The week-long event will be held from September 11-15 2024.

Musket Cove director Will Moffat shared his thoughts on the upcoming competition.

“We will have around 100 boats again this year.

“It should be good, we’ll see our traditional people coming the Kiwis, the nosy is doing their Pacific lap and also the world cruisers coming from as far away from the UK and Europe, down through and picking up through America and through the Panama Canal and across to Fiji so I think it should be should be a good mix,” Moffat said.

Musket Cove Resort manager Joe Mar looks forward to an entertaining week.

Musket Cove Regatta officials and sponsors Front row: From left; Liane Orlina, Grace Daveta, Mere Lisoni Back row; From left; Rajeev Reddy, Epeli Raivoka,Ratu Suliano Bogileka,Will Moffat, Sakiusa Koroi,Nitesh Chand, Wayne Deed and Hamish Black at Musket Cove Island Resort yesterday.PHOTO: Anasilini Natoga

“Last year we saw a fantastic global entry of yachts from Australia, New Zealand, USA and the United Kingdom with over 350 yachties and support crew arriving for the event.

“We‘ll have a packed schedule of events and entertainment this year for competitors, family and friends so register early to ensure you don’t miss out.

“With live entertainment each evening, the Friday night party theme this year is ‘Party Like It’s 1982’,” Mar said.

This event is one of the longest-standing international sporting tourism events held in Fiji.

The event will be sponsored by a number of companies including Motibhai Group, Marsden Cove, Vodafone, Victoria Wines, Tappoo, and Paradise Beverage.

Original : https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/100-boats-expected-at-musket-cove-regatta/

Expect great Fijian cuisine, an informative guest speaker, an island-hop, a beach BBQ and an exclusive networking experience.

The Superyacht Gathering FIJI 2023

• Fiji, South Pacific
• 23-24 August
• Denarau Island & Malolo Lailai Island

An Event to Remember

The Superyacht Gathering community comes together in exclusive environments, with limited numbers, to enjoy experience-based events that focus on the issues important to the superyacht life – society, environment, technology and inspiring success stories from our clients, peers and colleagues.

“Luxury used to be about gold, marble and chandeliers, grand lobbies and glitzy hotels. It’s now about what guests can take away from an educational and emotional point of view. One of a kind experiences, secret locations and education are quickly becoming the ultimate indulgence.”

Vogue Living Australia

About Our Superyacht Community

Since it was first founded in 2019, the mission of The Superyacht Gathering has been to foster personal connections that promote positive change within our unique industry. The numbers of attendees at any gathering is purposely limited, ensuring that by the end of the event, you will have had a chance to speak with, exchange contact details or make plans to catch up with most of the people in the room.

But though we are petite group, we are also a powerful one. Through the Superyacht Gathering, owners, experts and influencers have been inspired to be part of the better good. Altruistic undertakings that have have been shared with our community include the Manta Ray Conservation Project on Kokomo Private Island and the Live Ocean Foundation with founders Blair Tuke and Peter Burling using their high profiles for the better good.

The Superyacht Gatherings – 2023

• Fiji Islands 23/24 August 2023
• Auckland NZ 23/24 November 2023

Bula vinaka from Musket Cove Yacht Club on our island paradise!

In it’s 33 year history, Musket Cove’s 2016 Fiji Regatta has been the most successful ever – 102 entries with 280+ Captains & Crew!  There was great sailing, weather and fun!

On behalf of the Directors, Management and our wonderful Musket Family, we would like to say a very special VINAKA VAKA LEVU to all our wonderful contestants for attending this year’s Regatta!

We look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Here are some snaps we took during the week…

View more images Here

Musket Cove is well known for its sheltered yacht club, marina berths, moorings and cruising grounds and regularly attracts cruising and racing yachtsmen and women from all over our beautiful, big blue planet.

The regatta program is simple: sail by day and party by night, the latter usually happening around the beachfront barbecue area of the yacht club. The sailing is superb – almost always under the sun and enhanced by a balmy tropical trade wind.

Fiji Regatta Pirates (Photo: Northern Winds)

The Regatta begins with an official welcome at the Yacht Club which is an open-air facility located on a tiny island that forms part of the Marina. Anyone who sails to Musket Cove will be welcomed with open arms and automatically eligible to become a member of the Yacht Club.

There is a modest entry fee to cover sailing and social events. Previous events have included a Barefoot Gala Party, Pirate Day (grab your eye patch and Jolly Roger!) and Island Nights. Stay tuned for updates and the official program once it has been released, or click here for the Marina’s website.

