By Jack Morris

This past weekend, Evans Bay Yacht & Motor Boat Club hosted the International 420 North Island Championship and Wellington Regatta, and boy, did Wellington deliver—two back-to-back "good days". A rare gem.

Participation was even stronger than last year’s inaugural event. This year, fifteen 420s entered, and all fifteen showed up with sailors representing yacht clubs in Torbay Bay, Murrays Bay, and Kohimarama in Auckland, as well as clubs in Tauranga, Nelson, and Paremata, alongside an impressive turnout from our local fleet.

Saturday delivered all four scheduled races in a southerly that started with a gentle 10 kts and built with attitude to about 20 knots by afternoon. Sunday brought three more races in a punchy northerly that held steady at around 18 knots.

The racing was electric, with some nail-biting, battle-for-the-podium finishes. In the end, our very own Nico and Finn Holmes claimed the 420 North Island championship and defended their honour as reigning Wellington champions – a fantastic result for our club.  Thank you to the team at Barton’s Marine for sponsoring prizes for the event.

It was a pleasure to host visiting sailors and support crews. We're already looking forward to March, when we do it again for the Tup Radford Memorial Regatta, which will incorporate the 420 National Championships.

As always, I cannot express how grateful I am for all the wonderful volunteers who gave their weekends in both time and effort to make this regatta a success. Their generosity does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you all.

A special thank you to Abe Lanaquera, our Club Captain. Your enthusiasm and passion for the 420 class, for racing, for growing the fleet at EBYMBC — it knows almost no bounds. The work that you and Ash Owers have put into building the class and this event is reaping its fruits. The success of this regatta, especially the turnout, is a testament to that.

Article added: Thursday 18 December 2025