One of the coolest things about this sport we love, is being able to share the incredible moments and the spirit of adventure and discovery with one another. Sailing certainly is a lifestyle and we are stoked to be lucky enough to call it a passion of ours.

Anna’s always been around the water, and thanks to her father’s love of sailing she grew up on boats with her family. Starting off from a young age in the keelboat scene has given Anna a vast amount of experience that means she is right at home out on the water. A plus when you’re off the coast and the unexpected rears its head – she’s able to keep cool and calm and get straight to work on executing a solution.

Aaron’s had a similar upbringing, with the sea and water sports playing a massive role in his childhood. From boating with the grandparents as a kid to swimming, waterpolo, kayaking, water skiing, and sailing, he’s always been close to the water. Dinghy sailing was the most accessible to Aaron as a youngster and from a young age he shot through the junior classes as one of the top contenders from a windy Welly.

How you guys got into sailing?

Anna / I grew up on boats with my family. My parents were always keen on getting my sisters and I involved in water sports, sailing in particular. Since being young I have always stuck to that whether it be swimming, triathlons, rowing, surf lifesaving and of course sailing which is the one that I chose to pursue the furthest.

Aaron / I started sailing at the age of 7 down at our local sailing club in Welly after our family friends suggested Learn to Sail to mum and dad. They had spent a lot of time over the years on and around the water skiing and fishing, but sailing was new to us. Naturally, my two younger sisters followed suit and before long the whole family was out on the water in Optis and Sunbursts, racing against and with one another.

A quick history of your sailing careers to date.

Anna / I started out in the Opti & Sunburst along with cruising & racing keelboats. I then went onto join the RNZYS Youth Training Programme for three years from 2014 to 2017. After graduating from YTP I joined the Clockwork Racing team where I competed in my first offshore race doing the Groupama Race and delivery home to NZ in 2018. It was such an insane race and I can’t wait to be able to do it again one day. I also sailed with the 2.0 Womens Match Racing Team where we have competed in womens and open one design events since 2019-current as the RNZYS Performance Programme. Aaron and I also race on Southern Fun for all of our two handed sailing, along with both sailing with Clockwork team on the new Melges 40. More recently I have also started sailing the 49FX where Aaron has taken on more of a coach role for Bex & I too. Can never have too much sailing!!

Aaron / I sailed all the usual dinghies growing up, with a bit of keelboat racing on the side. The junior classes are always dictated a bit by the timing of your growth spurts so it meant a short stint in the P Class and Starling before stepping up to the Laser. I was racing the Laser nationally and internationally for around 8 years and during that time was part of the Yachting New Zealand youth squad, represented NZ at numerous events around the world and was lucky to see places I would never have imagined travelling to otherwise. I took a little time off from the Laser and an opportunity popped up to sail the 49er. Back at it again, the 49er has been one of the most exciting classes I’ve raced combining physicality with agility and athleticism. It was shortly after my second campaign in the 49er where I joined the Performance Programme (PP) at the RNZYS, not the usual pathway into the program but I was enticed with the thrill of sailing some exciting boats and taking part in some team events locally and overseas. As a result of joining the PP, I was given the opportunity to sail with the NZ Extreme team as part of the Extreme Sailing Series which was an awesome experience, the GC32s are certainly a heck of a lot of fun.

Your sailing highlight to date for you both.

Anna / The 100nm SANZ race 2020, it was only our second ever two handed race and second ever race together. It was absolutely honking and we had no idea what the boat was capable of. Being up against all the modern new race boats, we were one of the oldest and slower boats in our fleet, so we knew that anytime we were keeping up with them, we’d be doing well. The downwind was epic in the pitch black evening coming across from coromandel and the reach to Kawau really got the upper body working hard fighting the oh so wonderfully loaded rudder. It was an awesome achievement for us with over 40knots and the boat felt great in the swell and high winds. There is something about the challenge of competitively racing a tricky boat with only two people, it’s indescribable.

Aaron / The recent SSANZ 100nm with Anna is probably my biggest highlight to date where once again it was honking just like the 2020 edition. It’s even more of an achievement in tough conditions given Southern Fun is a boat certainly not designed to be sailed short handed! Getting the old girl up and boogying takes a little horse power but flat off out the back of Waiheke it was blowing between 28-35 knots and with the chicken shoot up and one tuck in the main we were off! It was carnage with boats wiping out in all directions around us adding to the adrenaline. Knowing that everything on an incredibly manually laborious boat has to be executed by just the two of you while planning along at over 16 knots also adds to the mix and means there’s a lot at stake with every decision.

