Apr 01, 2021
From the 26th to the 28th of March, the CBRE City of Sails Auckland Regatta took place with a consistent 15-20 knots of breeze. This allowed fast and furious racing in this exciting event happening just two weeks after the 36th America’s Cup Match.
With three days of windward and leeward racing, each day consisted of four races. The CBRE City of Sails Auckland Regatta proved to be a test on crews as weather conditions could not have been any better. On Friday, racing was exceptional in the 40R division. There were upwind struggles followed by quick downwind that sent competitors at full speed.
On Saturday, the other divisions arrived, including a nine boat Sports Boat Division, a combined C /Young 88 Division and other divisions not interested in windward and leeward racing. The bigger boats sailed a longer version of the same course. This day was filled with fun and excitement again as boats hit some particularly high speeds downwind.
The breeze on Sunday began lighter but soon turned back again. The Kiwis hoped this breeze would have been the same during the America’s Cup competition between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, but that was not the case.
We recommend: Are you interested in what happened during the 2021 America’s Cup edition? We have covered it on Nautical Channel HERE.
After 12 races in the 40R division, team Anarchy came out on top on PHRF and EHC handicap. They stuck with the Melges 40 during the competition, choosing different lines up and down the track than most of the other rivals. This allowed them to achieve their well deserved victory.
In the case of the C /Young 88 Division, they performed six different races, and it was Young 88 with Paul McWilliams’ War Machine the one to come on top. Overall, both sailors and spectators have enjoyed this wonderful weekend of incredible conditions in the nautical panorama.