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It was over 30 years ago when the first Georgia Racing yacht – a Mumm 36 – was built.  That boat, skippered by David Barnes and including a number of young sailors who later graduated to America’s Cup teams (Gavin Brady, Jeremy Lomas, Chris Salthouse, James Dagg, Grant Loretz, Grant Beck), represented New Zealand in the Southern Cross Cup in Sydney.  It was built by Mick Cookson who later built further Georgia boats – a Farr 43 that won the Kenwood Cup in Hawaii, another Mumm 36 that represented New Zealand at the Admiral’s Cup and placed 4th in the Read more

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Photos from 2021 Bay of Islands Race Week. Photos taken by Suellen Hurling of LiveSailDie. Read more

Bay Week Regatta in the last week of January in the Bay of Islands has become New Zealand’s top keel boat yacht racing regatta.   (The term “keel boat” excludes America’s Cup as presently conducted!)   Next year will be the 20th edition.   GEORGIA boats have, to my memory, taken part in at least 14 or 15 of them.  Certainly the only one in recent times that we did not attend was when we took part in (and won) Geelong Race Week in 2012 (which clashes with Bay Week)  in the current GEORGIA boat.    We have had our wins and losses Read more

Email from Grant Loretz, who was a trimmer on the Mumm 36: There is no doubt that Barnesy was a clever guy, so many ideas most of which were well ahead of time.  I can remember a project he did with his 470 jibs (double surfaced sails) when I was just a kid.  I recall it being bloody fast but was deemed illegal and the project was put on the shelf but only after he had it working!  Crazy thing was that it resurfaced in Freemantle in 1987 on Australia 4 when Dave was with NZ Challenge and again with Read more

Last Friday (30 October 2020) was a sad day for those attending the funeral at St Joseph’s Church Takapuna of David Barnes but also a massive tribute to him from the yacht racing community.  The occasion, which was attended by everyone who was anyone in New Zealand yacht racing, provided a reminder of the prominent part that Dave played among New Zealand sailors of the past who led the way to New Zealand becoming a powerful participant in International yacht racing. As is well known, Dave (with Hamish Willcox) was the first New Zealander to win a World Championship in Read more

All photos courtesy of "Live Sail Die" While a year ago in 2019 at Bay Race Week we won General Handicap (described by my good friend Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC as “the prize they give to someone famous who hasn’t won a prize”), we were comprehensively beaten on line and in PHRF by MAYHEM. In my competitive running days (a long time ago), I always found that the positive aspect of defeat was that it stimulated you to examine why you’d lost, to work out what improvements were needed and then to set about achieving them. A couple of Read more

Following a reasonable result at Bay Week in the Bay of Islands in January, we prepared for the annual Jack Tar Regatta in Auckland, conducted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron at the end of March.  The event was conducted over 2 days consisting of 4 windward-leeward races and one harbour race. The regatta was characterised by light winds, which always make racing difficult and with the potential for large wind shifts.   Fortunately, we handled the conditions really well.   Our starting also improved from Bay Week and we were first on line in all 4 windward-leewards and second on Read more

For what must the be 11th or 12th time, Georgia Racing participated in the Bay of Islands Race Week.  The weather was magnificent – mostly light to medium breezes but not as much sitting around waiting for the Sea Breeze to kick in as last year.  In 2018 we won PHRF and finished second in IRC.  This year there was no IRC – more about that below – but PHRF and General Handicap. We won General Handicap from Mayhem (Harry Dodson) and were 4th in PHRF, won by Kia Kaha (Chris Hornell) ahead of Miss Scarlet (William Goodfellow) and Wired Read more

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It was always going to be too much to expect MAYHEM (Harry Dodson) to take our first day’s performance – 3 wins in 3 races – lying down.  And so it proved.  Days two and three (5 races) provided a great tussle with MAYHEM edging us on line and in IRC with GEORGIA however remaining dominant in PHRF.  The final regatta result was that GEORGIA was declared SOUTH PACIFIC PHRF CHAMPION with MAYHEM second, MAYHEM became SOUTH PACIFIC IRC CHAMPION with GEORGIA second and MAYHEM won Line Honours with GEORGIA second (5-3). The racing was always close.  Boat speed differences Read more

I  am very conscious of having neglected this website for a long time.  However, there is now something to write about! Over the past 2 years, it would be fair to say that we have been disappointed at our regatta results, namely the Bay of Islands Race Week (New Zealand’s premium regatta) and the Jack Tar Regatta in Auckland.  The competition has certainly been intense with a bunch of 52s, led by Mayhem (Harry Dodson) and supported by Temptation, Viento, Wired, V5 and Kia Kaha. George Hendy and I have worked hard at modifications to the boat – reducing the Read more

2016 was a disappointing year for Georgia Racing with average results in both the Bay of Islands Race Week and Jack Tar regattas.  Our downwind speed was consistently good but against some of the other boats in the 52 fleet we always seemed slightly off the pace upwind.  Reducing the weight of the bulb for the typically light summer winds in these regattas and moving to a square top main a couple of years ago assisted but we were still falling short.  Our new Doyles gibs, designed by Richard Bouzaid, promised much but didn’t really deliver. We had our moments Read more

