SY Celandine wins first NZ Marine Cup

The smallest superyacht in the field, the 95 ft (29m) cruising yacht Celandine won the first New Zealand Marine Cup, the Kiwi Kawau Challenge, sailed on Thursday 4 March.

Race director Hal director Hal Wagstaff, of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, advised Celandine won on handicap by 12 minutes, 48 seconds from SY Shenandoah with SY Drumbeat a further 23 minutes, 33 seconds behind in third place.

“All three yachts enjoyed a fantastic day’s racing through the beautiful islands of Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf,” said Mark Wightman, chairman of the New Zealand Marine Export Group (NZ Marine) which hosted the event.

“The yachts’ owners, guests and crews joined sponsors and media for a relaxed, fun Kiwi-style barbeque under the trees beside Mansion House on Kawau Island. It was a magic night – beautiful weather enjoyed by all with fantastic New Zealand food alongside Villa Maria’s fine New Zealand wines, and another excellent opportunity to profile the New Zealand marine sector to a number of important international yacht owners and designers,” commented Wightman.

Celandine is visiting New Zealand while on a round-the-world cruise and has been undergoing some repairs and maintenance after more than a year at sea covering 17,000 nautical miles.

The New York-built 1902 Shenandoah has recently had a fifth major refit at Auckland’s Orams Marine Services. The classic 55m (181ft) steel-hulled mega-yacht has a strong link to New Zealand and the local marine industry, returning here every three to four years. Between 1995 and 1997, Shenandoah was fully restored by Auckland custom superyacht builder McMullen and Wing after arriving in New Zealand in an advanced state of decay.

Drumbeat, formerly Salperton, was one of the largest pleasure craft ever built in New Zealand by Alloy Yachts when she was launched in 2002. The 174 ft (53 m) Ed Dubois-designed, Alloy Yachts-built ketch has been in New Zealand having scheduled maintenance work done, with Auckland a key stopover in a world cruise. The one-day race to Kawau Island was the first time she has raced with her current owner, but she has previously been raced extensively.

The results with the handicap corrected times were:
Celandine 264 min (start time off Princes Wharf 11:35am)
Shenandoah 277 min (start time 11:40am)
Drumbeat 300 min (start time 11:50am)

The NZ Marine Cup organising committee extends its thanks Alloy Yachts, Electronic Navigation Ltd, Events Clothing, Fitzroy Yachts, Harken New Zealand, Integrated Marine Group, the Marine Industry Association and Yachting Developments, supported by 26000 Vodka, Antipodes Water, Villa Maria Wines, Manson Anchors, North Sails and Mulcahy Engineering for their support of this event.