Is your crew professional, amateur or a mixture of both? How long has your crew sailed together?

We are amateur racers on SF, but we also love to cruise the boat together too. We have sailed together on Clockwork for three years now, also made up of an amateur crew, and we have really gelled together, learning from one another and utilising each others unique style of sailing.

What was the thought process behind the new boat? What was the driving force behind creating something like you have?

Initially, Aaron was just interested in finding a boat around 30ft that he could race and cruise with friends and family. It was really by chance that he managed to settle on Southern Fun, which in the end has ticked all the boxes for us and enabled his parents to also share ownership and experience some of the adventures with us! Southern Fun has been in Aaron’s extended family since the day Ian franklin (Frankie) built it down south back in the 1980s and after a long history of records and race wins, he was keen to see a younger generation of the family continue to campaign it. Doing my best not to be biased, the boat was built to a very high standard. I suppose when you utilise your passion and skill to build something for yourself you make sure no stone is left unturned. The spec and style of boat gives a lot of options for us to tweak settings and play with controls making it a challenge and a half for us to sail 2-up, but that’s what we do it for, and the rewards of getting the tuning right are pretty evident when she’s fully balanced and trucking along!

What is the draw card to Doyle Sails?

Doyle Sails are at the top of the sail making game and being a 100% NZ owned and operated business we were very excited to work with them right from the outset. Aaron has had a longstanding relationship with several staff there also and we’ve always felt they have shown a keen interest and offered genuine advice to support us, which is really what we were after. After his experience having signed Doyle as partners with the Russell Coutts Sailing Foundation back in 2018, he had seen the excellent service delivered by them first hand which was a definite drawcard to stay loyal to the team. Knowing your sailmaker will take the time to get to know you and your needs gives you confidence for a longstanding product outcome and relationship too. Lastly, we should mention price because ultimately adding to the sail wardrobe is a pretty big commitment we have to make as boat owners. Doyle Sails offer a range of products that are well known to be very reasonably priced for the quality you receive in comparison with other options out there.

What’s important to you guys onboard or throughout your programme – what has made it work for you?

A lot of people don’t like or avoid racing with their partners as all sailors know sh*t happens quickly on yachts and stress levels can get…high shall we say! But we seem to have a really good balance and know each others strengths and play to them. We just go out to have fun and enjoy every moment, and push ourselves to our limits along the way. It’s important to always know you both have the same goal being onboard together, so neither of you would make a wrong decision by choice. We’re both doing our best and as long as you trust that, prepare well and be respectful, although there might be heated moments, you still come out the other side smiling at the achievement! As we start to learn the boat more and have the confidence to push ourselves and the boat further we find ourselves very able to hold onto the fleet too which gives us the confidence to try new things and perfect our maneuvers and processes. Now all we need are some sails from this decade which we are chomping at the bit for!

Any tips for new owners or people looking at potentially creating something similar to what you and Anna have?

Find a boat that meets your needs, for us its something we can race competitively but also take away for the summer and enjoy the epic NZ cruising! It’s about all the experiences and memories it provides for us! You don’t need to fork out ridiculous sums to get the experience, but it’s all relative and depends what your priorities are. For us, we are young and physically fit, so not having a dedicated anchor and windlass in the forepeak is harder work, but not a deal breaker. So we don’t need to spend money in that area…just yet! We would also say look at going into a partnership with someone. We have lots of friends that co share boats and it seems to work well, plus balance the running costs which are the most important to factor in when looking at a boat.

What keeps you coming back to yachting?

We both agree, it’s a bit of an addiction. The more you do it the more you want it! Every time you leave the dock it’s a new experience and it’s a new milestone to achieve and memory to create!

Where to from here? What races have you got on the watchlist, or would love to take part in?

