Yachting: Attempt at record runs out of puff

TeamVodafoneSailing sail into Russell during the Coastal Classic yesterday. Photo / Supplied

TeamVodafoneSailing yesterday discovered just how cruel the weather gods can be after their bid to break the six-hour barrier in the Coastal Classic was denied by fading winds.

Averaging 25 to 30 knots early in the day, they looked set to blitz last year's mark set by supermaxi Alfa Romeo when they reached the halfway point two hours ahead of record time.

But as they headed further north, the breeze died down and their progress slowed to an agonising halt as they approached Cape Brett.

Drifting from windless hole to windless hole, TeamVodafone could do nothing but watch the race record slip further and further from their grasp.

When the tide finally took them through into the Bay of Islands, the breeze picked up slightly and they were able to cruise into Russell Wharf to easily claim line honours in a respectable time of 7 hours, 16 minutes and 9 seconds - eclipsing Split Enz's 14-year multihull record of 7h 20m 51s.

But it was Alfa Romeo's overall mark of 6h 43m set last year that the big red trimaran was chasing.

The team's disappointment at missing out after being well ahead of the pace for the history-making dash north for most of the race was palpable, but skipper Simon Hull said dealing with the conditions is all part of the challenge of sailing.

"It was just such a wonderful race for the first half, we were running well ahead of schedule and looking good, and then we had the big park-up.

"The weather gods just didn't shine on us, but that's yacht racing - that's always the fun and the challenge, isn't it?

"As we were coming into Cape Brett we had a guy up the mast and we could see there was no breeze, and there was no breeze out to sea either, so there wasn't a lot we could do about it.

"It was really frustrating, but we just had to bite the bullet and fight our way through it."

Launched this year, the head-turning sleek new Orma 60 has been the talk of the sailing world, and there was huge expectations over how the team would go in the iconic Labour weekend race from Devonport to Russell.

Hull said he took some consolation from the fact that they were able to demonstrate just what the powerful racing machine was capable of through the first half of the race. The 18m trimaran reached the halfway point at Sail Rock in an incredible time of 2h 43m.

"I haven't seen the tracker, but I'm picking we were probably leaving the other boats behind at that stage, because we were just having such a wonderful ride, it was really, really exciting."