It was a great week of racing in the far North of New Zealand for the CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week 2020. A couple of days started a little late waiting for the sea breeze to fill in – and when it arrived, it was ‘glamour’ conditions, according to several of the boats hoisting Doyle sails.
Gavin Brady and the crew of Slipstream took line honours in the fiercely contested Young 88 class with wins in every race – except for a disqualification that became their discard. Slipstream has had a new Doyle main and jib fitted for the 2019/2020 racing season and they haven’t lost a race since. ‘We’re really pleased with our sails, and apart from our…. altercation and detention, we had a really great week’, laughed Gavin. ‘We had a really nice balance of newer and more experienced crew, sailing with my daughter Carrington and some of her friends, as well as some of my own friends’.
‘We even stayed out in the bay and rafted Slipstream up to the launch we were staying on. The whole week had great weather, glamour nights, and good racing’.
Gavin Brady and the crew of Slipstream
His sentiments are echoed by Stu Bannatyne, sailing on Georgia to win 1st on PHRF and 2nd on line. ‘It was beautiful conditions in the bay. We had a really great team, it’s been almost the same for a few years now and we love racing at Bay Week.’ Georgia has been running Doyle jibs and spinnakers for the past few seasons, and Stu says they’re standing the test of time. ‘We’re really pleased with them, they’re still in great condition after a lot of sailing and doing a good job’.
Brian Wheeler took out the win in both PHRF and General handicap in the Island Racing A Division on Omega 8, in the first regatta using the boat’s new Stratis mainsail. Coincidence? Definitely not, says Brian. ‘When I bought the boat, it had a near-new Doyle main which I really liked. We found it so good that we decided to upgrade to the newer materials, and ordered the Stratis main, and it’s going really well for us, we’re pleased with it.’
Another boat complimentary of both the racing and their Doyle sails is Mr Kite II, racing in Division B. Mr Kite has recently had a new Doyle J1/2 and J3/4, ‘they’re really great new sails, really versatile’ says skipper Nathan Williams. ‘We’ve had Doyle sails for 10 years now and we see no need to change – they’re only getting better’. As for the conditions, ‘How can you not enjoy 14 knot sea breezes, sunny days and racing in the Bay of Islands?’ Sounds like a perfect week of racing to us!