We have a few things lined up, sadly the PIC Coastal Classic was cancelled and we were also meant to be doing the 500nm Three Kings race on the TP52 Kia Kaha which has been postponed until next year. Hopefully Bay Week on Clockwork (the Melges40) can go ahead in January as planned and then the big one! The Northern Triangle on Southern Fun for our biggest two handed test yet and hopefully our first race with our new Doyle Sails main, we can’t wait!!! Fingers crossed the race can go ahead as this will also be used as our qualifier for the 2023 Round North Island

“Aaron and I are after a challenge. An opportunity to put our knowledge and skills to the test while we continue to develop our combined experience of and love for the ocean. Together we carry a wealth of experience and the more we sail with one another, the more we want to keep sharing these epic adventures. Thanks for your interest in our journey!”

Awesome day out on the water for the first Lewmar triple series by SSANZ. Being one of the smallest boats in the Doyle Sails Division it was great to come off the line in front and give ourselves the advantage we needed. This was followed by a nice downwind lay through on our masthead kite to the bottom of Motutapu.

To Southern Funs dismay we then had a tight reach across to Motuora Island where a lot of our competition expectedly and sadly managed to sail through under us, being a lot faster than us on a reach. Never the less we then hoisted our fractional kite for a very tight lay through to Gannet for Southern Fun, where the kite had to come up and down twice to make sure we kept enough height on our mark, being one of only two boats in our division on symmetrical kites it was a hard angle of sail.

We then rounded up around Gannett and finally got some upwind action for the mighty Southern Fun, where we managed to crawl back in front of a couple of boats and had a good upwind tassel with Legacy the Y11 finishing only 4 minutes in front of them. Due to the course being 80% reaching (southern Funs nemesis) it wasn't the best result, but we are proud of how we sailed and there definitely wasn't much more we could have done different given the course. All in all, an absolute stunner day on the water.

Thanks Shorthanded Sailing Association of New Zealand for a great race and Adam Mustill Photographyfrom Live Sail Die for the footage.

#lewmartripleseries

#ssanz

It was a pretty rough forecast even for the most experienced! With the old girl's bum as slippery as two left feet on an ice rink, lines led, and our biggest supporters (my mum and dad) never far from final countdown prep, we hoovered down baked beans on toast for breaky and filled the thermy with decent coffee. Made on board of course with our nifty triple cup stove top atomic. A godsend.

Perhaps a tad optimistic of us, the j3 was up on the bow and we docked out at 8:15 for our 9:30 start. It was a lumpy motor across to the start line with wind against tide and 18s to 20s on the nose. There were a few last minute tweaks to be done before hoisting the main, tiller between my legs and Anna with the big guns on the mast. We always knew we were going to be overpowered with only one reef in our main, so made the call to change jibs to the j5 for the upwind. This was a great decision for our upwind leg but sadly not for our final approach and start. The jib is old and likes to be difficult getting up the forestay track with a tear in the luff that kept getting caught. Eventually it was up and the gun went so we set up for a quick gybe to get back around to the boat. Unfortunately in our jib sorting, our leeward runner had snuck off over the side of the boat into the piss and wrapped itself around the sail drive... Not ideal when you rely on them so heavily for a gybe! A quick and efficient back down and some expert flicking of the rope from Anna and it came free allowing us to gybe around and cross the line (now giving everyone a few minutes head start). We were now on point to nail the rest of our race!

Beating upwind between Waiheke and Motuhuie Islands we found a good groove, with the good red ship doing a commendable job of slicing through the deteriorating wave state. We managed to catch back up to the tail end of our fleet, and began picking our way through the slower fleets that had started prior. We saw a few turn back, and a headdy on another tear itself completely in two before they too ripped the helm to weather and began a rolly ride back to safe harbour. We pressed on. After getting around to the Northern side of Waiheke, we were both firmly in the 'I wish we had another reef in the main' camp, and with a hand wind gauge, saw over 40s (apparent) over the decks at times. This wasn't even close to the max breeze we experienced either!

From Waiheke, the course took us around Tarahiki (Shag) Island, then across the Firth or Thames towards the Coromandel where we rounded the Cow and Calf then Black Rocks. Before leaving Waiheke in our wake, we suffered a small blow with two head slugs that ripped out of the mast track, sending large over bend creases dancing down the main sail. The third slug down was another heavy duty one fixed into the batten pocket so after a quick assessment of the damage, what could fail further and our response, we made the call to continue.

