A Mental and Physical Challenge

Auckland appears to have the sport by the tail right now. The Volvo Ocean Race is in town, and Team New Zealand is active at their Halsey Street base. But this weekend both these prominent sailing events are shadowed by what Kiwis consider to be a real challenge: OKI 24-Hour Race

The North Shore’s beloved event begins this March 7, with Olympic-hopefuls and heroes young and old to be sailing through the night in this iconic event; past winners include Dean Barker, Ray Davies and Peter Blake.

“The OKI 24-hr sailing event is New Zealand’s toughest dinghy race and we have teams from all over the country as well as international sailors competing,” says Murrays Bay Sailing Club Commodore, Scott Leith.

The OKI 24-Hour Race is sailed in Lasers on Lake Pupuke and run by Murrays Bay Sailing Club, a club with a rich history of sailors recognised through Round the World races, national championships, America’s Cup regattas and the Olympics.

“Last year’s event was held in stunning sailing conditions with over 90 teams spread across the OKI 24-Hour and OKI 6 hour race for Optimists,” says Leith. “The start of the race is quite unique and really exciting with the sailors in a Le Mans-style mad dash down the hill and launching themselves into the boats.”

There’s a major prize of $2,000 available for the sailor/s who do the most laps in the 24-hour timeframe. The best solo sailor will also win $1,000 and have a chance to win the major prize as well. The events are fundraisers for Murray’s Bay Sailing Club to develop youth sailing

“It is 24-hour race, non-stop through the night, so it’s a mental as well as a physical challenge, making it the ideal training ground for sailors run up to the World and Olympic regattas,” explains Leith.

Some of the rules for the OKI 24-Hour…
The regatta will be limited to 40 teams.
Open teams shall consist of two sailors per team.
Woman’s teams may consist of either two or three sailors per team.
Masters teams may consist of three sailors provided that the age of sailor is over 35 and the total age of all three sailors exceeds 120 years.
Youth teams shall consist of two sailors per team, each sailor must be aged 18 or younger on December 31, 2015
Solo sailor entries maybe accepted.

Event website – Notice of Race – Press Release