1. RULES

1.1. The race will be governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS)

1.2. The Yachting New Zealand (YNZ) Safety Regulations Part II, Category 1 shall apply.

1.3. The following will also apply:

1.3.1. The International Rating Certificate (IRC) 2026 rules for those boats entering the IRC division.

1.3.2. If there is a conflict between languages the English text will take precedence.

1.4. The RRS will be changed as follows: 

1.4.1. Between the hours of official sunset and sunrise and when motoring, the rules of Part 2 will be replaced by the right-of-way rules of the International Regulations Preventing Collisions at Sea.

1.4.2. RRS 41 will be changed to allow outside assistance for repairs (see clause 16.1) and RRS 41(c) revised to define internet usage. (see clause 16.2)

1.4.3. RRS 44.1 is changed so that the two-turn penalty is replaced by a One-Turn Penalty including one tack and one gybe.

1.4.4. RRS 47 is changed by adding the following sentence to the rule: “However, a boat that discards biodegradable sail stops when setting sail or discards biodegradable table scraps shall be exonerated from this rule”.

1.4.5. RRS 52; Manual Power, shall not apply.

1.4.6. RRS 63.1 will be changed to allow time penalties to be applied by the Race Committee to any boat failing to report as required by the race schedules without a hearing (see clauses 11.2 & 17.1)

1.4.7. RRS 64.2 first sentence is changed to “When the protest committee decides that a boat that is a party to a protest hearing has broken a rule and is not exonerated, it may impose an elapsed time penalty or impose no penalty at all.”

1.4.8. The Sailing Instructions may also change other racing rules, as permitted by RRS 86.1 (b)

1.5. All boats shall carry either a HF Radio or Satellite Phone and will be required to provide evidence of a series of two-way test communications with Kordia (Maritime Operations Centre) and the Race Secretary, including email, voice call and SMS.

1.6. All boats shall carry an AIS transponder, capable of transmitting and receiving AIS data.

1.7. Boats shall carry a tracking device supplied by the organising authority. A boat on which this tracking device fails or ceases to operate will be required to provide additional position reports in accordance with the Sailing Instructions.

 

2. ADVERTISING

2.1. All competitors’ advertising must be declared with entry and must not conflict with the interest of the Event Sponsor unless dispensation is granted. 

2.2. Boats may be required to display advertising chosen and supplied by the organising authority.

 

3. ENTRY & ELIGIBILITY

3.1. The full entry fee is NZD$1750.00.  Overseas entrants will be liable for all International bank transaction fees.

3.2. A skipper may apply for a place on the provisional entry list by completing and returning the Provisional Entry Form that can be downloaded from the website. On acceptance of the Provisional Entry Form the Race Secretary will provide the bank details for the initial, non – refundable, deposit of NZD$650.00.

3.3. Provisional Entry Form available from www.solo-tasman.co.nz or by email request to the Race Secretary (Secretary@solo-tasman.co.nz)

3.4. Race Entries must be made by the closing date of 1600hrs (NZST) 31st August 2025 by submitting the complete Race Entry Form, received from the Race Secretary, and paying the balance of NZD$1100.00. This fee is non-refundable.  Entries received after 1^st September 2025 will incur a late payment penalty.

3.5. A colour photo of boat under sail and head and shoulders of the skipper must accompany the Race Entry Form.

3.6. Subject to spaces still being available the latest date entries will be considered is 1600hrs (NZDT) 31^st January 2026.

3.7. The race is open to all monohulls and multihulls not less than 9 meters in hull length that meet the requirements of YNZ Safety Regulations Part II, Category 1 or equivalent from country of origin.

3.8. The minimum age of all competitors is 20 years as of 5^th April 2026.

3.9. Entries will be limited due to space within the harbour at Port Taranaki.

3.10. The Organising Authority reserves the right to refuse, for whatever reason, any entry. An entry that has not been accepted will be informed of the decision and any money paid will be refunded.

3.11. The Organising Authority reserves the right to decide the eligibility of any entrant based on the experience of the Skipper.

3.12. In special circumstances a boat Owner may seek approval from the Race Committee to replace one Skipper with another properly qualified Skipper providing it is no closer than one month from the start.

