PIC Coastal Classic: Lucky first home in long, challenging race
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz 25 Oct 02:30 BST
Lucky (USA) powers away - Coastal Classic - October 24, 2025. © Richard Gladwell - Sail-World.com/nz
Final Update at 1045hrs: Bryon Ehrhart's pocket maxi, Lucky (USA), finished the 120nm PIC Coastal Classic at 0323am after racing for over 17 hours.
As forecast, the 10kt breeze that pushed the fleet off the start line faded on early Friday evening and returned in the early hours of Saturday morning. The Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed 88-footer made a fast trip across the Tasman in the 2025 Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race, halving the race record to a new mark of 2days 20 hours 27 minutes.
Retracing her previous run along the Northland coast, she was at a more subdued pace, and her time of 20 hours and 23 minutes is well outside the race record set by the supermaxi Alfa Romeo of 6 hours and 43 minutes set in 2009.
Lucky latched onto the forecast breeze just after 0100hrs and rounded Cape Brett sailing at 9-10kts just under an hour later. From there, it was a three-gybe course, albeit at just over seven kts, to sail the remaining 18nm to the finish.
Three hours later, Ian Moore, skippered Callisto, a Pac52 design, crossed the finish line. The 52fter tussled with the Harry Dodson - and Tony Bosnyak-skippered TP52 Mayhem all the way to Takatu Peninsula, just past Kawau Island, 25nm from the race start in Auckland.
At that point, Lucky was still in sight, sailing at a faster speed, but not at as deep an angle as Callisto and Mayhem. Callisto stayed inshore and, though close to Mayhem, was able to break free; from there, it was just a race of follow-the-leader, Lucky, for the remaining 100nm of the course, which offered few passing options. Callisto finished at 0613hrs followed 20 minutes later by Mayhem.
Another Duchess (Evan Davies) was fourth to finish, 45 minutes later. The Davidson 55 finished at 0719hrs, followed less than a minute later by the well-performed Wired, a Bakewell White 52fter, and sailed by Coastal Classic and offshore sailing legend Rob Bassett.
All three suffered the fading breeze, as did the rest of the 100-boat race fleet, but the on-water positions of the three lead boats did not change.
Sassinate, a Melges 40 skippered by Mikayla Plaw, punched well above her length to get ahead of the rest of the boats in the Big Boat division 1B, finishing five minutes after Wired at 0725hrs, and 11 minutes ahead of the Elliott 50 Explore Racing (William Goodfellow).
Former RNZYS Commodore Steve Mair's Clockwork, a Shaw 12, was second to finish in Division 1B, 3minutes after Explore.
Next to finish were Alegre (Vaughan Clark), a Soto 40, and Blue Dude, local sailor Chris Hornell's Shaw 9, Blue Dude.
The PIC Coastal Classic is generally regarded as a multihull benefit. It is indicative of the slow pace of this year's race when the first multihull to finish was top skiff sailor Graham Catley's Cat+Ion, finishing at 0748hrs.
Simon Manning and Andy Robertson's Farr 36 crossed at 0750hrs with Mike Sanderson's Shaw 35 next and 13th finisher at 0752hrs.
For updated finishing times click here
Update at 0200hrs: The race leader, Lucky, has found the forecast breeze and is sailing at 10kts.
The 88ft US registered yacht found the breeze after 0100hrs on Saturday morning and by 0200hrs had rounded Cape Brett and was sailing at over 10kts and headed for the finish line. Behind her, the next monohull, also US-registered, Callisto, was in the breeze and making good speed towards Cape Brett. The third monohull, the TP52 Mayhem, was also now making good time, sailing at 7kts - off Whananaki and headed straight for Cape Brett.
Further back in the fleet, the competitors who had stayed inshore were doing the best, with more pressure and able to sail directly to Cape Brett.
Update at 0100hrs: Lucky, the lead boat is yet to round Cape Brett at the entrance to the Bay of Islands.