In the last posting on this site, the weight of the boat in light winds compared with some of its new TP52 rivals was identified as the cause of the uncharacteristically average performance of GEORGIA in the Jack Tar regatta in March (and previously in Bay Week in January). A decision had by then been taken to investigate the best way of remedying this, with the initial suggestion being two-fold – taking weight out of the bulb and deepening the draft (again). We were fortunate to have Nick Holroyd available to us for this task.  Nick was and had been Read more

Photo courtesy of Ivor Wilkins. The annual Jack Tar Auckland Regatta took place over the weekend of 21 and 22 March 2015.  The racing in Division A, consisting of 9 TP 52 style boats including 2 new acquisitions from abroad, promised to be exciting.  And so it proved to be with little between the whole fleet and inevitable close mark roundings which at times led to protests and penalty turns.  GEORGIA fell foul to a penalty turn on the first day (hitting the top mark) and was subjected to a protest on the second day for a claim that room Read more

Here we are half way through the summer and of course a great summer it has been. Division A has received a real boost from the arrival of 2 further new TP52s from abroad to add to Harry Dodson’s MAYHEM last year, which has generally knocked us off our perch and made us re-think GEORGIA’s configuration. Both boats – VIENTO and TEMPTATION III – are Judel Vrolik design, as also is MAYHEM. The result was an exciting and closely fought Race Week at the Bay of Islands annual regatta last month (more about which below). This year, for the first Read more

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Long time "Georgia" crew member, Andrew Cooke ("Cookie") was one of 3 sailors rescued by the New Zealand Navy when the yacht "Django" that they were sailing back to New Zealand after the Auckland-Fiji race sank north of New Zealand in big seas. Click here to read the report in the New Zealand Herald. Read more

Click here to read the profile article about me in the latest edition of "Ocean" magazine entitled "Life in the Fast Lane". Read more

A picture drawn by Keryn's daughter, Lexi (aged 5) of "Georgia". Read more

As in 2013, both Georgia Boats competed in the Bay of Islands Race Week 22-24 January.  GEORGIA competed in Division A and GEORGIA ONE in Division B.  In both cases the format was 2 windward-leeward races and a Bay race each day, though the time taken for the wind to kick in on the third day meant that the Bay race was canned. GEORGIA ONE, helmed again by Rhonda McCrea and with David McGlashan calling tactics, also had Team New Zealand’s Ross Blackman using his local knowledge to navigate. The boat’s past stellar successes, including winning the Kenwood Cup in Read more

After an encouraging second day in the Targa with Jim and Rhonda familiar now with the processes and routines required before and after each special stage (racing) and on the tours between stages, hopes were held for continuing improvement on day 3, which was scheduled to run from overnight stop at Palmerston North, through 6 more special stages and on to Havelock North.  Jim was scheduled to drive the first half day as before with Rhonda navigating and then roles reversed for the afternoon. Special stage 1 went very well with a good time being posted.  That was followed by Read more

What a difference a day makes! Day One of the Targa for newbies Jim and Rhonda was tough going.  Learning the processes (including putting helmets and neck braces and audio links on and off in the confines of a roll cage was tense work yesterday.  Today it was almost second nature.  Gear on before line up for start of special stage and then getting it off again as soon as possible after end of stage – it’s really hot under those helmets.  The suits are cool (in fact and to look at) despite the 3 layers of fire resistant material. Read more

Day One of the Targa was a huge learning curve for Jim and Rhonda.  This event is not for the faint-hearted.  The 7 special stages were incredibly demanding with very few straight roads and when there was one breaking from 180 kph plus to take a sharp right hand corner at the end was a matter of fine judgment.  Cars started 30 seconds apart on those stages.  The intended relaxing tour between and service breaks proved to be anything but.  As a result of a delay on the second stage with a school bus found returning after the road had Read more

Robbie and Rhonda servicing car at Hawera Lunch at Whangamomona Servicing at Palmerston North Square Rhonda ready for Special Stage . Hit 200kmph Whangamomona Taranaki Read more

Today was scrutineering for the Targa which starts in the morning (Thursday).  It was hosted by Kim Dotcom at what he calls the Kim Dotcom mansion.  A fair description.  The scrutineering processes went very smoothly thanks to Robbie (Francevic) who is such a big name in the car racing world that doors opened and then closed smoothly.  In the meantime, while he was taking the car through all the technical inspections, Rhonda and Jim were in the queue for registration.  This was a very long queue and it took a long time to get to the front where they learned Read more

Weather predictions during the week were for strong, gale-force north-westerlies, swinging to the west up the coast and either on the wind or tight reaching all the way.  Though the winds were never much above 20 knots, it was pretty well as predicted with lumpy seas from Cape Rodney north until entering the Bay at Cape Brett.  With Jim Delegat’s new acquisition, GIACOMO (the Volvo 70 foot round-the-world winner GROUPAMA with a full professional crew) and a fleet of 4 52’s (GEORGIA, V-5, WIRED and KIA KAHA) plus AKATEA (Cookson 50) and EQUILIBRIUM (Botin and Carkeek 55), the monohull racing Read more

After 20 years of high end yacht racing, Georgia Racing shortly starts its first venture into motor racing on 30 March when the 2013 Targa Rally starts in Auckland. Drivers Jim Farmer and Rhonda McCrea, husband and wife in their normal moments, will be driving a specially prepared 2009 BMW 135i Coupe, purchased by Georgia Racing last year with this event in mind. The car was converted from a new 135i road car into a full on rally car by famous former saloon car driver, Robbie Francevic, now retired.  The previous owner never got into competition with the car and Read more

