Neville Crichton’s super maxi, Alfa Romeo, is leaving a trail of smashed race records across the Pacific as she heads towards a head to head battle with Australian maxi Wild Oats in December’s Rolex Sydney Hobart, with the Kiwi yacht demolishing the race record at the weekend in New Zealand’s HSBC Coastal Classic, following annihilation of the TransPac Race Record in July.

Alfa Romeo set HSBC Premier Coastal Classic history when she crossed the finish line in Russell, in the Bay of Islands to set a new race record of 6 hours, 43 minutes and 32 seconds. Starting at Devonport Wharf in Auckland, and finishing at Russell Wharf in the romantic Bay of Island township, the boat wiped more than 36 minutes off the 13-year old record held by the pink multihull Split Enz, achieving an average speed of 17.9 knots on the course.

The 30 m boat owned by New Zealander Neville Crichton, has already accumulated 142 line honours victories, and she marked her return to New Zealand with her 143rd line win, all with Neville Crichton at the helm.

Apart from a very early challenge put on by the 9m trimaran, Timberwolf, the supermaxi commanded a lead from very early on, taking advantage of the strong South West conditions to stretch her legs and power up the coast, reaching Flat Rock soon after 11am, about 15 minutes inside record time, and the Hen and Chicken Islands at around 1.30pm, 25 minutes inside record time. By the time they rounded Cape Brett the boat was an astonishing predicted 80 minutes ahead of the time she needed to set history.

Sailing a rhumb line course apart from a slight detour outside the Hen and Chicken Islands, she reached the last milestone, at approximately 3pm, passing inside the infamous ‘Hole in the Rock’, where she slowed down briefly, dropped from a Jib Top and Staysail down to a Jib, and tacked into the Bay doing speeds of around 12 knots.

Owner/skipper Neville Crichton, a member of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron who takes pride in sailing under the New Zealand flag, says that by carrying a spinnaker on the first leg to Kawau they were able to put sufficient distance on the multihulls, so that even though the 25 knot beam reach from Tutukaka to Brett was better suited to the multis, they didn’t have time to make the required gains before the beat from Brett. “We are very happy and it’s a nice homecoming to New Zealand,” he said at the finish.” And it was a perfect preparation for the Rolex Sydney Hobart, our next major challenge!”