The 100 Club of the 2026 PIC Coastal Classic
By Suellen Hurling
100 boats are set to hit the PIC Coastal Classic start line!
On Friday 23 October, the 2026 PIC Coastal Classic fleet will leave Devonport and point north for Russell. Ahead lies 119nm of headlands, islands, tactical decisions (and heated discussions), and the unmistakable satisfaction of completing one of New Zealand sailing’s great rites of passage.
And what a fleet it is! The great thing about the PIC Coastal Classic is that every year there is a new flavour of entries - making this race ever changing, and always exciting.
There’s a 52 footer, 55 footers, 66 footers, enduring Kiwi club racers, fast multihulls, offshore adventurers, restored classics and six rally boats whose crews have wisely decided that getting to Russell should be enjoyed while having a hot shower and cooking a lamb roast.
This is not simply a fleet of 100, it’s dozens of races happening simultaneously.
The entry list contains 84 racing monohulls, ten racing multihulls and six boats in the cruising rally.
The monohull fleet is arranged across seven primary divisions, grouping boats of broadly comparable size and performance:
Division 1A - 6 entries (Monohull)
Division 1B - 15 entries (Monohull)
Division 2 - 27 entries (Monohull)
Division 3 - 18 entries (Monohull)
Division 4 - 6 entries (Monohull)
Division 5 - 11 entries (Monohull)
Division 6 - 4 entries (Multihull)
Division 7 - 6 entries (Multihull)
Division 8 - 1 entry (Monohull)
The Rally - 6 entries
While the Division 1A and Division 6 boats will be looking for the overall line honours, it’s the races within the race that create the true beauty of the Coastal.
70 odd years of yacht design on one start line
At one end of the age range is Ichiban, which was 2nd overall and 1st in Division B in the Transpac back in 1961! The age of Ichiban hasn’t been officially listed on the entry, but as long as an entry has a Category 3 certificate, they can race no matter how old they are.
At the other is Excalibur, John Hughes’ multihull in Division 7, Excalibur was built in 2000, but was relaunched in July 2026 after a two year rebuild. So while not the actual newest boat in the fleet, Excalibur was “reborn” this year!
The big boats are ready to fly
Division 1A may contain only six boats, but every one of them brings serious presence.
Another Duchess returns after a superb 2025 Coastal. Freshly arrived from Australia before that race, she finished fourth overall on the water, edged Wired by just 59 seconds and won Division 1A on handicap.
Alongside her is Explore Racing, William Goodfellow’s Elliott 50. In March, Goodfellow and Jesse Turner took line honours on all four legs of the 2026 Round North Island Two-Handed Race - an emphatic clean sweep around New Zealand.
Wired, who took line honour back in 2023 finishing in 09:22:38 are repping the 52 footers this year after the late withdrawal of Mayhem. Add Graham Matthews’ Equilibrium, a consistent presence at the sharp end of New Zealand offshore racing, and Charles Brown’s Davidson 66 Antaeus, and Division 1A has all the ingredients for a fascinating sprint north.
Division 1B is loaded with characters
The 15 boats in Division 1B may produce some of the closest and most entertaining racing in the fleet.
Mikayla Plaw’s Melges 40 Sassinate was sixth across the line overall and the first Division 1B boat into Russell in 2025. At only 40 feet, she spent much of the race mixing it with substantially larger yachts thanks to the grand-prix design and canting keel.
Nathan Williams’ Mr Kite II brings a different kind of speed. Launched in 2005, the Cape 40 was built with a canting keel, twin canards and a clear appetite for offshore racing. She has recorded speeds above 20 knots when on a decent send, turning the racer into a jet boat.
Quintin Fowler’s Rum Bucket has perhaps the fleet’s best delivery story. Built in Croatia, the More 55 sailed across the Atlantic on her way to New Zealand, reached Panama as the world shut down in 2020 and later became caught up in another delay when drugs were reportedly discovered aboard the ship carrying her. She finally reached New Zealand in 2021 and has been making up for lost time ever since.