3.13. The Skipper shall gain and provide to the Race Secretary, written clearance to race from a medical provider aligned with the race medical specification within three (3) months of the race start.

3.14. To be eligible to compete in this event all competitors shall be financial members of a yacht club affiliated to a National Authority.

3.15. Boats shall be New Zealand registered ships, or for overseas boats, an equivalent registration.

3.16. Boats shall be of a thoroughly seaworthy type, completely self-sufficient for extended periods of time capable of withstanding heavy weather and prepared to meet serious emergencies without the expectation of outside assistance.

3.17. The skipper shall complete a single-handed qualifying cruise in the entered boat of not less than 500 nautical miles (nm) of open sea without anchoring or putting into port before late entries close, unless prior approval has been granted by the Race Committee to use the delivery cruise as the qualifier. Logs/screenshots of the 500nm voyage shall be emailed to the Race Secretary on completion.

3.18. The boat must have logged at least 1000nm of open water sailing either solo or crewed. Logs of the 1000nm shall be presented at the pre-race inspection.

3.19. Every boat shall have a current Category 1 (or country of origin equivalent) safety certificate and be available for a YNZ inspection as per an inspection schedule provided by the organising authority. All Category 1 documentation including, service certificates of all equipment (e.g. Life Jackets, Jon Buoy / Dan Buoy, Life Raft etc.) will be required to be emailed to the Race Secretary.

3.20. Boats shall be in Port Taranaki before 1600hrs on 22nd March 2026 unless prior arrangement has been made with the Race Committee.

3.21. The boat shall be ready in all respects for a Mandatory Pre-Race Safety Inspection by 0800hrs on 23rd March 2026.

3.22. Every boat will be inspected with the skipper in attendance, for compliance with its safety certificate; this Notice of Race; the Sailing Instructions and its ability to safely take part in the race. Boats that do not pass the inspection may remedy any defects and request a further inspection.  Any boat that does not pass an inspection within 24 hours of the race start, will be deemed to have withdrawn from the race.

3.23. The Mandatory Pre-Race Safety Inspection may take place before 23rd March 2026 through negotiation with the Race Committee.

3.24. Each boat shall supply a cell phone contact number to be contacted on up until prize giving.

3.25. Competitors shall have a current certificate from an approved Advanced Sea Survival course provider.

3.26. Competitors shall hold a current certificate from an approved Advanced Offshore First Aid course provider.

3.26. New Zealand competitors shall have a current International Voyage Certificate (Pleasure Craft), Reference- MaritimeNZ Section 21.

3.27. All competitors must notify the Director-Maritime New Zealand of their intended voyage (Reference- MaritimeNZ Section 21). A copy of the notification shall be supplied to the Race Secretary at the Skipper Safety Briefing.

 

4. DOCUMENTATION TO BE LODGED

4.1. The Race Committee or a delegated representative at New Plymouth Yacht Club must sight (and may take copies of) all required documentation as outlined in Table 1 Documentation Required.

4.2. Competitors may be required to produce additional documentation in support of their entry and will be given a reasonable amount of time to produce this.

4.3. One or more digital colour photos of the boat, suitable for Search and Rescue purposes, form part of the required documentation.  One photo shall be of the boat under full sail.  The photo(s) should be no less than 1200 x 800 pixels.

4.4. Evidence of registration and the HEX numbers of all 406 beacons, both EPIRB and personal locator beacons is to be provided.

4.5. A scanned colour copy of the skipper’s passport is required.

 

5. EPIRB REQUIREMENTS

5.1. The boat must carry at least one (1) current certified and registered GPS enabled 406 MHZ EPIRB.

5.2. Where the 406 MHZ EPIRB is packed in the life raft a second GPS enabled 406 MHZ EPIRB is to be provided.

5.3. It is also compulsory for a personal GPS enabled 406 MHZ EPIRB to be carried on the skipper at all times.

 

6. INSURANCE

6.1. Each participating boat shall be insured with valid third-party liability insurance with a minimum cover of AUD$10million. 