Marina and mooring facilities are limited, so to avoid disappointment please book early.

Send an email to mcyc@musketcovefiji.com for more information or to book your place in this end of season tradition!

Fiji ‘Kula’ Bird – Feathers from which were used to adorn woven mats for trade

For people living in the outer islands, this may even be preferable with access to certain staples being limited. Items such as rice, flour, sugar, tea (thanks to the Brits!), breakfast crackers, batteries, fishing line, bars of washing soap, school supplies, and milk powder can be traded for fresh fish, local fruit, vegetables and even handicrafts.

Moce and Fulaga are still famous for crafting magimagi, which is a strong braided rope of coconut husk fiber. Kabara for hand carved Vesi wood Tanoa and model canoes, Ono-i-Lau for woven mats and sandalwood, then throughout the Yasawa and Mamanucas, virgin coconut oil infused with fragrant tropical flowers is abundant. If you have Kava from Kadavu, you will be a hero among men!

Bras for Breadfruit?

The clever folk at sailingforsustainability.org noticed that for women living on the outer islands of Fiji, a bra is often an unobtainable or unaffordable luxury. In 2012, they coordinated the delivery of 3,000 bras that were donated by the NZ Girl Guides to the Fiji Girl Guides and Fiji Cancer Society. With this in mind, bras can also provide a great item for trade among women.

The organization would love to hear from you if you are sailing to Fiji from New Zealand as you may be able to help transport more donated bras. Another charity focused on getting bras, including mastectomy bras and breast forms (prostheses) to women throughout the Pacific is upliftbras.org

Yacht Aid Global comes to Fiji in the wake of Cyclone Evan

We have many non-governmental organizations working alongside the government of Fiji to protect and conserve the natural environment. Be it for surveys of the remote reefs of the Lau group to assessing sea bird colonies.

If you are interested in some extra benevolence, you can get in touch locally with Dick Watling of NatureFiji-MareqetiViti on 3100598 / 992 3189 who can match you with a specific project. Alternatively, can work with some of the international bodies such as YachtAid or International Sea Keepers.

Internationally, YachtAid Global makes use of luxury yachts in remote areas to deliver aid, school supplies and other support to local communities. Because yachts can (obviously) move easily into isolated areas that are mostly unreachable by the larger ships of relief organisations, YachtAid Global has become very adept at providing disaster relief In the wake of Cyclone Evan back in late 2012, Yacht Partners here in Fiji worked together with YachtAid Global to bring NZ$50,000 worth of much needed supplies to Fiji aboard MY Big Fish.

Photo: Tor Johnson

Your chosen charter vessel will be licensed and registered to cruise Fiji waters, so you need only concern yourself with getting from the International Airport in Nadi to your chosen charter location. This can be as simple as chartering a seaplane or helicopter to fly you to your awaiting yacht anchored at a remote paradise island, or jumping in a taxi and enjoying a scenic car ride to the yachts marina base.

Fiji is far more remote than many other tropical island destinations. From the idyllic white sand beaches of the Yasawa and Mamanuca Group to the scenic Northern Vanua Levu and on to the lush and pristine Lomaiviti or very traditional Lau group – you can see more of Fiji in a ten day charter than most locals see in a lifetime.

The Fiji charter season begins in April and ends around the start of cyclone season (November 1st) although we have numerous yachts available for charter year- round.

Setariki Ledua

This is my story, as told by Setariki Ledua
As an oceanic people, Pacific Islanders have a history of navigating without instruments across vast distances to discover far-flung islands. We sailed by acute observation, educated intuition and intricate observation of the stars, sun, moon, wildlife and ocean swells. While technology has advanced and made sailing accessible and possible for the masses, it has also caused us to become removed from the natural skill of traditional navigation.

Pacific Islanders trace their origins to certain canoes, for each is a sacred and living treasure that connects people to their ancestry. It was through sailing that I felt the connection to my ancestors. I was the youngest student of navigation during the voyage and turning 21 at sea – bound for Cocos Island is a birthday I will never forget. As I put the theory into practice onboard the Uto ni Yalo, I felt as though my ancestors were right there with me, giving me the confidence I needed.

