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It's fair to say Kelsey Muir loves a challenge - which is why she is passionate about Rangi Manu, the 22ft L-Class yacht she's been sailing for the past decade.
There were the years it took “to figure out what she likes”, the time she nearly sank off Auckland’s Rangitoto Island, and more near misses than Muir cares to remember.
But, says the 34-year-old Auckland interior designer, there’s plenty to love about the “mullet boats”, first used as fishing vessels in the late 1800s when crews needed fast boats to race back to the Auckland wharves to sell their catch from the Hauraki Gulf.
“They are a challenge to sail and to figure out, and some days are just really hard work,” Muir said. “But then you have those times where you get on a broad reach, and they just take off.”
Her brightest moment came just over two weeks ago, when Rangi Manu claimed the coveted Lipton Cup - making Muir the first female helm to win the prestigious trophy in its 104-year history.
The Lipton Cup was first contested on 8 April 1922 and is New Zealand’s oldest yachting trophy still raced for by the same class. The cup was gifted to the Ponsonby Cruising Club by Sir Thomas Lipton in 1920 and was made by the same London silversmiths who crafted the America’s Cup - albeit 5cm taller and more ornate than the Auld Mug.
It has been raced every year, even during World War II and in 2020 when Covid-19 disrupted many regattas - with some of the fleet now over 100 years old.
“It feels pretty amazing to win the cup because we’ve been working hard at it for a while and sailing these boats for many years,” Muir said. “To be honest, I hadn’t really given it [being the first female helm to win] much thought until this year when the boat’s owner, Taka [Hewett], pointed it out.”
Kelsey Muir with the coveted Lipton Cup. Photos / Supplied
Muir is the granddaughter of well-known designer and boatbuilder Jim Young and has been sailing mullet boats since her late teens.
“Between my grandfather and my mother, I learned how to sail at a young age, and I’ve been sailing ever since,” she said. “I never did any dinghy racing, but rather I got into it with my mum, racing with and against each other in Stewart 34s and mullet boats. My grandmother was also part of the first women’s racing and was a very good sailor who used to beat the boys as a teen.
“I have been doing the women’s racing at Ponsonby on Tuesdays and mullet boating on weekends for quite a long time. I used to crew with my mum but got to the point where I wanted to do my own thing.”
That’s when she met Hewett and Rangi Manu - based on a previous winner, Eranie, which was destroyed in an accident involving a launch while moored in Torpedo Bay.
“When Rangi Manu was first launched, they just couldn’t get her going, so she was mothballed, and it wasn’t until about 10 years ago that Taka and Rob Warring rebuilt her, and we essentially had to start from scratch,” Muir said.
“These boats are notoriously heavy with such a big sail area [about 400 square metres] and a spinnaker pole about the length of the hull. You’ve got to keep them balanced, or you get lee helm or too much weather helm. They can sail in 30 knots, but they don’t like it.”
They’re not hard to sink either, as Muir and her crew nearly discovered early in their partnership.
“It’s really important with these boats to have the downhaul on, but during one race, our spinnaker was skied, and we went over right on our side. I was on the outside of the stays, and we all just froze, waiting for her to sink,” she said.
“Fortunately, Rangi Manu has nice steep coamings, so she just kind of sat there, and we were able to get the downhaul on. The spinnaker sheets blew out, she popped back up, and we were able to finish the race.”
Muir and her crew aboard Rangi Manu. Photos / Supplied
As the boats are built to class rules rather than to a one-design specification, they perform differently in various conditions.
“Rangi Manu’s lines means she likes it when it’s light, so after a few years working that out, we just had to wait for a light Lipton Cup!”
That finally happened on March 22, when - after several close calls including a runner-up finish two years ago - Muir, her husband Tim Merkens, Hewett, Matt Sugden, Matt Collins and Mike Parker crossed the finish line of the “marathon” 20-mile course first - in very light breeze.
“I was so anxious, but I had a feeling this could be our year,” Muir said. “It was a massive relief, and it felt really good to finally win after all these years.”
She has no plans to give up the mullet boats now - even on the bad days.
“There’s nothing like this class, especially the history it has and the characters who sail them. That's what I love most about it. Everyone has an interesting or slightly ridiculous mullet boat story.”
And thanks to her record-breaking feat a fortnight ago, Kelsey Muir has now added another fascinating chapter to the story of Rangi Manu and the Lipton Cup.
