More than 100 boats taking part in the 2024 Pacific Rally have started to leave ports in New Zealand and Australia, heading for some of the South Pacific’s popular cruising destinations of Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Published 6 months ago, updated 5 months ago

2024 Pacific Rally

This year’s rally which combines Island Cruising and Down Under Rally is a significant milestone, with over 100 boats registered so far from all over the Pacific to take part in the annual sailing event said Rally Director Viki Moore.

“We are thrilled to have such an incredible turnout of the rally this season.  The Pacific Rally fleet is made up of mid-size sailing vessels and power boats from Australia and New Zealand as well as international cruisers from around the world. The smallest vessel is 10m and the largest is a 32m superyacht,” Moore said.

Over the last few weeks, the rally has hosted the pre-departure activities at the Bay of Islands Marina in Opua, New Zealand and at the Boat Works on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

“We have been so warmly welcomed by all the marine businesses in the precincts and the rally participants have been really impressed with the facilities and hospitality on offer,” Moore said.

“The rally enables people with their own boats to blend adventure with safety and camaraderie with independence, fostering a sense of community among the participants while empowering them to explore the Islands of Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. They can choose to sail independently or join in with the events that are held along the way. At the end of the season, they can choose to return to New Zealand, Australia, stay in the tropics or continue their adventures further north to Asia.”

Extensive pre-departure training and planning

Rally participants have had extensive online pre-departure training in the months leading up to the departure as well as practical Offshore Medic and Sea Survival courses, seminars on weather, documentation, navigation and passage planning and social events and briefings with rally partner businesses to meet the rest of the fleet.

“The yachts leaving from Opua are sailing to either Tonga or Fiji and the passage will take them around a week to complete.,” Moore explains. ” The rally is flexible and there are other vessels departing from different ports and at later dates. This allows people to sail to their own schedule but still stay connected with others heading in the same direction.

“Unfortunately, our second group which departed from the Gold Coast was bound for Noumea in New Caledonia, but the unstable situation there was resulted in a change of plan for these boats,” said Moore.  Some have decided to return to the Gold Coast, while others have decided to head for Vanuatu instead.

Viki recommends cruisers avoid New Caledonia for the forseeable future as supplies, including food and spare parts, are hard to come and there are no commercial flights in and out of the country. Anyone concerned for cruising friends or relatives in New Caledonia should contact Viki or Noumea Yacht Services, who are assisting cruisers where possible.

Rally participants will sample the ocean

“The rally is not just about sailing; it’s about forging lifelong friendships, experiencing diverse cultures and embracing the spirit of adventure.” Moore says. “We encourage our rally participants to be mindful and respectful of the local people, culture and environment on our travels.

“We also love to support various community based projects with our partners such as Days For Girls, Sea Mercy, Rotary, and this year we are very excited to be partnering with Citizens of the Sea, ” said Viki.  “Many of the vessels on the rally will be helping collect eDNA samples and mapping the seabed to enable scientists to better understand our Oceans”.

The Pacific Rally participants will be away in the South Pacific Islands until November 2024.

Follow the rally progress on the PredictWind Rally tracker:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/rally/pacific-rally-2024/

Read more about Citizens of the Sea

Days for Girls is a charity where volunteers around New Zealand sew sanitary kits for teenage girls around the world and we help transport them to Fiji where they are distributed to local villages by Sea Mercy Fiji.

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About Island Cruising and the Pacific Rally

Island Cruising has been running the Pacific Rally since the 1980s and since then has helped hundreds of cruisers fulfil their cruising dreams. Owner Viki Moore is a qualified Offshore Yachtmaster and keen sailor. In 2023 she also purchased the Down Under Rally based in Australia and has combined both rallies together in to the Pacific Rally for 2024.

The Pacific Rally is now one of the largest yacht rallies world wide.

Island Cruising was awarded Best Yacht Rally in the Global Nautical Tourism Awards by Lux Life in 2023 and also won a Yachting NZ excellence award in 2023.

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Related Links:

• Island Cruising & Down Under Rally website
• Citizens of the Sea
• Days for Girls
• Sea Mercy Fiji.

Facebook:

• Island Cruising NZ
• Down Under Rally

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