The race was held on Saturday afternoon in weather which was anything but pleasant. As a strong northerly was blowing the Koro-Koro course was used and the crews raced from Petone towards Wellington. There was some difficulty in getting the crews away at the start; Auckland had drawn No. 1 position, nearest the shore, then came Canterbury and Otago with Victoria in the outside position. Auckland took the lead soon after the start, and drew away from Canterbury and Otago. The Auckland coxswain made the mistake of following the coastline, thus making their course a slightly longer one.

At about the half-mile mark the Otago crew took up the lead, closely followed by Auckland and Canterbury. The big Otago crew was rowing well, but Canterbury were sticking close to them. Victoria made a forward move and caught Auckland, but it was at this stage that the V.U.C. boat, which all the time was being blown further out to sea, struck exceptionally rough water. A considerable amount came aboard, and from then on, as the water became still stronger, V.U.C. were out of the picture.