In my preview of the 34th America’s Cup, published on 1 July 2013, I predicted that the Match between the Defender and the Winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup would be likely to become a procession which would turn people off long before the end because one boat would inevitably, with a radical new boat class, be significantly faster. I was wrong!  The combination of spectacular, foiling, fast boats and the drama of the Oracle Team USA “come back” leading to a 9-8 score line had New Zealanders glued to their television sets morning after morning for the best part Read more

The Georgia Racing website, as it is headed, is “a website for the friends and family of Georgia Racing – Auckland New Zealand”. Its focus is entirely on the racing activities of yachts that sail under the banner of “Georgia Racing”.  Currently, this is the 52 “Georgia” and the 43 “Georgia One”, both of which sail now only in New Zealand though in recent years they have also participated in a number of regattas in Australia.  Recently a BMW rally car was purchased and is developed for competition in the New Zealand Targa in October. The point I am making, Read more

It’s probably about time I said something about this year’s America’s Cup, now that it’s almost upon us with the first race due in a week’s time.  There has certainly been a lot said lately! There is no doubt that this year’s Cup event is one of the most controversial ever, in a history of controversial events.  This was almost inevitable given the immediately preceding history of litigation followed by the Deed of Gift Challenge by Oracle in place of the usual multi-challenge event that has existed during the modern history of the Cup.  Perhaps the right to have a Read more

The summer has been a busy one with both boats – GEORGIA, the 52, and GEORGIA ONE, the 43 – taking part in major regattas and the usual Wednesday night racing with the Squadron and with Richmond. First big regatta was the Bay of Islands Race Week in January – a terrific event in beautiful conditions and surroundings and an enthusiastic and efficient organising team led by Ray and Lesley Hasler.  GEORGIA ONE, helmed by Rhonda McCrea, with Dave McGlashan (“Daisy”) calling the shots, some young strong guys on the business end of the boat and long-term Georgia Racing members Read more

There were highs, and there were lows, but sailing the 52' Georgia home from Australia was, as ever, an experience to remember. Here is some spectacular footage, posted on Youtube, shot by crewmember Russell Macefield. Click here to view. Read more

The anticipated weather forecast proved correct with strong westerly winds building to over 40 knots at times.  Unfortunately Jim had taken ill the week prior so George Hendy and Will Tiller took charge of the helm.  Pre-race briefing was about sailing safe and making it to the finish as fast as we could without compromising the crew or boat. The race started amidst a 30 knot wind squall and poor visibility.  Gennaker hoist on the start line and shortly after a gybe onto port and GEORGIA led to fleet out past North Head with the plan to lay Rangi before Read more

After her delivery back from Australia, the 52 has been restored back to her usually immaculate condition, with new antifoul and topsides polished in time for the Coastal Classic this Friday. Predicted weather is strong winds from the South West - conditions which will favour boats with big downwind sails and, as the race progresses to a reach, the canting keel boats. GEORGIA, still rated for IRC with no big sails, will be disadvantaged against boats like RAN TAN (an Eliot downwind flyer) and Rob Bassett's well performed WIRED. The crew will include three fifths of Will Tiller's successful FULL Read more

Recently Georgia Racing purchased a specially developed rally car - a BMW 135i Coupe.  The car has had an engine upgrade (to 360 BHP from the standard 3 litre twin turbo car), stronger brakes, full roll cage, carbon floor, limited slip differential, full rally seats, special rally wheels and semi slick tyres etc etc.  All to racing car specification approval.  Plans are to start modestly with Targa Tours and track days etc. Read more

After her convincing win at Geelong Race Week in January, great hopes were held for 2012 Hamilton Island Audi Race Week, which for the Grand Prix Division 1 fleet doubled for the Australian IRC Championship. The reality turned out to be different.  GEORGIA finished a disappointing 7th overall, still creditable enough in what is probably the best IRC fleet in the World.  The regatta turned out to be a titanic struggle between HOOLIGAN (the former ETNZ TP 52 sharing the same hull design as GEORGIA), the new TP52 SHOGUN V, another new TP 52 YENDYS and BLACKJACK, a Reichel Pugh Read more

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Less than 5 weeks to until the annual Hamilton Island Regatta.  One of the best in the world for sure.  This will be the seventh regatta there that Georgia Racing has participated in beginning with the Corel 45 in 1999.  Since and including then, we have always finished between 2nd and 4th in the premium Grand Prix division save for the year when the 43 sailed in Division B, finishing 5th. The competition this year is likely to be harder than ever with the usual assortment of maxi yachts, 60 and 70 footers and the largest collection of 52s yet Read more

George Hendy and delivery crew – Tom Kearney, Ian Millar and Mike Boyd - have begun the long haul from Melbourne to Mackay in Queensland in readiness for the Hamilton Island regatta (Australian IRC Championships) in August.  After an uneventful sail through Bass Strait and a short stop at Eden to watch the Warriors beat the Rabbitohs, they have now reached Sydney (see photo) where some minor repair and servicing work will be undertaken and some accessories that have been stored will be loaded on the boat. The current plan is to leave Sydney on Wednesday – weather permitting – Read more