The leg up the inside of the Coromandel peninsula was a cracked sheets reach, perhaps around 65 or so apparent, and after catching right up to Waka, we started to see their off wind pace pull them forward on us. We needed more horse power up front! So up goes the j3 and down with the j5, unlikely to be seen again with all the 'on the wind' of the race now behind us. This point of the race was also where the light started to wain and dark, ominous cloud banks loomed up over our shoulders, swallowing up the Moehau Ranges. Squalls began passing through us with increasing frequency and we saw peaks back up around the 40s with sea spray being whipped up off the surface, doing its best to round us up and veer us off course.

Reaching the Black rocks just on dark, and constantly assessing the conditions around and upwind of us we made the call not to hoist straight away. Establishing others ahead hadn't and being probably one of the newest crews to two handed sailing on a circa. 40ft racer from the 80s, this was the right call. Squalls continued to barrel down on us from astern and given we had never sailed two handed with the kite up in over 15s, let alone in the dark, we were more comfortable with our straight down the guts approach. It also meant less gybes, and with the jib winged out, we were still scooting along (almost on) the rhumb line averaging around 10.5s and sometimes sneaking over 15 knots!

Next rounding; D'urville Rocks. And from our limited (but highly relevant) knowledge, we knew there was no light on these rocks as they sit within a light sector from Maria Island, further to the North. So we set a course with a wider berth than normal adding plenty of fat to make sure we weren't on the front page of the Herald in the morning. In hindsight we gave up too much here, but with our unfamiliarity around this rock, erring on the side of caution in 1.5-2.5 m waves and 18-25 knots was totally okay with us!

After rounding, Anna thought that after my stressful downwind, keeping the boat balanced on a knife's edge between crash gybe and speed records, that I deserved a little nap. Reluctantly I obliged and snuck below. The first 20 minutes I found myself cleaning up the mess of items that had flung themselves around the cabin. Even after diligently offloading objects from every nook and cranny of the boat, there was STILL way too much shit on there. And when there is lots of shit on the boat, it turns into a big shit fight. Lesson learned...again. After popping things back in their places, and taping every cupboard and door I could get my hands on up nice and secure, I then had my downstairs toilet mission. It would have been faster to put all my gear back on and go off the back. Finally, after offering snacks and drinks up to Anna I managed to climb/ wriggle/squeeze my way into the top aft bunk for a 20 min lie down.

My attention was next drawn away from Navionics on the phone in my cozy bunk, to a knock from Anna and a few yelps followed closely by the sounds of a ragging main and the forces of nature trying its very best to pin our little boat on its side again. We already knew we were well over canvased behind the mast, and this was just another reminder. Poor Anna had her body seriously misaligned from an hour plus furiously fighting the misbehaving tiller. Exhausted of all our methods for de-powering, I took the wiggle stick shortly after and we were still slipping along nicely at 9.5-13s, starting to close in on Flat Rock off Kawau.

Even with the full moon obscured by moody clouds, you could still make out the dark and sinister looking shapes that loomed on the horizon upwind of us. Almost on cue another rain squall would bear down on us, accelerating our voluptuous hull to terminal velocity. We hit about 16 knots scooting down those waves, not bad!

From Flat Rock there was really one final turn mark left before swinging the nose south and heading for the finish. A little island called Motuora which is a native reserve about 3.4 nm SW from Kawau. We knew we were hot on the heels of Waka, and perhaps even the Sunfast despite all the downwind ground we had covered, as we caught glimpses of their nav lights as they disappeared around the island ahead of us. After rounding Motuora, still on the j3 with a single reef in the main, refreshingly we were once again able to dial it back up to a more comfortable reaching angle, aiming at the light on Whangaparaoa’s peninsula. Finally it was as good a time as any for Anna to have a quick shut eye before the home stretch and suddenly my only company was the odd lone sea bird that came close enough to make out. After rounding the peninsula and cracking sheets a little further, Southern Fun lit up again in excitement at the prospect of a slightly more following sea and I saw a few more boat knots on the clock.

