Relentless PIC Coastal Classic - But still a Coastal Classic
By Suellen Hurling
The sun was shining, but the conditions refused to play ball, or as Simon Hull would say... "someone forgot to pay the wind bill!"
The 2026 PIC Coastal Classic became a relentless test of patience as crews hunted for pressure all the way north. When the breeze finally arrived, it was too late for much of the fleet: the 2pm time limit had run out.
Some boats finished, some withdrew and others kept racing until the clock stopped. It was a challenging event for everyone involved — sailors, race officials and the finish-boat team, who remained on station far longer than the cut-off so that those who kept going could sail through the finish line and say, “We made it.”
At the front, Wired (Rob Bassett) claimed overall line honours, first monohull and a clean sweep of Division 1A. Drinks Trolley (Nicholas Gardiner) won the overall monohull PHRF title, and can officially state that they "won the 2026 Coastal."
Apache (Erle Williams) took multihull line honours, while Romanza (Dougall Love) claimed the multihull handicap honours.
Coastal results
Overall line honours: Wired (Rob Bassett)
First monohull PHRF: Drinks Trolley (Nicholas Gardiner)
Multihull line honours: Apache (Erle Williams)
First monohull: Wired (Rob Bassett)
First multihull on handicap: Romanza (Dougall Love)
First Bay of Islands boat: Blue Dude (Chris Hornell)
Smallest boat to finish: Blue Dude (Chris Hornell)
Top team: RNZYS 2 — General Lee (Cameron Thorpe), Romanza (Dougall Love) and Alegre (Vaughn Clark)
Division results
Division 6 Line: Apache (Erle Williams)
Division 6 Handicap: Romanza (Dougall Love)
Division 2 Line: Nosaka (Mike Elley)
Division 2 PHRF: Drinks Trolley (Nicholas Gardiner)
Division 1B Line: General Lee (Cameron Thorpe)
Division 1B PHRF: Revs (Chris Middleweek)
Division 1A Line & PHRF: Wired (Rob Bassett)
Rally
Line honours: My Fix (Steven Dunlop)
Second: Lady Nada (Adrian Percival)
Third: Dream Weaver (Ian Ashton)
Least amount of motoring: Tiki (Bruce Ellingham)
A number of boats did not finish within the time limit. Places were instead awarded using their positions at the 2pm cut:
Division 5: 1st T-Rex (Lanny Walker); 2nd Young Mischief (Daniel Wise); 3rd Buoy Racer (Holger Zipfel)
Division 4: Wasted Away (Luke Judge)
Division 3: Bizzarre (Barry Martin)
First Young 88: Young Mischief (Daniel Wise)
A special mention went to Chico Too (Trish Beken), the race’s only all-women crew, who cracked open the rosé at 2pm to celebrate sticking with it.
There was also a well-earned shout-out and cheer for the finish-boat team, who stayed out there longer than they needed to and then helped untangle a particularly complicated set of results.
Everyone who stuck with the race was brought onto the stage, celebrated and presented with a bottle of Mount Gay Rum. It was that kind of Coastal: difficult, drawn-out and demanding, but it happened - and the stories will only get better with time.
The party at the Nauti Penguin went on for hours as the yachties celebrated another year and another race ticked off.
Behind the PIC Coastal Classic is an enthusiastic team of New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club volunteers - sailors themselves - who give up their time because they know what this race means to the people who enter it. They put in the work to give the fleet an event worth looking forward to, but some things remain beyond anyone’s control. The wind did not follow the programme this year, and the knock-on effects tested everyone. Through it all, the team kept working to deliver the best race they could.
Now we look ahead. The 2027 PIC Coastal Classic is scheduled for Friday, 22 October 2027.
We can’t wait to do it all again.
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