The BMW Regatta was held in Auckland from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 March.  GEORGIA ONE, sailing in Division A with a bunch of 40s and 50s, finished a creditable 2nd on General Handicap and 3rd in IRC, which doubled as the National IRC Championships.  She has finished either first, second or third in the Nationals for all but one of the last 5 National events. Both General Handicap and IRC were won by ICE BREAKER, a brand new Ker 40.  Our congratulations go to them.  Their boat was superb and they sailed well. GEORGIA ONE led the fleet at Read more

After a disappointing fifth at Hamilton Island last August, George Hendy and I sat down and reviewed where we might have been lacking - principally as to the boat, as our crew work remained consistently good. Two areas for improvement were identified, by reference to the boats that had beaten us - HOOLIGAN, LOKI, SHOGUN IV and LIVING DOLL.  One immediate point of difference was that all of these boats were sailing with new 3Di sails.  Another was that they were all sailing better upwind than us, particularly in the choppy water which the heavier winds had generated.  Downwind we Read more

"Festival of Sails - Georgia hits ball out of park" article by Lisa Ratcliff, writing for the Royal Geelong Yacht Club and New Tack. Photo by Teri Dodds Jim Farmer's New Zealand Botin & Carteek 52, Georgia, sailed the final Festival of Sails race and with their nine point finish from eight races, hit the ball so far out of the park it may never be found. Georgia wrapped up the Audi Geelong Centre Premier Racing Series Division A by a 12 point margin.  Jason Van Der Slot's TP52, Calm, finished next on 21 points and then Rob Hanna's TP52, Read more

Georgia's convincing victory at Geelong Race Week was signed off today with the boat's seventh podium finish, comprised of five wins, a fourth (which was dropped) and a second. The boat finished 13 points ahead of CALM, using the IRC rating system. Congratulations to all the crew. Read more

On Day 3 of Geelong Race Week, GEORGIA continued on her winning way with 2 firsts and a 4th, which put her in an unassailable position before the final race tomorrow.  Her series record is 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4 and 1.  The 4th is a discard and so her total score is 7 , 10 points ahead of CALM and 11 points ahead of SHOGUN V, with LIVING DOLL on 4th. In the first race today, GEORGIA led the fleet around the course and was only just headed by the larger LIVING DOLL on the line. In Race Read more

After its second place to SHOGUN V in the Melbourne to Geelong race yesterday, GEORGIA had maybe its best day of racing ever today with 3 firsts in 3 windward leeward races to give her a commanding lead half way through the Regatta. The opening race took place in light 6 - 8 knot winds.  Any concerns that the new keel may be a disadvantage in the light were dispelled when GEORGIA had a first on both line and handicap.  First to the top mark on the first beat, she never looked back and won comfortably.  After a long break Read more

The Geelong end of the Melbourne Festival of Sails Regatta started yesterday with the traditional Melbourne to Geelong race.  With over 150 boats on the startline – and another 180 on a further startline just behind – a good start was necessary for the 32 mile race.  GEORGIA got it and at the first upwind mark 4 miles into the race led the fleet just ahead of LIVING DOLL, SHOGUN V and CALM, her main opponents. On the next 20 mile leg – a reach – LIVING DOLL eventually passed GEORGIA, which was no surprise because of her longer water Read more

The annual Geelong Regatta starts Thursday this week, beginning with a 28 mile race from Melbourne (Williamstown) to Geelong and then followed by 7 windward-leeward races over the next 3 days.  GEORGIA arrived at Williamstown in the early hours of Wednesday morning from Sydney.  George Hendy and his young guys had a largely downwind sail - a welcome change from the almost entirely upwind sail that they've had on most of the deliveries up and down the Australian East Coast. I arrived myself in Melbourne last Saturday evening for a couple of days of Australian Open tennis (Federer annihilating Tomic Read more

The lesson learned from Hamilton Island in August was that we were slightly off the pace upwind in a breeze against our 52 foot competitors, especially HOOLIGAN and SHOGUN.  The explanation was that they have gone deeper in draft from the standard 3200 mm. of a TP52, which of course makes their boats stiffer.  The problem about being "slightly" off the pace upwind is that if you are behind at the top mark it can be a real struggle getting back even if your down wind speed is very good – which ours was. So back to the drawing board Read more

After a fourth place in race nine – another Island race – GEORGIA's overall fifth place at that point of the regatta proved to be her final place when race 10 failed to get under away with a complete absence of wind. This was a major contrast with the racing through most of the regatta with winds typically above 20 knots and sometimes 30 knots.  The regatta was won by HOOLIGAN, with LOKI second, SHOGUN third and LIVING DOLL fourth.  Sixth place went to CALM with TERRA FIRMA (a Cookson 50) and the three hundred footers – WILD OATS, LOYAL Read more

After eight races, GEORGIA is lying in 5th place, one point ahead of CALM, a well-performed TP52 from Melbourne and 5 points behind LIVING DOLL, a Farr 55 and winner 2 years ago.  The regatta leader is HOOLIGAN, the former ETNZ AudiMedCup winner, which is 6 points clear of LOKI, a Reichel-Pugh 63 and last year's Hamilton Island winner.  HOOLIGAN looks likely to take out the Australian IRC Championship, which is run over 4 regattas, Hamilton Island being the last of them. After the last report on the web site earlier this week, there have been 4 races: a 27 Read more