Although the US registered 88fter was on a good heading for the Cape, she was only making 3-4kts. Wind recorders in the Bay itself showed a southerly breeze of just 2-4kts. Cameras positioned further up the Bay, closer to the finish, showed glassy conditions, and the race is headed for a slow finish.
Callisto, the second of the race boats on the water, had passed Matapouri Bay, but was sailing at less than 1kt of boatspeed. Reports earlier in the evening indicated that the boats south of Callisto and the TP52 Mayhem were sailing in less than four kts of a fading southerly breeze.
However, the breeze was forecast to build from the south during the early hours of the morning—enough to get the fleet moving.
At 0100hrs, the bulk of the fleet was positioned off Whangarei, and sailing faster than those at the front of the fleet. Many had ventured well out to the east and appeared to have found more pressure, but would need to carry it across the fleet at Cape Brett to capitalise on any speed gain they had made, at the expense of extra distance.
Update at 1800hrs: The lead boats in the 100-plus fleet in the PIC Coastal Classic are working their way slowly up the Northland Coast.
At 1800hrs, the lead boat, the US-registered Lucky, was making slow speed off Bream Head at the entrance to Whangarei Harbour and about the halfway point in the 120nm race.
The 88ft overall Juan K design, formerly Rambler 88, was making just over 7kts and heading into a light northerly breeze.
Behind her, the US registered Callisto, PAC52, lies second overall and is making slow progress, sailing at 3kts and heading out to sea.
A second 52fter Mayhem is doing slightly better, sailing at 5kts, also in light winds, but headed at a tangent to Callisto, preferring to chase a coastal breeze.
The Bakewell White 52fter Wired is also sailing north-west but making 4.5kts.
The forecast is for light winds all night, with the Cape Brett forecast showing a swing to the south in the early hours of the morning.
The bad news for the crews is that, in addition to light winds, rain is forecast for several hours tonight, making for a miserable, slow night.
The Predictwind observation cameras show that the winds are still very light in the Bay of Islands area, and the challenging conditions look set to continue for the leaders. The competitors further back may be some relief from the southerly change, but the breeze is expected to be only 8-10kts, coming from astern.
The 2025 PIC Coastal Classic got underway at 1000hrs this morning in Auckland, in conditions better suited to cruising.
A SW breeze of 8kts was sufficient to get the 100-plus fleet off at a good pace and clear of the harbour. However, the winds are not expected to increase, so the race should be long and challenging for the crews. The race record is definitely not under threat.
The starts all appeared to go without incident, and while there were the usual duels, the only disaster was the occasional collapsed spinnaker.
While it is not good form to talk about the weather so early in a race report, today's weather was remarkable given what else has been happening in New Zealand over the past week. The hurricane force that attacked the South Island yesterday may as well have happened on another planet.
Indeed, Auckland was beset by strong winds on Thursday, with forecast rain overnight, but it was gone by morning. Remarkably, the 120nm race started under almost blue skies, and the sort of breeze that most dream of for their Christmas Cruise.
The expected line honours winner, Lucky (USA), which has just been first home in the 2025 Sydney Auckland Ocean Race, made a well-judged start, sliding down the Devonport shore, while the 50fters started in a heap on the southern, or City end of the start line. She two-sailed through the fleet heading to leeward of Bean Rock before gybing outside the approaching 50fters, who had come in at a much deeper angle. After gybing, Lucky broke out two more foresails and got onto the edge of more pressure off Takapuna, and started to ease away from the crowd.
At 2.00 pm, three hours after the start, Lucky was off the eastern side of Kawau Island - around 25nm from the start. They gybed and headed into Takatu Peninsular and Omaha Bay before gybing back and settling into what appears to be their course for Cape Brett - heading almost due North and sailing at 10kts.
Follow the race on the PredictWind Tracker click here for the Tracker
All competitors are required to call at Flat Rock (Kawau), Sail Rock (Whangarei) and Cape Brett (entrance to the Bay of Islands).
For Skeds click here for the Sked positions.
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