Shayne Currie begins his Great New Zealand Road Trip travelling from Cape Rēinga to the Bay of Islands. Video / NZ Herald
Nationwide peak temperatures in Hawke’s Bay midweek could be followed by a chilly and wet weekend which could be either an advantage or disadvantage for a range of events scheduled for the region.
MetService says the three hottest temperatures recorded nationwide on Wednesday were in the Napier-Hastings area, with Napier city recording a peak of 26.8C, Hastings 26.7C and Hawke’s Bay Airport 26.4C – each a day after appearing no higher than No 40 on the list.
Part of the Napier Sailing Club New Year Regatta in 2017. It has since been held as the Summer Regatta each November, with 140 boats expected on the water off Westshore on Saturday and Sunday. Photo / NZME
But expect a 5-6C drop in the temperatures for the weekend, which are forecast to be no higher than 20C, with some showers and southeasterlies “developing”.
MetService has also been forecasting that winds on the coasts of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne/Tairāwhiti could reach gale force on Friday, although a wind warning was unlikely.
It is a big weekend on the coast around Napier, with the Napier Sailing Club on Saturday and Sunday staging its biggest event of the year, the Summer Regatta, which superseded the New Year Regatta, a tradition which came to an end at the club’s 125-year celebration in 2017.
The Napier Sailing Club and marina, from where dozens of yachts will sail on Saturday and Sunday for the Summer Regatta. Photo / Doug Laing
Sailing club operations manager Andrew Kearney is expecting about 140 yachts on the water in the eight to nine classes of the Summer Regatta, with about 70% from outside Hawke’s Bay, as far afield as Auckland and Wellington.
Among other events in Hawke’s Bay this weekend are: an evening with Olympic Games canoe slalom gold medallist Finn Butcher at the Napier Old Boys Marist club rooms on Friday night; on Saturday, the Harvest Hawke’s Bay Wine and Food Festival, from 11am to 5pm at the Tukituki Riverside reserve; the Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi annual meeting and whānau at Splash Planet in Hastings from 9am; and the Urban BBQ Festival at the Tomoana Showgrounds, from 11am to 6pm.
On Saturday and Sunday, small-wheels buffs will have an annual Bayskate street and bowl competition based at Bayskate on Marine Parade. Events on Sunday include: an Ahuriri Christmas Festival, from 10am to 4pm; a 9am-1pm pre-loved and handmade clothing market at Clive; and a Hawke’s Bay Community Fitness Centre Open Day from 10am at Mitre 10 Regional Sports Park, Hastings.
Also on Sunday, the Waimārama Surf Life Saving Club has a Hawke’s Bay IRB Race Development Day.
Weekend lifeguard patrols started at Waimārama and Ocean Beach recently, and will be in place also at Waipatiki, Westshore, and Ahuriri by November 30, with seven-days-a-week paid guard patrols starting on December 16.
Two cruise ships are visiting at the weekend, with the 3000-passenger capacity Pacific Adventure on Friday and the Diamond Princess, with a capacity of 2670 passengers, on its second of five stops at the Port of Napier this summer, berthing at 8am on Saturday and departing at 6pm.
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 51 years of journalism experience, 41 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.