Nearly midway through Hamilton Island Race Week, Georgia is sitting in fourth spot in the IRC Grand Prix division, after consistent performances in three races and, hopefully, breathing space to drop its worst result so far, an eighth in the windward-leeward longhaul course of Saturday's Lindeman Island race. "At the top mark – which is a passage through two islands – we were in average shape, one or two boat lengths behind SHOGUN, a TP52 against which we have had lots of close races previously," recounts owner and skipper, Jim Farmer. "We had gone quite well on the beat but Read more

Georgia is in Mackay on the Northern Queensland Coast, gearing up for one of the team's favourite regattas: Hamilton Island Race Week. Last year the boat finished second in the Grand Prix IRC division, behind Australian IRC Champion Loki, and ahead of previous winners Wild Oats, and Living Doll. For this year the Grand Prix fleet will be no less impressive, and will be joined by Emirates Team New Zealand's former TP52, rechristened 'Hooligan', which won the Audi MedCup in both 2009 and 2010. Hooligan and Georgia are built from the same hull, but the boats are different in many Read more

Georgia trimmer Chris Funnell qualified for the invitation-only BMW Sailing Cup, and travelled to Portugal with his crew for the World final. After BMW Sailing Week, Bucklands Beach Yacht Club nominated two skippers (Grant Turnbull and Geoff Martlew) for the New Zealand final of the event. Both wanted the best available crew, and Chris, with other crewmembers, was on both of their wishlists - so the skippers joined forces to put together one very strong crew, and in light conditions in MRX fleet boats, won the local event, and qualified for the trip of a lifetime. Racing under skipper Grant Read more

Tom Blampied (22) is in Europe for his first season of international match racing, and, hopefully, the start of an illustrious professional sailing career. Nearly three months in to it, how is he getting on? Tom reports that he is still match racing for Aon Racing (skippered by Rueben Corbett), doing pit on the five-man boats, and trim on the four-man boats. The team is currently ranked 10th in the world. "We have had some promising results with entry so far to three world match race tour events," says Tom of the team that are still very young in comparison Read more

They are the young guns of the Georgia foredeck, and they bring the average age of the crew down by at least a decade. Tom Blampied (22) and Shaun 'Geeza' Mason (21) both seek careers as professional sailors, and soon will embark on a European tour which they hope will deliver big opportunities on the international circuit. Last month, Tom and Shaun were working for Emirates Team New Zealand, helping to launch their America 's Cup cat, and doing odd jobs around the base. Then Tom departed for Europe with Aon Racing, the Match Race team skippered by Rueben Corbett, Read more

Twenty-two year old Georgia race crew Emma Hendy has grown up afloat, and now, like her father, she makes her living within the yachting industry. Her father is professional yachtsman George Hendy, who oversaw the build of the Georgia 52 and continues to project manage the boat, and her mother, Jackie, a stalwart member of the Georgia race crew. The day a decade ago that George lost the tips of two fingers in the Georgia mainsheet system was one of her first times aboard a Georgia boat. She was only twelve and her memories of the day are fuzzy, but Read more

Thanks to an all clear from her surgeon, the Georgia crew is very pleased to welcome Sabra Davies back to the boat. At age eight she was mucking around on Lake Rotoiti, sailing her dinghy to a little island, and living the 'Swallows and Amazons' dream. In her teens, Sabra - who currently works as Administration Manager at Orakei Marina - took up surf life saving on the West Coast, but met her husband Bryan at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club in the early eighties and rediscovered sailing, crewing on a Farr 38 and competing in ladies racing on Pied Read more

After a number of false starts - George Hendy finally managed to bring Georgia One back from the Bay of Islands (See earlier story about Bay Week). The delay in delivery meant that - once again - Jim Farmer was able to avoid doing a delivery trip. Apparently though it wasn't all hard work.  The photo showing George proudly holding his catch attests to that. Two days later, the boat was taken up to Kawau for the annual Round Kawau race.  Tom brought 2 of his match racing mates who proved to be great value.  Chris Dickson also volunteered to Read more

The second round of the Audi Australian IRC Championship Event for 2011 took place last weekend in Sydney.  Hosted by the Middle Harbour Yacht Club, the regatta took the form of 5 windward-leeward races over the weekend, 5 and 6 March.  GEORGIA (Botin and Carkeek 52) finished 3rd overall, behind HOOLIGAN (the former ETNZ TP 52 winner of the Audi Med Cup) and LOKI, the Reichel-Pugh 63, which beat us into second place at Hamilton Island last year.  Fourth was the well-performed TP 52, SHOGUN, who finished ahead of LIVING DOLL (Farr 55) and WILD OATS X (Reichel-Pugh 67). The Read more

Three days of excellent racing in varied conditions saw consistent performance by GEORGIA ONE in the annual Bay of Islands Race Week. Sailing in Division A against much larger boats (notably Wired, Sea Harmony and Sababa – all 52 feet – and Carrera, 49 feet, GEORGIA ONE at 43 feet was the baby of the fleet but was only beaten on the water once by Sababa, twice by Carrera and not at all by Sea Harmony in 7 races.  On rating, GEORGIA ONE was first in the fleet in both IRC and General Handicap. The 2011 National IRC Championship was Read more