To begin, you must know where you are and where you are heading. Back in Lau, this was simple as the next island appears on the horizon before the last disappears from site. I soon learned this technique once we set sail for New Zealand. You need to align yourself to a path using the waves and currents. There are different currents in different places; when you are near an island the current is strong, yet it is not so strong in the open ocean. You learn to tell the difference between drifting off course due to wave direction or the wind. All islands have dominant waves and swells. Wind waves are affected by wind direction while the dominant ones are there regardless – it is important to know the difference.

The Motion of the Ocean

You must constantly pay attention to the motion of the boat under your feet, and calibrate your body to the vessels movement with the ocean. If you loose an indicator, such as on an overcast day or night, you need to keep the same motion going until you find another indicator from nature such as the stars, or the sun. You can use the waves and wind to maintain your course.

Ocean swells are a crucial guide in sailing. Navigators recognize up to eight different swells, one from each octant of the compass. Dominant and most reliable are those from the south, southeast and east, associated with the tradewind season (summer in the Southern Hemisphere). During the winter, swells come from the southeast and south.

Currents reveal themselves by the shape of the waves. A current flowing against the wind produces steeper waves, one flowing with the wind flatter waves. The direction and strength of a current may also be revealed by the pattern of ripples on the surface of the water. Currents make a significant difference for how a navigator adjusts his course in actual voyaging.

Even in the middle of the craziest storms you still have to maintain your attention to the motion and the angles that the waves are smashing into the boat. As for the flat calm days where there isn’t a ripple in sight? Well, then you just jump in and have a swim!

©James Keiaho

It’s all about understanding the natural environment and utilizing the elements that surround us every day. Our ancestors knew this and lived by a reciprocal relationship with nature. They would have waited for the right time to voyage. They would have prepared themselves thoroughly – smoking fish, collecting rainwater, food, spares etc. That perfect time would no doubt have coincided with the modern yachting seasons here in Fiji.

Celestial Navigation

Before the invention of the magnetic compass, pacific island voyagers recognized the cardinal directions of north, south, east and west (although they had very different names back then) by understanding the ocean. Its every movement, its appearance, currents, swells, colors, winds and temperature variations. While they would have depended fundamentally upon the ocean, they would have also used the night sky for navigation, since stars and planets were their most dependable form of landmarks on the open ocean.

Celestial Navigation in one form or another, is one of the oldest practices in history. The skill of finding your way by the sun, moon, stars and planets is something our ancestors would have had to master. Navigators would have used their honed senses passed on through oral tradition, chants or more often, song. We too would have had chants, but unfortunately to my knowledge, most of these died with our ancestors long ago.

Specific constellations can be used to locate your position, and to estimate the speed at which you are travelling. Unlike the sun, the stars rise and set at exactly the same point on the horizon every day, year after year. Obviously as the earth rotates, stars travel across the sky, but as one star leaves the horizon, the next star rises, and following a star path can keep you on the same course throughout the night. An expansion of this method in a circle to represent the horizon would be what was referred to as a star compass, marked with the names of star paths that rose at various points on the horizon. This method would have been used by numerous cultures throughout the Pacific.

Learning the art of celestial navigation

Weather forecasting

Before modern calendars, or weather prediction modeling, our sailing and farming forefathers would observe their natural surroundings for patterns and behaviours that indicated optimum times for voyaging, planting, harvesting or preparing for cyclones. They would read the waves and clouds to determine currents, predict weather and identify some islands based upon how the clouds would cluster.

My friend Paula Liga also hails from the island of Fulaga, and remembers vividly being 14 years old and along with a group of 5 friends, jumping into Camakau and setting sail for Namuka Island. Paula’s brother was with him and upon noticing a black cloud with what resembled the roots of a mangrove tree told Paula to put down the sails. He knew that this meant a strong wind was headed their way, and sure enough, within 15 minutes the ocean surface had completely altered. Gone was the soft rippling of the current, and instead came huge crashing wind waves.

Both Seta and Paula grew up sailing traditional Camakau

There were many such examples, frogs calling loudly in the evening indicating heavy rains overnight; red clouds in the morning – sailors warning, usually signifying a windy rainy afternoon. Others were more specific and indicated the beginning or end of cyclone season. When the Belo (Heron) flies inland, or the bees start building their hives at low levels, you know a cyclone is coming. The arrival of the Dilio seabird back in Fiji would mark the end of cyclone season, that together with the flowers appearing on the Mako and Kaudamu trees.

Today we are lucky to have satellites watching out for us from above, but it’s nice to know that without them, it is still possible to be predict optimum sailing weather with some accuracy by simply following natures lead.