By now you will have read any number of articles about the long, slow 2026 PIC Coastal Classic. What most of those articles fail to mention is how glorious it is tight reaching up the Northland coast on a Young 88 is in the middle of the night, spinnaker up, 7.5 knots, full moon lighting the way on a calm sea to the (slightly disconcerting!) sound of unseen whales spouting around the boat.  

Four Young 88 crews lined up for the 2026 PIC Coastal Classic –Paddy Wagon back to defend their 2025 success, Smokey, Waka Huia and Young Mischief looking to repeat their 2024 result. And no matter what the conditions, in an 88 you know that you are going to get, as Mike Sanderson put it at the weather briefing, “a lot of sailing”. But that’s why we love it.

With the tide due to turn around the middle of the day, it was important for the fleet to take advantage of the wind and current off the start to get to Tiri passage as quickly as possible. The fantastic thing about one design boats in a race like this is that it was immediately tactical, with all four boats looking to gain an early advantage.  

Waka Huia and Smokey split right early and Paddy Wagon left, with Young Mischief taking a more direct route to Tiri. Advantage Waka Huia. By the time the fleet converged on Tiri Passage it was clear the right was correct call, with Waka Huia leading Young Mischief, followed by Paddy Wagon and then Smokey as the tide turned against the fleet and increased in strength.

It was hardly a sprint to the first sched at Flat Rock with Waka Huia calling in at 1542, Paddy Wagon at 1602, Young Mischief at 1604, and the tide affected Smokey at 1645 – there was still a long race ahead.

At Cape Rodney, and with darkness falling it was Waka Hua still leading Young Mischief, with a couple of miles back to Paddy Wagon and the resurgent Smokey – and that’s where in the dark the race took a massive tactical step.  

Waka Huia and Paddy Wagon took a hitch into the west, looking for breeze, Smokey east and Young Mischief a deliberate ‘lets get north’ rhum line to Sail Rock.  

By the time the two leading boats were off Mangawhai, the Mischief crew had taken the lead over Waka and were extending, with the two boats behind caught in one of the many wind dead zones on the course doing less than a knot of boat speed. That was it for Paddy Wagon, who by 2300 were on their way back south, and the gap between Smokey and the leading two rapidly extending. 

A 2318 sched at sail rock for Young Mischief showed her to be neck and neck with Waka Huia, and with the gap to Smokey now significant, they made the smart decision to withdraw and motor north.

As predicted, it was after midnight where the race was decided.  

Just slightly to the east of Waka Huia, Young Mischief picked up some great breeze through the small hours with the kite on, and by the time dawn was breaking off Ngunguru, their lead had grown significantly.  

At 0730 the Mischief crew were nervously calculating the possibility of making the 1400 time limit at their current pace. 15 minutes later, the wind had other ideas and completely shut down, leaving what was left of the fleet to ghost up the Tutukaka coast.

At around 1000, Waka Huia called it, but with the advantage of heading north towards home and a suddenly building breeze, Young Mischief held on until the time limit, narrowly missing getting around Cape Brett before the cut off, finishing on the water second on line in division 5.

Despite the headlines and frustrations, the PIC Coastal Classic delivered a massively enjoyable race north once again. What is better than some tight, tactical, one-design racing up a stunning coastline with your mates. If you think, its too long – its not. We love sailing our 88s so the more sailing the better!  

Congratulations to the Young Mischief crew for hanging in there and taking home the coveted Young 88 trophy for the second time in 3 years.  

A massive thank you to the NZMHYC team for organising another stunning event. We’ll be back and looking forward to seeing more 88s on the 2027 start line!

Thanks to Live Sail Die for the photos.