What could be better than Bay of Islands Sailing Week? Georgia is having a good regatta, racing in Division A against Wired, M1, Carrera, Sababa and Sea Harmony, and with a clean sweep of second placings - unsurprisingly, behind the 50 footer, Wired, in each race. We have won all five races on IRC, and even had a couple of General Handicap wins. Wednesday was windy - up to 20 knots in gusts, and today (Thursday) was lighter, just 5-12 knots. Here is a picture of the crew. More soon. Read more

After her second placing overall in IRC Grand Prix at Hamilton Island in August in what must be the highest standard IRC fleet in the world, GEORGIA was expected to perform with equal distinction in the Sydney Rolex Trophy Regatta just completed.  However, it was not to be – she placed 6th, though there was only 1 point separating 3rd to 6th places. The winner of the regatta was HOOLIGAN, previously the all-conquering Emirates Team New Zealand TP 52 which won the last 2 Audi Med TP series in Europe.  The boat was purchased by Australian Marcus Blackmore (a previous Read more

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Hi all, I have just heard from George with a quick update: Position 28 32 153 51 (hmm I wonder where that is!!) Anyway he said off Tweed River/Heads.  All is going well on the board and they are hoping to be in by Thursday morning.  They have just tucked down for the night getting the main off and running only with the storm jib (just like Don taught him he said) and just trickling along with the motor running.  I am picking the breeze/sea is up quite a bit but all is good, they were just keeping the lids Read more

At the annual yachting awards dinner and prizegiving at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron on Friday 28 November 2010, the KORC Trophy, which goes to the winner of the National IRC Championships was awarded for the second time to Georgia Racing.  The 52 foot Botin and Carkeek yacht GEORGIA won the Nationals in February in a very windy Wellington regatta.  The Trophy and the Championship had previously been won by GEORGIA ONE, the Farr 43, in 2007.  With GEORGIA staying in Australia for the next 12 months after competing at Hamilton Island in August, GEORGIA ONE will carry the Read more

Georgia Racing recently provided an opportunity to guests to sail on the 43 Georgia One in a Squadron Wednesday night race to the highest bidder at a fund-raising evening conducted by the Legal Research Foundation in Auckland.  The winner was Kelly Quinn, an Auckland barrister who practised in Hong Kong for 9 years where he met and married his Finnish wife Kaisla who worked for the Finnish Consulate.  Their mutual interest in sport was evidenced by the fact that they met at the famous Hong Kong Rugby Sevens! Kelly brought along, not only his wife, but his father-in-law, Seppo, who Read more

It took only a split second for Jim Farmer (Georgia), Rob Bassett and Brett Russell (Wired) to reply with a resounding YES, when asked to challenge the Aussies for the South Pacific Cup at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.Wired arrived at Hamilton Island from Airlie Beach Regatta, wound up, ready for battle.Georgia'sdelivery crew had suffered a long hard crossing from Auckland, but they still had their mighty racing machine primed for action.  Hamilton Island's Front Street was the relaxed introduction to a week of serious combat, yachties strolling the avenue greeting long-standing rivals.  Lots of laughter - kids everywhere. But the Read more

Two former Match Racing buddies are now partners in crime racing on both the Georgia 43 and the 52. Chris Funnell (pictured, top) – the owner of Yachteze boat maintenance services - is a headsail and gennaker trimmer – while sailmaker Rick Royden (pictured, bottom), who also owns his own sail making and servicing business, works wherever he is needed – usually trimming the headsail or mainsail, or calling tactics. Chris first jumped onboard the 43 about five years ago, for Wednesday night racing. Rick first took the opportunity to sail on Georgia in the 2003 Hamilton Island Race Week, Read more

Georgia Racing bowman and mastman (Geeza and Orange Thunder) go match racing. Read more

Georgia One will relaunch with a new paint job. Looking good! Read more

While the 52 waits in Queensland for delivery to Sydney for more premier racing, Georgia One (the 43) has been retrieved from storage and will be relaunched next week. The boat sports a fresh paint job and a Nick Holroyd designed, more contemporary, rudder. It will compete in Wednesday night racing through summer, building up to the IRC National Championships to be held as part of the Bay of Islands Sailing Week in January 2011. Meanwhile, the 52 will soon be delivered from Airlie Beach, Queensland, to Sydney. Tom Blampied, Geezer and George Hendy will conduct the delivery at the Read more

What to do with an aluminium mast from the 43 when it had been replaced with a new, IRC-optimised carbon rig?  Turn it into a flagpole of course.  Erected this week at Jim Farmer's house on the edge of Lake Karapiro by the start of the rowing course and in time for the World Rowing Championships at the end of October.  Photos here show the mast, which was constructed by New Zealand Rigging, being lifted into place by a crane, Jim raising the first flag ( which despite its 2 x 1 metre size looked like a pocket handkerchief aloft) Read more

Jim Farmer – owner of the Georgia Racing boats and Director and Trustee of Emirates Team New Zealand - has been named as Director to the Board of the America's Cup Race Management (ACRM), the body charged in the Protocol with providing "neutral, independent, professional, and fair race management" for the next edition of the America's Cup. Jim, a Barrister and Queen's Counsel, has served Emirates Team New Zealand since 2004, providing legal advice and counsel, and representing it on the Challenge Committee and during protest hearings during the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia. He is one of two directors, Read more

