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Central Triangle

Wasabi add spice to Central Triangle

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The fleet are enjoying nice sailing conditions as they make their way up the North Island coast in the second leg of the Central Triangle.

The eight boats departed Akaroa on Monday on their way to Napier, and Wasabi hold a narrow lead over Satellite Spy. You can follow the boats on the tracker here.

The first of the three legs saw the fleet sail from Wellington to Akaroa, with Wasabi taking line honours and The Guarantee the first of the two-handed entries.

The Central Triangle is run by the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club and is made up of three legs - the final one will see the fleet return to Wellington from Napier - and covers approximately 730 nautical miles in total. 

This year's Central Triangle is the third edition of the event, but first since 2015, and is open to both fully-crewed and two-handed entries. 

The fleet was well spread out in the first leg as crews navigated the mostly light and sometimes fluky conditions. 

They departed Wellington with a light southerly, which meant a long drift out of the harbour, and Satellite Spy's progress was hampered further by weed around their keel.

Wasabi soon got their noses in front, a lead they held all the way to Akaraoa. The wind came and went but crews were treated to a brilliant sunset and breaching whales, dolphins and mollyhawks.

Wasabi sailed into Akaroa at 8.30pm on Saturday, with Satellite Spy, minus the weed, ghosting in three hours later.

In the two-handed fleet, High Voltage went out to sea off Kaikoura, Distraction sneaked through on the inside and Kokomea made a late run into the Heads. The Guarantee took out line honours, finishing at 4.30am on Sunday, with Distraction 80 minutes behind them.

As the day heated up in Akaroa, Arbitare sat in a hole, watching the fleet sail away from them.