Tahiti-Moorea Sailing Rendez-vous 2016

Posted on July 5, 2016

Oceania Marine’s Port Whangarei Marine Centre (located at South Shipyard in Port Whangarei, New Zealand) were pleased to once again sponsor the Tahiti-Moorea Sailing Rendez-vous, held over the last weekend of June.

This is a great event, organized by Latitude 38 from the USA and locally by Stéphanie Betz and her team at Archipelagoes in Tahiti. As usual, it was very well run with lots of information provided to participants but above all lots of fun.

The event kicked off with a welcome function on Friday in the gardens and surrounds of the tourism office in Papeete. Attendees were provided with information about local sailing conditions, Polynesian handicraft and exhibits. It also provided the opportunity for participants to chat casually with sponsors such as ourselves about their future travel plans.

Saturday morning saw a 10am start for the sailing rally over to Moorea and the anchorage in Cook’s Bay. Unfortunately the wind did not play ball and the “race” was abandoned, however away from the land the yachts found some wind and most had a good sail for part of the trip at least. Once anchored in the beautiful Cook’s Bay crews came ashore at the hotel Bali Hai for a cocktail and the chance to mingle. For those interested, there were short presentations by the sponsors from Fiji, Australia and NZ. This was followed by entertainment from local musicians and dancers, finishing with dinner in the garden of the hotel.

Sunday dawned brighter than the previous day and the scene was set for some fun in the sun, the highlight of which was probably the outrigger canoe racing. Crews of 4 yachties teamed up with 2 local paddlers to compete through heats, semi-finals and the grand final. Win or lose, I think that paddlers & spectators alike thoroughly enjoyed the competition. There was then a lovely traditional “Maa” lunch, again in the garden of the hotel, followed by a range of local fun sports and activities with demonstrations by local experts and the chance for crews to have a go themselves. The event was rounded off with some more entertainment from local musicians and dancers, a prize giving and a big thank you to all involved with this great event, we look forward to next year.

We have inserted some photos from the weekend and many thanks to Fred Jacq for the use of his lovely images.

Thanks again to all the participants, you make this the fun event it is, we hope you had a great time and hopefully we will be seeing some of you in NZ later in the year.

Tahiti-Moorea Sailing Rendez-vous 2016