Moderate Hamilton Island conditions were close to ideal for the IRC52 Georgia, with the boat placing second in the Grand Prix IRC Division, and helping New Zealand take home the South Pacific Cup. Consistency was the name of the game for Georgia, helmed by Jim Farmer and Chris Meads, with tactical support from America's Cup veteran Chris Dickson. In the 16 boat fleet, Georgia never finished lower than sixth, also clocking up a win and two other podium finishes in the week-long racing event. "We had very good team work with very few mistakes," says owner Jim Farmer. "This week Read more

With only the Linderman Island race to go, Georgia is sitting in third place in the IRC Grand Prix division in Hamilton Island. "A great day today," says Jim. "A first and a second in windward leewards." The Reichel Pugh 63 Loki is untouchable, but the team are just one point behind Living Doll, and four points clear of Wild Oats. Both boats are previous winners of the regatta. Georgia's worst race result was a 6th and without the discard allowed would be a clear second, 6 points ahead of third. "We have been consistent throughout the regatta." Racing concludes Read more

After three days of racing at Hamilton Island Regatta, Georgia sits in fourth overall in the IRC Grand Prix division, and is the first of the TP52s. Georgia is on 21 points, behind LOKI (7 points), Living Doll (13 points), and Wild Oats (18 points). There are 16 boats in the division. Georgia has a fifth, a fourth and two sixths - the boat placed fifth in today's three-hour Island race despite losing time thanks to a ripped kite and a replacement that wasn't 'quite right' for the conditions. "We are still hoping for stronger wind which should see us Read more

Right now, Georgia is enroute to the Whitsundays in Northern Queensland, for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2010. Here is the first report from the delivery crew, which departed Auckland on Thursday 5 August. Hi all from Georgia Racing, Firstly thanks George for all the weather updates has been real helpful and good to know someone is looking at it for us. Also nice to know what to expect before we start our night shifts. Fishing Update: 4 Tuna lines currently out of the water because it is now dark and cant be bothered dealing with fish at night. (Still Read more

By ROB MUNDLE - As the number of yachts entered for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2010 approaches the magical figure of 200 the New Zealanders have declared they are on a mission – they want the South Pacific Cup. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has advised Hamilton Island Yacht Club that two highly competitive yachts, Jim Farmer's new TP52, Georgia, and Rob Basset's 52-footer, Wired, will be racing under the club's burgee in the Kiwi quest for the trophy. The South Pacific Cup is an international team event which was first contested at the 25th staging of Audi Read more

Following the Bay of Islands Regatta in January, a delivery crew headed by George Hendy and with other crew members Sabra and Bryan Davies, Tom Blampied and Chris Funnell sailed the boat from Auckland down the East Coast to Wellington for the New Zealand IRC championships.  The delivery was far from straight forward with bad weather forcing the boat to put into Gisborne for a few days. The regatta, organised by the Port Nicholson Yacht Club and incorporating the New Zealand IRC championships, proved to be a windy affair.  Indeed it was too windy at times for the locals and Read more

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The new Botin and Carkeek 52 Georgia was launched in early October last year and has been raced consistently since. Results to date are excellent with the promise, hopefully, of better to come. After a Wednesday night race debut in a strong breeze in which the new boat got over 20 knots downwind, she lined up for the Coastal Classic, untested and, like every new boat, with teething problems still be sorted out. The annual race from Auckland to Russell in the Bay of Island (120 miles) was marked by a strong following southerly wind which carried the fleet through Read more

A frontrunner for Friday's HSBC Coastal Classic is sure to be Jim Farmer's stylish new TP52 yacht, reports Mike Rose. Jim Farmer QC is one of the stalwarts of serious yacht racing in this country. His numerous yachts, all owned by Georgia Racing, a company owned and directed by him, and all called Georgia after his daughter, have competed in most of our major regattas (with Georgia One winning the New Zealand IRC championship). He also serves as a director for Emirates Team New Zealand and many ETNZ crew regularly sail with him. His latest steed, Georgia Racing, is a Read more

Jacqui Hendy captured this lovely sequence of three shots of the keel bulb of the new Georgia approaching, touching the water for the first time, and on its way to being fully submerged, at the official launch last Thursday evening. The sailing media have also published articles, and captured video and photography of last night's launch. Click below to read, watch and view the coverage in a new window. Thedailysail.com Article Luvmyboat.com Video Photography What they say Sail-world.com Article Read more

Direct from the drafting board of the duo that designed Emirates Team New Zealand's Audi Med Cup winning yacht comes the latest grand prix racer to join the New Zealand fleet. The sixth in a series called 'Georgia', the boat, which an almost identical sistership to the Emirates Transpac 52, will be faster and more versatile, capable of achieving speeds of up to 25 knots thanks to 350 square metres of sail area, a dynamic hull shape and lightweight engineering. Owned by Georgia Racing, a company owned and directed by Auckland barrister Jim Farmer QC, it was launched at the Read more

The new "Georgia" 52 on its way from Cookson Boats to Emirates Team New Zealand's base for the launch on Thursday. Read more

Graphics and colours for the new IRC 52 Read more

Wildlife was on display at Hamilton Island Race Week 2009 Photo courtesy of Anna and Bob Mulkearns, North South Yachting, Sydney Read more