There is more pedigree throughout the division: Clockwork (Shaw 12) set a new 500nm race record in the 2026 RNZYS Three Kings Race, beating the previous record by 4 minutes and 22 seconds which was held by the 52 footer, Wired. Rehab, Alegre, Kaizen, General Lee, Blue Dude and the rest ensure there will be no quiet part of the race. This will be General Lee’s first Coastal since owners Tim Holgate and Cameron Thorpe completely restored the Bakewell-White 37, however they are no strangers to the offshore, having completed the 2026 Round North Island Race.
Division 2 is where it’s at
27 is the magic Division 2 number, and it’s going to take some serious race course wizardry to come out on top in this competitive fleet.
Its variety is pure classic Coastal stuff: offshore-focused designs including Indis, Niksen, Katana and Pipi sharing the course with Elliott 1050s, Beneteau First 44.7s, a Mumm 36, a Young 11, a J/120 and an assortment of proven Kiwi designs.
Last year, Niksen beat Force Eleven on handicap by just 38 seconds. After roughly 119nm of racing, that is barely enough time to finish a good celebratory sentence.
Those two are back, as is Blackout, which placed third in the division. With 27 boats, every sail change, tidal call and robust tactical conversation while searching for max pressure is going to make all the difference.
Familiar designs, fresh rivalries
Several crews will have the added pleasure - and pressure - of racing an identical design.
This year there are four Young 88s lining up for the star. Paddy Wagon, Smokey, Waka Huia and Young Mischief. The Young 88 class has been part of New Zealand sailing culture for generations, and the Coastal gives these crews both a divisional race and a private class battle all the way to Russell. In 2025, Paddy Wagon was second overall on PHRF, with Young Mischief third.
The three SR26s - Motorboat, Rattle N Rum and T-Rex - will have their own contest in Division 5.
Elsewhere, two Elliott 1050s, Daytripper and Second Nature, meet in Division 2. The same division contains two Beneteau First 44.7s, Rumpus and Savante.
Division 4 offers two Farr 1020s, Lavanti and Starmaker, and two Ross 930s, Hotdogger and Wasted Away. Starmaker are back after claiming the PIC Coastal Classic overall PHRF title in 2025, racing two-handed!
The multihulls contribute another recognisable family: four different interpretations of the 8.5-metre formula in Attitude, Freedom, Hooters and Lucifer.
Speaking of multihulls, they have unfinished business
Division 6 brings together Apache, Levity, My Fix and Romanza.
Romanza, Dougall Love’s Rapido 60 trimaran, took line honours in the tough 2024 race. Her victory became still more impressive when she was awarded redress after spending nearly an hour assisting the crew of a damaged yacht.
Levity followed Romanza into Russell that year, and both are back. New opposition comes from Steven Dunlop’s Given 1500 My Fix, while Apache adds another experienced multihull campaign to a compact but potent division. Whitbread Round the World Race and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Erle Williams has thousands of racing miles under his belt, and will be at the pointy end of the multihull fleet, and the fleet overall in general. Last time Williams raced in the Coastal was back in 2023, finishing the race in 09:25:58 - Apache was the second boat to finish, behind Wired.
Division 7 is where the smaller multis come out to play. Lucifer won the division on both line and handicap in 2019, while Attitude, Freedom, Hooters, Superbird to Cruz and the “new” Excalibur complete a six-boat group capable of producing some spectacular speeds.
Russell bound, with a lamb roast and hot shower
The six rally boats are every bit as much a part of the occasion.
Dream Weaver, Gabrielle II, Lady Nada, Skyesong, Tiki and Tintin will take the cruising route north, trading the intensity of handicap racing for the satisfaction of completing the passage and joining the fleet in Russell.
Dream Weaver was the first rally boat home in the demanding 2024 edition. Lady Nada will be skippered by NZ Multihull Yacht Club commodore Adrian Percival, who has previously made no secret of his intention to take the slushie machine north.
That may be the most convincing tactical decision in the entire fleet.
Late entries are being accepted up until midnight, Monday 19 October, so there is a chance that the fleet of 100, could become 101, or 102. But no matter what, the marinas surrounding the Auckland region are buzzing with pre-Coastal fizz. The excitement is off the charts!
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