On a day of light airs and a swift course around Rakino Island, Kawil made her move from second to first place overall on the second day of the NZ Millennium Cup.

After Sea Eagle’s show of dominance on the first day of the regatta, Kawil didn’t waste the opportunity to show her strength in Auckland’s changeable conditions; pushing the big 81 metre down into third place.

Sea Eagle’s fellow Royal Huismanbuilt yacht Sassafras, showed her skill on her local waters, with the Auckland based yacht making light work of moving into second place overall.

The race’s corrected time showed just how close the two big yachts of the competition were, with Janice of Wyoming and Sea Eagle clocking a time difference of five seconds between them.

“Sassafras’ owners and crew are rapt with our performance after two days of enjoyable sailing,” says Sassafras captain, Matt Lovett.

“We’re excited to be in the mix at the top of the leader board, and will be racing to win on day three.”

In the Pacific Cup Class, there was plenty of rumbling between the young guns on Lion New Zealand and the masters onboard Steinlager 2; both yachts presented by the NZ Sailing Trust.

The effervescent energy of Lion New Zealand’s young sailors proved too strong, with the keen crew crossing the start line right on the horn and taking the award for best start of the day. They were quick, but not fast enough to take top spot; nipping in closely behind Hikurere which took the class win, but it was the battle between Steinlager 2 and Kinetic which was a real head turner.

Over a short race, the two Pacific Cup Class yachts finished within 15 seconds of each other, with Steinlager 2 just beating Kinetic to fourth place.

At the end of two days of competition, there are three yachts in the running to win the top spot in the NZ Millennium Cup. Racing continues on Tuesday, to decide the ultimate winners for 2025.

Follow race updates at www.millenniumcup.com

by Isla McKechnie