The inaugural Motutapu weekend 2025 on May 3rd and 4th was a touch and go event due to the unstable weather systems crossing New Zealand at the time. The organisers were unsure if the event would go ahead or not, due to forecasts of too much wind or not enough wind, in the weeks before the day of the event. They knew that the wind was going to be starting off as a light southwesterly, and building steadily during the day, up to the low 20 knots.

Saturday: The first race started as a beach start at Little Bucklands Beach, sailing to Crater Bay on the northern side of Browns Island.

Some competitors had very little experience and were unable to use harnesses and three competitors were picked up by the support boat on the way to Crater Bay.

Lloyd Perratt easily finished first followed by Claudio Barbuzza. Bruce Kendall attended to some sailors at the back of the fleet to make sure they felt safe until the support boat picked them up. Everyone stopped at Crater Bay for a drink and a snack.

The next leg began as a reverse order start from the Crater Bay beach, in very light and confused winds, owing to the wind shadow and wind disturbance from the high volcano upwind. All the sailors eventually got out into consistent wind away from the Browns Island mountain top, and sailed down towards Islington Bay.

Bruce Kendall was first to the head of Islington Bay followed by Lloyd Perratt. Bruce then sailed back to spend time with the other sailors, allowing Audrey to be one of the first sailors into the head of Islington Bay. Lloyd was close to Bruce coming into the finish at the headwaters of Islington Bay. The water was very shallow in there, so it was an advantage to sail the boards in reverse with their fins clear of the water.

The competitors then carried their sails and boards across the narrow isthmus between Rangitoto and Motutapu to the shallow water on the northern side, the southern corner of Gardeners Gap. It was essential that we arrived at these locations close to high tide, because the water shoals out a long way.

The support boat had followed the sailors into Islington Bay, but then had to leave them and motor around the eastern side of Motutapu Island and past Billy Goat Point to Administration Bay to unload passengers and all their equipment and overnight bags.

Meanwhile, the sailors that had arrived at Gardeners Gap departed again in reverse order of arrival, in winds of 15 to 30 knots, sailing downwind and in reasonably flat water much of the way towards Administration Bay, further east on Motutapu Island. Bruce battled Lloyd for the lead in the strong winds to Administration Bay, but also took time to stop and take photos and video.

Once ashore at Administration Bay the sailors had showers, and tidied up their equipment. They were able to dry their clothes and wet suits in a large on-site drying room, in a blast of warm air from the island’s diesel generator.

All the sailors and support folk were hosted overnight at the Motutapu Outdoor Education Camp. Duncan Watson, General Manager of the camp gave us a tour of the camp, including such highlights as the local native geckos, Takahei birds, and its museum.

Native eels were also seen in the stream down at the start of the beach.

As night closed in, we had a wonderful potluck meal, relived the day and played cards.

The competitors slept in some of the numerous onsite dormitory bunkrooms. During the night Kiwis were heard outside, and penguins were heard living underneath the building.

Sunday had southerly winds forecast between 5 to 8 knots all day, backing from southerly to southeasterly.

The competitors started together downwind. Katie Kendall leapt to the lead almost immediately, due to a good paddling technique, rather than opting to sail. Lloyd Perratt and Claudio Barbuzza gained a large lead next, while Bruce sailed in amongst the rest of the fleet and got some wonderful photos and video.

The fleet condensed at Billy Goat Point, then turned upwind, and into the sandy beach at the south end of Waikalabubu Bay. Lloyd finished first closely followed by Bruce and Claudio.

For the next leg, the competitors started from the beach in reverse order to their previous finish, sailing to Home Bay and its campground.

Here they and the support boat crew had lunch. Contrary to forecast, the winds continued to lighten. The sailors left Home Bay, but soon ran out of wind, so they stopped at a small stony beach further along Motutapu Island near Ōtāhuhu Point. Here two of the competitors decided that instead of sailing they would stand-up paddle the next leg.

The original intention of that leg was to stop at Motuihe Island. However due to the light winds and unpredictable nature of the forecast, it was decided to sail non-stop back to Little Bucklands Beach. The wind dropped out, then turned to a light north-easterly breeze, that had the fleet sailing against an outgoing current. Lloyd and Bruce battled all the way back to the finish, changing positions frequently. The rest of the sailors took a more leisurely and slow approach in very light wind, and under a hot desiccating sun. Most were picked up by the support boat and ferried to the finish.

Bruce Kendall finished first followed by Lloyd Perratt, with Claudio Barbuzza third.

Bruce considered the race to be a little bit long in the light wind, and would have preferred to either have a shorter race or stronger wind. The wind was either too strong or too light, but in the very light winds, the big sailors with less experience were still able to sail well. It was fantastic to see Branson Christian using a 4.5 m² sail and sometimes the full size 5.7 m² sail, and sailing very well considering he was 12 years old and had not sailed on the board for many days beforehand. It was great to see Liz Alonzi have a good crack at completing as much of the sailing as she could considering this very small amount of time she had ever spent Windsurfing and had still not mastered using a harness. Katie Kendall, at 16 years old, used a 4.5 m² sail and a 5.7 m² sail depending on the wind conditions, and sailed very well from Administration Bay to Waikalabubu Bay Beach. Ian MacLeod, Liz MacLeod and Matt Grumbell had never raced before although they had good skills from sailing short boards. They appreciated the style of the event, which was as much an adventure as a race, with the top sailors not always racing to be first. In addition, they had the knowledge that at any time that they felt uncomfortable, they could flag down the support boat and be taxied to the next finish point.

The team of David Tangye, Stephanie and Alex Kendall, and Kat Allsop-Smith provided excellent assistance on the support boat. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the event and were inspired to improve their skill levels and attend the event next year.