From the helm

I hope you have all had a relaxing Christmas and New Year break!

I had a lovely time up in the beautiful Bay of Islands waving off the South Island Rally boats and exploring Northland with my son.

The South Island Rally boats set off at various times over December & January to make the 500NM passage south to Abel Tasman. There they met up with some of the South Island boats, and about half the fleet continued on south to Fiordland.

The south has certainly had the pick of the weather this summer! With the north being tragically drenched with rain from ex-tropical cyclones, the boats in Fiordland have been getting up to 30 degree days with flat calm seas! Check out some of the photos later in the magazine.

There has been lots of great friendships made, and it has been great getting lots of regular updates including photos and videos from the boats who've got Starlink down south. That has certainly been a game changer this year with being able to stay in touch more easily.

After the holiday I headed up to Marlborough for the Waikawa regatta which was also called off due to some horrible weather, and then it was back to work with the SailGP event coming around very quickly, the Rally to Japan departure date looming and more registrations for the Pacific Rally coming through

We've had approval for our Lau Group entry in to Fiji and I'll be working through the logistics of that with the rally participants over the next few weeks.

For lovers of the Fiji Regatta week, I am hoping to have some dates to report back for that soon and will let you know when they're locked in! We had so much fun last year, so even if you don't sail up, consider flying in and joining the fun!

There are some other cool events coming up throughout the South Pacific this year including the Tahiti Pearl Regatta in May and the Tahiti Moorea Sailing Rendezvous, as well as some awesome festivals in Vanuatu!

We've also got 11 families registered on the rally, so if you ' re considering taking your kids cruising, you'll be in good company!

If you are keen to join in all the fun and adventures, check out the details of the rally here.

There's no obligation to sail with the group or on any particular set dates, you can simply tap in to some of the fun events, support and inclusions as you wish.

At this stage we ' ve got a group heading for French Polynesia, another group off to Tonga first and then on to Fiji via Lau, another group going straight to Fiji and many are also going to visit Vanuatu & New Caledonia as well. Lots of fun!

Many of the rally boats are on the lookout for keen crew. If you'd like to get some bluewater passage experience before you head off for your own adventures, please join our CrewSeeker list!

Our cruising preparation workshops started up again mid-January Each week our members get tips on how to prepare their boat, their crew and themselves for an offshore passage. You can join us any time, and become part of our awesome cruising community, tap in to some great discounts, get invited to some awesome events, join our CrewSeeker list and learn lots along the way too!

For those sailing in to Lyttelton for SailGP - be sure to keep in touch, I look forward to welcoming you to our amazing part of Aotearoa

Until next month! Enjoy Cruise News!