Issue date
Chris Skinner became the first person to win back-to-back handicap honours in one of New Zealand's toughest races when he joined with co-skipper Shane Bellingham to win the SSANZ Round New Zealand Two Handed Race.
The pair circumnavigated New Zealand on their Thompson 38 Titanium, taking 13 days and 22 hours to complete the four legs. They took line honours in the second and fourth legs, fighting off Damon Joliffe and Josh Tucker in Motorboat II (Elliott 10.5) who won both line and handicap in legs 1 and 3.
Titanium took control of the race on the second and longest leg from Mangonui to Stewart Island (930 nm), winning by a comfortable 22 hours on handicap. They finished 11 hours ahead of Motorboat II overall on corrected time after the final leg.
Skinner competed in the 2012 edition of the round New Zealand race on Truxton (Tiller 10.5), winning legs 2 and 4.
Also completing the race for the second time were Rob Croft and Sally Garrett on the Farr 38 Coppelia - the first crew and boat combination to do so in this race which has only been run three times. Coppelia won the final leg from Napier to Auckland on handicap and finished third overall on handicap.
All seven boats that started on February 16 crossed the finish line in Auckland after sailing more than 2000 nautical miles, which was the first time every boat completed the race. A total of 19 boats have completed the event across the three editions.
Full results here: https://www.ssanz.co.nz/results/