The familiar home stretch was finally on the bow, and should have been relatively subdued compared to what we had endured throughout the race in much more exposed conditions, however Zeus had other plans. By this stage Anna was back up on deck and we could see a towering wall of white upwind. One final test for the red rocket. After gathering forces on the shoulders of Rangitoto, the squall rapidly engulfed the island and accelerated down the leeward slopes towards us at a rate of knots. We were prepared early before it hit; further cracked sheets, vang off, trav down as far as it could go then the wind began whipping across us, the rigging singing in soprano and driving rain lost in the white haze that was rising from the surface and moving in packs across the water. After being pinned to our ear for several moments, the squall barrelled on below us and we were back to racing trim and closing on the line.

Anna and I crossed the finish line at 1:31 am, almost exactly 16 hours after starting the previous morning. With four of our fleet not making the start and five forced to retire, finishing was an achievement for us and we were stoked! We even managed to nab Motorboat II on corrected time and walk away with 5th on handicap. Not our dream performance, but definitely moving the right direction up the leaderboard! Thanks to all of you for supporting us, and in particular our dedicated shore crew who have contributed hours to setting the boat up and getting it ready with us! It’s such a wicked feeling ticking these adventures off and we love sharing our experience with all of you - bring on the next one! Cheers SSANZ! Anna and Aaron :)

With the wait finally over, race day was upon us. We couldn’t have been more stoked! As is commonplace for a Gulf Harbour berthed boat, race day starts a day early for us and we made the 2.5 hour delivery down midday on Friday, nabbing a berth in Westhaven for the night.

Having not raced for a wee while, the good red ship was a bit grubby and needed a bum clean before we got too far. Keen to save on the haul out fees, Anna and I bravely took the plunge, jumping into the frigid waters out from Gulf Harbour, sponges in hand. On a good day the two of us will do a thorough hull clean on SF in around 35 minutes but the chilly water took the breath away and I lost my co-diver about three quarters through to the comforts of a warm towel and coffee on deck. While on the job, we also had a visit from an old friend, Warren Dawson onboard his Elliott 1050, Snap Decision. He was giving his boat a wee run in before my mates Chris and Max (Chris is his son) took the helm the following morning for the race. In typical Aaron fashion, I swum over to make a quick visual inspection of the hull for Warren and scrubbed off the weed that had taken up residence around their sail drive.

Finally done with the clean, I emerged from the water as Anna had done, feeling a bit like a Tip Top Fruju and I was super appreciative of Anna’s bright idea to shower back at the Marina before delivering the boat to town. Those showers are worth writing home about I tell ya! After defrosting, and making a last minute Ripples Cafe stop, we docked out for Auckland, ETA around 4:30 pm. Support crew number one (mum) joined us for the sail down while support crew number two (dad) drove the car down to meet us with dock lines on the pier. After securing all the lines and ticking off a few more items from the impressively sized to do list, we flicked our friends John and Sarah from Enigma 1 (another Gulf Harbour boat) a message and joined them up at Swashies for a meal. Bellies full and minds tuning back into race mode, we headed back to the boat for an early(ish) night's sleep on board.

As race day dawned, forecast models predicted a light 2-4 knots from the West early on, developing to 4-8 and veering N by mid morning. At its peak, we should have seen 8-12 knots by 8pm that night. Generally our observations early morning concurred, although there was a little more puff than expected from the WNW for a short time just before the scheduled start time. By 10 am, we were back in the 8 knot mark and racing got underway after an hour delay.

The course for the Doyle 60 took us on a reach out from Northern Leading, leaving Motutapu to port and continuing up to Navy Buoy in Tiri Channel. From there it was a downwinder to Gannet Rock at the Eastern end of Waiheke, before a brief circuit around Shag Island and Frenchman's Cap (off Pakatoa Island) to begin the journey home around the back (north) of Waiheke. A pretty fair course given the conditions in honesty.

Our goals this race; first we must finish, and secondly we wouldn’t be risking it for the biscuit. We didn’t need biscuits, not this time. On final approach to the start, j3 up and full main, we had an early approach to the favoured pin end, just as planned. Reluctant to be rolled or worse still, have our nose over early, I opted to swing the bow up and cross just behind Boogie Flash as they bore away. In hindsight, we had already nailed the timing and should have just let rip at the line. So a conservative but good start at the favoured end saw us sitting above the fleet as the entire fleet deployed their powerful furlers below. One of the give ins when racing in the Division 2 long haul course and starting alongside the top race boats in New Zealand like Mayhem, Clockwork and the likes. If only we had a bit more horsepower!

