Ten yachts raced off Auckland, with only five crews registering for the actual Millennium Cup - but these were spread across yachts over 30 metres long. A total of 232 superyacht metres crossed the Gulf of Hauraki! Alone "Sea Eagle" attracted attention at her regatta premiere with a length of 81 metres. "Sharlou" also crossed the line for the first time at the world's southernmost superyacht regatta. The 43-metre-long sloop was built by Vitters in 2011 as "Sarissa" and is both sporty and suitable for blue water. Characteristic of the fast bill-tripping yacht are the targa bracket for the mainsheet traveller and the vertical hull windows.
Millennium Cup on the Hauraki Gulf
The islands west of the New Zealand metropolis offered plenty of room for manoeuvre for the tall ships. On the first day, there were two races and a bow-to-bow race between two yachts on the finish line. "Sea Eagle" seemed to have everything under control as she won the first race of the day and then secured second place, while "Kawil" (34m) took first place in the second race with only two seconds between them on corrected time.
The Sparkman & Stephens "Kawil" ultimately triumphed after a total of four races in consistently light winds. The crew of "Sassafras" were only able to utilise their home advantage to a limited extent. The 34-metre slup from Ted Hood's computers finished third overall behind "Sea Eagle".
Second group for the "little ones"
There were also five entries for the Pacific Cup, all under 30 metres. They included Peter Blake's Whitbread veteran "Steinlager 2" and "Innismara", a 67-foot New Zealand classic from 1969, and "Kinetic", a 67-foot catamaran from the US brand of the same name, which has its production facilities in South Africa. The overall Pacific victory went to "Hikurere", an almost 23 metre design by Alan Warwick, which was built in Taiwan.
