Unitec Boatbuilding lecturer, Rob Shaw has just completed one of the toughest events in New Zealand - the SSANZ Round the North Island two-handed yacht race.

Shaw built Karma Police with students from the Certificate in Applied Technology (Boatbuilding) and Bachelor of Applied Technology (Marine) progammes at Unitec. It is also a core component to his Master of Design studies at Unitec.

At just 9.1 metres, the carbon fibre racer with a canting keel was one of the smallest yachts in the grueling 1244 nautical mile race.

Final results

• 1st overall on line division 2
• 2nd overall on PHRF handicap (corrected time) division 2 - by one point!
• 2nd overall on PHRF all divisions
• 2nd overall on line all divisions
• the third fastest boat on overall elapsed time (despite being one of the smallest boats in the race)

Well done Rob and Ben!

Only 18 of the 38 boats completed the race, with 3 boats dismasted and 3 with serious keel problems. Race conditions were described as the toughest in the 30 year history of the event.

Other articles:

Sail-World.com article about some of the electronics onboard Karma Police.

Archive of results

• Live satellite feed from Karma Police >> FINISHED! 6:04pm on Wednesday 9th March
• Latest news from SSANZ
• Follow Rob's updates on Facebook >> Some great photos and commentary from a sleep-deprived Rob!
• Rob's summary of Leg 1 >> Updated Monday 21st Feb
• Rob's summary of Leg 2 >> Updated Monday 28th Feb
• Rob's summary of Leg 3 >> Updated Friday 4th March
• Rob's summary of Leg 4 >> Updated Monday 14th March
• Leg 4 Div 2 >> 1st on line, 4th on handicap
• Leg 4 Overall >> 3rd on line, 13th on handicap

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More about the race

Sailing around the North Island is a tough enough test, but a hardy bunch of souls are about to take it on two-handed – that is, with only two crew aboard yachts ranging in length from 8 to 18 metres.

The SSANZ Round the North Island two-handed yacht race starts from Auckland next Saturday, with an impressive 40 entries, the largest fleet since the inaugural running of the race in 1977. This 1200 nautical mile race, held every three years, is one of the most gruelling and exciting sailing events held in New Zealand.

Entrants will leave Auckland for Mangonui in Northland, then after a short stopover sail around Cape Reinga and down the west coast to Wellington. After a 48-hour break they sail up the Wairarapa coast to Napier for the final stopover, then around East Cape and across the Bay of Plenty to return to Auckland approximately two weeks later. The contestants will face a range of conditions, taking turns to sail and sleep.

The Round the North Island two-handed race was originally organised by the Devonport Yacht Club, after a young Peter Blake returned inspired by his experiences in the two-handed Round Britain race. Since being taken over by SSANZ (the Short-Handed Sailing Association of New Zealand) in 1996, the race has grown in popularity to the extent that this year’s race was fully subscribed months ago. This year entries come from Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, the Marlborough Sounds, the Bay of Islands and Tauranga, and include teams of brothers, husband and wife crews, and an all-female entry.

The frontrunners are expected to be the brand new Cookson 50 Akatea, sailed by Pete Geary and Rodney Keenan, Open 50 Andar (Evan Davies and Peter Davidson), and the refitted Ross 45 footer M1 (Craig Partridge and Dr Dave Austin). However, they will get a hurry-up from the 'minis', Shaw 9 Karma Police (Rob Shaw and Ben Costello) and Elliott 9 Overload (brothers Matt and Scott Randell), both of which may be small but are fast, light, purpose-built race boats with impressive track records. All will be hoping to beat the race record of a total elapsed time of 6 days, 16 hours, 8 minutes, set by the 15m Elliott design Primo in 1996.