We lifted up nicely around Motutapu as predicted, and although it would have been nice to press on the pressure a bit more and extend out sooner, we were a little dictated in having to match the mode of Whitebait and Black Pearl ahead to stay out of their wind shadows. We made good early gains over our nearest competitors, Waka, extending a healthy early lead on them by picking a few good shifts up the channel. Next decision was where to head up the beat and after careful consideration of the info on hand, Anna and I agreed that out right was where we wanted to be. We edged our way out to sea from the course axis, monitoring the compass and our competitor headings as closely as possible.

I’m not so sure how she managed it with such ease down below when we were on the wind but Anna ducked down to whip up a few tasty sammies with next to no issues and popped her head back up to check in after a short while. With impeccable timing, we sailed into a little more pressure and heeled over further, until concentration was broken by the sound of a dish hitting the floor. I hope that wasn't lunch! Anna laughed. To our amazement and delight, the bowl was still perched up on the nav table, its rubber base doing one hell of a job keeping it cemented in place despite the cabin bobbing up and down like a millennial's head in a drum and bass set.

Lunch was super tasty. So tasty in fact that it actually distracted us from tacking on the right hander we were waiting ever so patiently for and we went on it as soon as we had polished off our delicious morsels. We were on a marginal overlay from about 6 nm out, although there were several boats that had actually continued a fair bit past our line which confirmed our expert positioning. Conscious of not becoming overlaid and wanting to reduce some leverage on the boats to the left of us, we settled into a slight low mode, aiming for mid 7s. A small course deviation around an anchored yacht fishing as we approached the top and three tacks later and we were scooting around Navy Buoy, bright red masthead cute on its way up.

The 8 knots or so we had at the top was starting to die, but for now it was enough to keep us moving well through the water and Anna and I found ourselves overhauling boats left right and centre - a nice feeling! Inevitably, as boats around us began falling out of pressure, our speeds declined as the breeze dropped off. Now here, in hindsight, we should have consolidated our position, and come back up to reduce risk on the boats now up to half a mile up to windward of us. This would have meant we could have benefited from the new breeze as it came back down through the fleet, but alas, we decided not to give up any distance we had projected out to leeward of them and as a result had to wait a bit longer for the new breeze to reach us. Once it kicked back in, we had champagne sailing, with good speeds into the 9s and 10s, pole forward and breeze at about 75-85 degrees apparent. Surprisingly, we were still gaining on the sunfast at this angle while still extending on Bizzare and the Stewarts we had passed.

From here, we had a slight bear away around Gannet Rock where we could square back the pole and run deep, not far off the Rhumb line, with the rolly following sea helping scoot us along. There was also a good tussle now developing between us, the little Farr 30 ‘Don’t Stop me Now’ and the Sunfast 3600 Katana, which kept us on our toes. Especially given the Sunfast’s gybing angles in comparison to us and the Farr 30, each with a symmetrical flying from spinnaker pole.

There was a bit of acceleration in the breeze around Shag Island so coming in hot on a faster angle put us under a little bit of pressure for the drop, especially knowing the other two were just inside and astern, but hot on our heels for any slip ups we might have had. Slick team-work and good hustle from Anna getting the kite in over the rail meant we held the three boat lead and came up to our new course of Frenchman’s Cap as darkness was settling in.

We were keeping a pretty close eye on the Sunfast who, on its preferred angle, approached us pretty rapidly from astern. They seemed a little bit more comfortable hugging the rock however, literally within metres of it, and managed to sneak up on the wind inside us as we gave a slightly more cautious berth. From this point, it was back upwind, with 90% of the rest of the race on starboard tack across the outside of Waiheke and back towards the inner gulf. We were back on the j3 initially, but as the breeze began to back off approaching Motutapu, we peeled to the j1 to try and hold onto our closest competitors who had all snuck back up to us on the slightly cracked sheets reach and began deploying their more powerful furly sails. A frustrating light spot under Motutapu closed us all up and in the new light breeze, we had to accept the boats around had more suitable set-ups for the final approach to the finish. Finally crossing the line at 10:30 pm, it was our first two handed racing experience done and dusted and we were stoked with ourselves but ready to push the boat a little harder for the next one! Cheers SSANZ and Thanks so much for following our progress! Anna and Aaron :)