Attitude Sailing

Attitude was awarded the Sundreamer Cup for shortest aggregate time for multihulls in the SSANZ triple series 2024. Great to have Attitude engraved on the cup along with a legacy of fast multis in NZ.

Richmond Spring Regatta - Gold Cup Race 1

Went for a breezy blast in Race 1 yesterday.

No one came out to play, the other multis were in their berths with crew tucked up in bed. Lucifer was ready to race until a late loss of crew. Ed hid his disappointment and joined Attitude for a good day of sailing.

Attitude just needed to sail over the course so we used the conditions for a bit of a shake down.

Strong breeze and flat seas made for a fun blast from Orakei to Passage Rock and return. Fast reaching most of the day with a few high speed bear aways!

Good day for four crew. Thanks to Mathew Woodley, Vaughan Hayton and Ed Ayre.

Attitude finished third on line in Division seven of the 40th Anniversary edition of the Coastal Classic 2022. This was the first Coastal for Attitude with her new owner.

A fleet of 170 boats lined up for the blast up the coast from Orakei wharf to Russell in the Bay of Islands. Division 6 and 7 boasted 13 multihulls from 8.5s through to 60 footers.

Favourable breeze of 14 gusting 18 knots from the SSW sent the fleet north. Attitude could have done with a little more and the amount of south in the wind meant for a good amount of gybing up to Flat Rock. The first two hours were characterised by many crosses with some big and very fast boats including TP52s and Melges 40s.

The breeze lifted from Kawau Passage across Omaha Bay and then built and went a little to the west from Cape Rodney, this section was by far the best part of the day. Seas went flat and the breeze was fresh with strong gusts sending the boat to Sail Rock at pace.

The leading boats headed outside the Hen and Chickens Islands in search of more breeze as it began to lighten inside to the west. We made the decision to follow the rhumb line and stayed inside of the islands. Speeds dropped to low teens and we nursed her through in fickle conditions.

Once past the island the fleet was very far from shore and looked to have found similar light breeze to us.

About 2 Nm north of the islands we found a breeze line blowing from the SE that sent us toward the Brett at 13 to 15 knots of boat speed. Over the next hour we extended from the rest of the fleet until there were only a few boats visible near the horizon. At 15:30 we had approximately and hour twenty to Cape Brett at the current speed.

Then the inevitable happened, approximately 5 Nm north west of the Poor Knights we sailed into a hole and the breeze died out. We made a decision to follow the direction of the race briefing weather forecast and gybed over to seek out some breeze closer to the land. There were a few dark clouds with rain so we were hopeful there might be something helpful. We managed to find a light SW wind to eek out the final stretch to the Brett at 5-7 knots of boat speed.

The larger monohulls caught up with us about 1 Nm from the Brett and then the big multis Cation and Apache rolled over us. We finally reached rounded at 22:00 only to have Exodus join us and then extend away in light southerlies inside the Bay of Islands.

Crazy Train rounded about 2.5 Nm behind us and managed to close the gap pointing higher and going faster in 5 knots of breeze.

First in division 7 was Exodus 40 minutes ahead of Attitude, second was Crazy Train 10 minutes ahead and we rounded out third place.

We finished as first 8.5m multihull at 42 minutes past midnight (14 hours and 42 minutes). Race done. Will try to improve on it next year.

As the first boats clear Tutukaka, let’s have a look at what’s going on out there right now.

The tacticians amongst the fleet must be working hard.

We have seen boats in the back half of the fleet get Westerlies they weren’t expecting. As previously reported, a chunk of boats parked up near Mangawhai.


But the front runners have held pretty steady. The boats that have straight lined it up the middle of the course have now done especially well. Those that went outside the Hen and Chickens have taken the opportunity to migrate back towards land.

Steve Dunlop’s Open 8.5 Attitude is currently leading the charge. Attitude holds the class record for the race already, so that is not surprising - but it’s a huge effort when lined up against the bigger boats like Apache and Cation.

Cation, Exodus, Crazy Train, Clockwork and Wired make up the second row of boats pushing north on the tracker.

What’s remarkable is their diversity: a Grand Prix multihull, smaller multihulls, a Melges 40 Keeler, and a TP52.

It really is a race where anything could happen.

Here is Attitude in another race, at another time, courtesy Live Sail Die.

Coastal Classic 40th Anniversary Race - Attitude is racing in Division 7 Multis Under 10.66 m

Here is the link to the tracker. We start at 10AM in Division 7

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/race/nzmyc

Richmond Yacht Club - Winter Series - Race 9. Great way to spend Fathers’ Day.

SSANZ Race 2 - Attitude passing through the Motuhie Channel.

Great day sailing on Saturday. Gold Cup Race 4 (first race possible since lockdown)

Sailed 59 Nm in just under 5 hours just under 12 knot average.

Pleased to get the win on handicap. Hoping to get a few more multis out for the next race.

Looking back to the city from her new home.