Sailing: New Zealand win PacRim on Tauranga Harbour

Racing was tight in tough conditions at the PacRim regatta. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

New Zealand has taken out the prestigious international Pacific Rim Yacht Challenge (PacRim) sailed off Mount Maunganui and Tauranga Harbour last week.

Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club (TYPBC) hosted the mixed sailing event for the first time since 2006. Mixed teams of up to 20 sailors aged between 40 and 60 represented New Zealand, Australia, Japan, the United States, Canada and Russia.

Weather made the job of running the event even tougher, says Ross Sheerin from the PacRim organising committee.

"We had some damage to a couple of boats on the Sunday that led to us reducing racing to a six-boat fleet (one per country), then on Monday the forecast arrival of Cyclone Hola kept the boats off the water. On Tuesday we had too much wind so another day off the water.

"Racing resumed on Thursday with three races completed followed by a further two on Friday.

"The New Zealand team was first with 106 points followed by Canada on 97.4 then the USA on 74 points. Going into the last race, which scored double points, NZ led by only 0.6 points over Canada so needed to beat them on the water to ensure a series win."

For New Zealand captain Ross Currie it was his sixth win at a PacRim regatta.