Yachting:Two hands make fleet work

To get nearly 90 keelers, each with a crew of two, on to the water for a 60-mile (96km) race on a winter Saturday, the event has to be something special.

That such a big fleet lined up off Orakei Wharf for the second race of the Simrad Barrier series is a tribute to the organisational skills of the Short-Handed Sailing Association of New Zealand and particularly chairman and treasurer Brian Murray.

A blue-water veteran with thousands of sea miles under his keel, Murray has been at the forefront of the development of solo and two-handed sailing in this country since he helped form the association in 1998.

Today he is adamant that the 50, 60 and 100-mile races that make up this year's Simrad series are the way of the future.

"The huge entries prove it," he says." The days of blokes heading off for three-day races in big boats with a crew of five or six are over. It is difficult in today's changed working circumstances to get away for even a day. It is tough, too, fitting in family responsibilities.

"Convincing bosses and wives it's okay to head off on Friday with the aim, weather-permitting, of being back late Sunday is not a goer any more. The answer is shorter races with crews of two."

The Barrier 50 was raced on July 12, the 60 last weekend, and the series ends with the 100 on September 6. Yachts taking part range from the big Division 1 competitors such as Bushido 11, a 16m Elliott, to the multi-hulls Sundreamer, a 17.5m Barker catamaran and the Cochran-designed trimaran Timberwolf, through the racing range down to Pied Piers, Reactors and Trackers. Included are a heap of Farr 10.20s and a complete Young 88 division.

The association is a fully accredited yacht club, registered with Yachting New Zealand. It was formed by a group of sailors more interested in single and two-handed racing rather than the fully crewed events offered by established yacht clubs in the late 80s. The first organised race was the Lidgard 2 Sail, a two-handed Auckland-Kerikeri-Tauranga-Auckland race in 1988 that attracted a field of 30, including Sir Peter Blake in his trimaran Steinlager 1.

That was a serious start and from there evolved a host of successful events, including what is now the Simrad Barrier Triple series, first raced in 1988 as the Berocca, then the Navico Two-Handed Series. The Auckland marine electronics company Advanced Trident Limited has been associated with the event since 1998, at first under the Navico brand, changing to Simrad when that company bought Navico four years ago.

Advanced Trident director Blair Geldard says sponsorship of the series gets his company directly involved with its client base of keen and competitive sailors. "Short-handed sailing demands the best in electronics to maintain an edge over the opposition, and we believe the Simrad products give them that edge," he says.

"The range includes sailing instruments, GPS, radar, autopilots, VHF radio, sounders, in fact everything electronic a modern boat needs, be it a high-tech racing yacht or an offshore fishing boat."

Race organiser Murray is quick to credit Advance Trident and the Lion Foundation for the sponsorship support that makes events like the Simrad possible. His team is already planning the Round North Island Two-Handed Race scheduled for February 2005. First raced from the Devonport Yacht Club in 1977, it was a regular on the blue-water race programme every three years until it was abandoned in 1989. The short-handed sailing association picked it up in 1996 and subsequently ran it in 1999 andlast year.

Says Murray: "It may seem a long way out, but there's a lot of work involved with every big offshore event and we are well down the track for 2005."