekend offer useful form guides. Lauchy Wills (P37, Howick Sailing Club/Glendowie Boating Club) finished fifth at last year’s North Islands. He then placed second in both the Tanner Cup and the Tauranga Cup. In the latter, he won a race and counted no finish worse than fifth.
Luca Blundell (P899, Charteris Bay Yacht Club/Kohimarama Yacht Club) didn't race last year's North Islands, but he was third in both January championships and second on countback in this month's Wihau Shield. Murrays Bay Sailing Club's Will Handley, now sailing P373, was third in the Wihau Shield after eighth place in the Tauranga Cup.
Kohimarama's Lewis Snape (P345) won a race at last year's North Islands on his way to seventh, won another at the Tauranga Cup, and won the Secretary's Cup, the fleet-racing trophy sailed alongside the Wihau Shield, according to Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club's event page. Hugh Kensington (P3), fourth last October and fifth in the Tauranga Cup, was third in that Secretary's Cup. Noah Petersen (P989), eighth last year, finished fourth in the Tanner Cup.
| Sailor | Sail no. | 2025 North Islands | 2026 Tanner Cup | 2026 Tauranga Cup | 2026 Wihau Shield weekend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lauchy Wills | 37 | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | Not listed |
| Luca Blundell | 899 | Not listed | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd, Wihau Shield |
| Will Handley | 373 | 16th (P20) | 4th, Centenary Cup (P20) | 8th (P20) | 3rd, Wihau Shield |
| Lewis Snape | 345 | 7th | 7th | 7th | 1st, Secretary's Cup |
| Hugh Kensington | 3 | 4th | 11th | 5th | 3rd, Secretary's Cup |
| Noah Petersen | 989 | 8th | 4th | 10th | Raced Secretary's Cup |
Most of the fleet comes from Auckland and North Shore clubs. Dacre and Zac Loader have entered from Napier, and Harry Strang, 11th in the Tauranga Cup, from Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club.
How the weekend runs
Six races are scheduled, three on Saturday and another three on Sunday. Courses will be triangles or a triangle and windward-leeward combination. Each sailor's worst score is dropped once five races are complete.
The notice of race keeps equipment tight. Sailors must use one hull, one set of foils, one mast, one boom and one sail for the whole regatta, with replacements only for damage and only with the race committee's approval. Entrants must be under 17 on 31 January 2027. The winner takes the North Island P Class Championships trophy, and prizes also go to the top three boys and top three girls.
Fresh gear for the club fleet
Royal Akarana said in a social media post this week that it had refitted its club P Class fleet ahead of the championship with new rope and hardware supplied by Harken Fosters in Westhaven. The list runs to Marlow Excel, Excel Fusion and D12 SK78 Dyneema rope, Harken Carbo ratchet blocks in swivel and fixed versions, AirBlocks, hook-in halyard blocks and Tylaska ring ferrules. The club said its boats get plenty of use through the season, so keeping running rigging and hardware in good condition is part of maintaining the fleet.
A trainer with a long history
The P Class was designed by engineer Harry Highet, and the first boat appeared at Onerahi, near Whangārei, on New Year's Day 1920, according to Kohimarama Yacht Club's history of the class. The 2.13-metre single-hander carries one Bermudan sail. Inter-provincial racing for the Tanner Cup began in 1945, and it still sits at the top of the class calendar alongside the Tauranga Cup.
What comes next
The North Islands open a busy run. Christchurch Yacht Club's Graham Mander Regatta on 31 October and 1 November includes the Canterbury P Class Championships. Kohimarama Yacht Club runs its Tanner Cup trials on Saturday 12 December. The 2027 nationals move to Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club from 4 to 9 January. Tanner Cup measuring is scheduled for 4 January, with that programme running through 6 January, and the Tauranga Cup follows from 7 to 9 January.
Results from Royal Akarana will be posted on the event page, which the notice of race names as the official noticeboard.