The secret of Georgia's hoists lies in a pair of orange gardening gloves. Shhh don't tell anyone... Photo courtesy of Tom Blampied Read more

By Ivor Wilkins Seahorse International Sailing Magazine - Issue 356 - October 2009 Breeze Magazine - Issue 167 - September/October 2009 Following the southern summer launch of two new generation TP52s - one for Emirates Team New Zealand and a new Artemis - and the slightly later launch of the new Beau Geste, Cookson Boats is nearing completion of a new IRC 52-footer.  The new boat is for Jim Farmer, who has spearheaded a line of race yachts in NewZealand and, certainly in recent times, has been the most active racing boat owner and builder on the local scene. The Read more

Thanks to a hearty South-Wester and excellent preparation work on behalf of its crew, Georgia Racing enjoyed dream conditions in its maiden race, the 119nm HSBC Premier Coastal Classic between Auckland and Russell, on Friday 23 October 2009. Just two weeks after its launch, and with sailing systems still being perfected a nd the crew getting used to the boat, Georgia was the third to finish in a fleet of over 180 keelers and 20 multihulls. Four of a possible seven records were broken this year; the winner was the 30m supermaxi Alfa Romeo, finishing in 6 hours and 43 Read more

The 2009 Hamilton Island Regatta delivered mixed success only for Georgia One, the Farr 43 first bought as an IMS cruiser-racer in 1995 and converted to IRC with a new rig and keel in 2007.  Much had been hoped for the 2007 New Zealand IRC champion and 2009 runner up.  However, unprecedented extremely light winds throughout the whole regatta proved not to her liking, and, despite flashes of brilliance (including one win and two thirds) and excellent consistent crew work, the outcome was a mild disappointment. Nevertheless, as with all Hamilton Island regattas, the competition was intense, the social events Read more

A 52 footer under construction at Cookson Boats in Auckland will make its first major appearance at the 28th HSBC Premier Coastal Classic yacht race. The boat 52 features a hull identical to that of Emirates Team New Zealand 's new TP52 designed by Spanish designers Botin Carceek, with a bigger rig and other modifications that give it both more power and an optimised IRC rating. The fact that it's not destined to be a member of the Transpac 52 fleet, allows it more generous headroom, and a slightly higher freeboard than the Team New Zealand boat, which was launched Read more

"There was a bang ... the rudder was ripped out ... she was going down" by Josh Gidney, Jacquelin Magnay and Edmund Tadros, The Sun-Herald, Australia It was champagne sailing for the 24-crew aboard Georgia - then their Sydney to Hobart went horribly wrong.  Thirty-two nautical miles off Jervis Bay, in darkness, they hit something in the water. "There was a loud bang.  Then there was a second large bang and the rudder was ripped out of the back of the boat," co-skipper Graeme Ainley said. Tactician Matt Hannaford likened the sound to "lightning going off". "We had two sails Read more

By Ivor Wilkins, Breeze Magazine A chance reunion with an IMS boat he first built in 1995 and then sold into the United States has given Auckland barrister Jim Farmer an opportunity to re-configure the yacht for IRC racing – an effort rewarded with victory in the inaugural New Zealand IRC championship in March. Farmer has been a committed owner of race yachts, with a small fleet of Farr designs to his name, including two Mumm 36s and a fully-worked 53-footer. Much of his racing has involved professional crews at a high level, including many of the current Emirates Team Read more

Issue 13 - Spring 2001 - Urbis Magazine - by Zoe Hawkins The test of a racing yacht is its ability to cope with extremes and perform with agility and speed under a range of pressurised circumstances. Maximum strength with minimum weight are the key factors that produce a winning boat. One of the latest additions to the elite class of grand-prix racing yachts on Auckland Harbour is also one of the most visually exquisite. Georgia Racing, owned by renowned lawyer and businessman James Farmer QC, was launched midway through 2000, and has since proven that it can outclass some Read more

Seahorse International Sailing Magazine - Issue 250 - December 2000 When Auckland lawyer James Farmer read an article in Seahorse about the Farr 52 One Design, he was immediately impressed by what was being said about the boat. As the owner of a progression of Farr yachts - two Mumm 36s, a Farr 43 and a Corel 45 - Farmer felt ready to move up to something bigger. 'There were some pretty amazing claims about these boats' performance,' says Farmer, who was intrigued enough to visit Key West Race Week to see one of the first of them in action. Read more

Sailing New Zealand Magazine Three days before the start of the race, a strong wind warning and the prediction of 25 to 35 knot south-easterly winds had the crews rubbing their hands and everyone checking the record times of 1996 when these conditions last prevailed. Unfortunately it was not to be. The direction of the east and eventually southeast winds did arrive, but not before a 4 to 6 knot northerly sea breeze forced the fleet to tack all the way to Kawau Island against an incoming tide. The absence of Afterburner and Spilt Enz this year made picking the Read more

Following a very successful 1996 Kenwood Cup campaign, winning Division C ahead of Flash Gordon (USA), G'Net (Japan) and Quest (Australia), the overall cruiser-racer prize and the Molokai Race, Jim Farmer decided to cruise his Farr 43 Georgia from Hawaii back to Auckland, stopping at Palmyra and Western Samoa. Here is the story he wrote for the RNZYS's Breeze Magazine, on his return. (Click to download as a PDF) Read more