 

7.   SCHEDULE

7.1. As per Attachment 1

 

8. SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

8.1. The Sailing Instructions will be available on the Solo TransTasman Yacht Challenge website from 6th January 2026 and will take precedence over this Notice of Race and, where they differ, over documents previously issued.

 

9. COURSE

9.1. The race will start between the Breakwaters at Port Taranaki, New Plymouth, New Zealand and finish at Southport, Queensland, Australia in a northerly direction between the seaward end of the ‘Sand Bypass Jetty and coordinates at 27º56.315’S, 153º 26.500’E.

 

10. CHARTS

10.1. The following charts (in paper form) shall be carried on board:

NZ23/INT640 - North Island

NZ43 - Manukau Habour to Cape Egmont

NZ4432 - Taranaki Roads

NZ14601/INT601 - Tasman Sea NZ to SE Australia

NZ14602/INT602 - Tasman and Coral Seas, Australia to Northern New Zealand and Fiji

AUS814 - Point Danger to Cape Moreton

 

11. PENALTIES

11.1. A boat which touches a starting or finishing mark and does not take a One-Turn Penalty as described in RRS 44.1 and RRS 44.2 will receive a one-hour elapsed time penalty.

11.2. Any boat that consistantly fails to report their position as required by the race schedules will have a 1% elasped time penalty applied by the Race Committee without a hearing unless exonerating reasons are provided in the race finish declaration (refer to clause 17.1). This change extends the exceptions of RRS 63.1.

11.3. The first sentence of RRS 64.2 is changed to: “When the protest committee decides that a boat that is a party to a protest hearing has broken a rule and is not exonerated, it may impose an elapsed time penalty or impose no penalty at all.” If an elapsed time penalty is imposed, its magnitude will be at the protest committee’s discretion unless otherwise specified in the NOR or SI’s.

 

12. SCORING & DIVISIONS

12.1. The following divisions will apply:

•      Line honors

•     Adventure Monohull

•     Adventure Multihull

•      IRC

 

13. PRIZES

13.1. Prize Giving will be held at a function at the Southport Yacht Club when the bulk of the boats have finished.

13.2. Prizes will be awarded to first place in each of the divisions competed in.

 

14. RESPONSIBILITIES 

14.1. It is the responsibility of the Skipper to see that their boat complies with the requirements of the race in that its safety category requirements are met, and rating certificates are current.

14.2. The Organising Authority is not responsible for the seaworthiness of a boat whose entry is accepted; or a boats equipment or the boats skipper.

 

15. FINISHING

15.1. To gain an official placing a boat must cross the finishing line no later than 1700 hours, 20 days from the start.

15.2. Immediately after finishing the Skipper will be required to sign a declaration that he/she has sailed the Race in accordance with the rules.

15.3. If any rule has been broken, the Skipper will need to give a full account of the circumstances, establishing to what extent, if any, the boat's progress towards the finish was helped by the breach in question.

15.4. The Protest Committee will determine the penalty to be imposed, where applicable.

 

16. OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE

16.1. During the race, a boat may put in anywhere and anchor or moor for any purpose. It may be towed/motored provided that the total of any such towing/motoring can be shown not to have advantaged the boat towards the finish. When so anchored or moored other people may come aboard to effect repairs providing the boat continues in the race with the same stores and equipment as prior to seeking assistance. This changes RRS 41.

16.2. RRS 41(c) is changed to read: “Help in the form of information freely available to all boats and any publicly offered internet or broadcast weather information from sources available to all competitors, whether on a subscription or free basis is allowable. Allowable internet sourced services received by a boat while racing must be computer generated and not have  any direct human input from outside the boat. Competitors may use any means to retrieve the data.  Accessing other information during the race will be considered a violation of this rule.”

 

17. POSITION REPORTING

17.1. Boats shall comply with the detailed reporting instructions that the Race Committee will publish in the Sailing Instructions.

