History of the Pacific Rim Yacht Challenge

In 1990 the Goodwill Games were being held in Seattle, USA and, as a prelude to these, Bellingham City organised a series of yacht races with sister cities of Bellingham.  These cities were Victoria in British Columbia, Canada; Tateyama, Japan; and Nakhodka in Russia.  An invitation to Port Stephens Shire in New South Wales, Australia was also extended in view of other sister city relationships with Bellingham.

Port Stephens won the Bellingham event by a narrow margin and accepted the offer to host the event in Australia in 1992.  Due to the sister city relationship between Port Stephens and Tauranga city an invitation to participate was sent to the Tauranga City Council.  This invitation was passed on to the Tauranga Yacht and Power Club, thus beginning the Club’s involvement with the event.