 

18. CONDITIONS OF ENTRY 

18.1. By submitting an entry, all competitors acknowledge and accept:

18.1.1. To be bound by all the rules and conditions of the race

18.1.2. They are familiar with and understand the Racing Rules of Sailing.

18.1.3. Attention has been drawn to the RRS Fundamental Rule 3 “Decision to Race” which states “The responsibility for a boat’s decision to participate in a race or to continue racing is hers alone”;

18.2. The entry of the boat and competitors is agreed to and accepted by New Plymouth Yacht Club on the basis that the competitors, are individually aware of and conversant with the risks involved in the sport of offshore racing and that the participation in this event is entirely at the risk of the competitors;

18.3. The skipper warrants the suitability of his/her boat for the race;

18.4. The safety of a boat and her entire management including insurance shall be the sole responsibility of the skipper who must ensure that the boat is fully found, thoroughly seaworthy, and the skipper is physically fit. The skipper must be satisfied as to the soundness of the hull, spars, rigging sails and all gear. He/she must ensure that all safety equipment is properly maintained, stowed and in date.

18.5. Neither New Plymouth Yacht Club, its members, officers, volunteers, employees nor agents shall be responsible or liable for any loss, damage, death or personal injury however caused to the competitors or their property as a result of their taking part in Ray White New Plymouth Solo TransTasman Yacht Challenge 2026 and its related activities, including pre-start and post finish operations and shore activities;

18.6. Neither New Plymouth Yacht Club nor its officers, volunteers, employees or agents shall be liable for any costs or expenses that may be incurred as a result of special assistance at sea being arranged for any reason whatsoever.

18.7. Neither the existence of these conditions, and their use by the race organisers, nor the inspection of the boat pursuant to these conditions in any way limits the absolute responsibility of the skipper.

 

19. ACCEPTANCE CERTIFICATE

19.1. A Skipper shall have an Acceptance Certificate to take his/her place on the Start line.

19.2. This Certificate will be issued at the briefing prior to the Race Start.

19.3. It will be issued to a Skipper who:

19.3.1. Has attended all official briefing sessions, unless special circumstances dictated otherwise.

19.3.2. Can demonstrate competence in those areas covered in a missed briefing to the satisfaction of the Race Committee.

19.3.3. Has completed all Race forms/documentation (as per Table 1).

19.3.4. Has completed NZ Customs forms.

19.3.5. Has had the boat pass inspection.

19.3.6. Has completed successful email, voice call and SMS sat-phone communication with Kordia and the Race Secretary prior to the briefing.

19.3.7. Has paid any outstanding monies owing to the Race Committee, Marina Agent and/or Retailers.

         19.4. A Skipper who is not issued with an Acceptance Certificate will have to delay            his/her start until all requirements are met.

 

20. BERTHING PRIOR TO RACE IN NEW PLYMOUTH

20.1. Boats must be berthed at Port Taranaki by 22 March 2026.

20.2. The Skipper of the boat, or his/her nominated representative, is responsible for the safe mooring of the boat during its stay in Port Taranaki.

20.3. The Race Committee will endeavour to arrange swing moorings within Port Taranaki for all race competitors

20.4. The Owner, or his/her representative, will be required to sign a form indemnifying the Port Taranaki Authority and Race Committee of any damage caused to the owner’s boat.

 

21. BERTHING POST RACE IN SOUTHPORT

21.1. Free berthage will be arranged at the Southport Yacht Club for 3 days.  If you wish to have a marina berth you must show evidence of at least Third-Party Insurance of AUD$10million and supply the dimensions of the boat and the duration the berth is required for.

21.2. The Owner of the boat, or his/her representative, is responsible for paying berthage fees incurred in Southport after the three free days.  Contact the SYC Waterfront Manager to book further marina berthage.

21.3. A copy of your insurance and registration must be provided to the Race Secretary.

 

22. RIGHTS TO USE NAME AND LIKENESS

22.1. By participating in the event, a competitor automatically grants to the Organising Authority and the sponsors of the event, the right in perpetuity, to make, use and show, from time to time and at their discretion, any motion pictures, still pictures and live, taped or film television and other reproductions of him/her during the period of the competition for said event in which the competitor participated and in all material related to the said event without compensation.

 

23. USE OF DRONE FOR MEDIA

23.1. All those who take part in the event as competitors agree to be overflown by a drone during the duration of the event, this includes your person and your property (boats).  Any use of a drone must comply with Port Taranaki requirements.