Boating NZ March 2016

I was lucky enough to attend the recent Millennium Cup in the Bay of Islands as a guest on Allegro – one of the superyachts participating in the regatta. The 26m Azzurro sloop is owned by a Melbourne-based Australian who’d sailed her to the Bay of Islands directly from Tasmania, following the Sydney-to-Hobart Race. She was crewed by a handful of competent Aussies who didn’t need me to help with anything other than passing cold beers along the length of the vessel. For the record, we finished second in the Pacific Cup Division. Yes, I know there were only three boats in the Pacific Division – it’s the competing that’s important. But sitting on Allegro as a bit of extra ballast, I had plenty of time to monitor the action…

We have lift-off! IF YOU’VE NOT yet seen a GC32 foiling catamaran in full cry, this photo should provide some idea of the marque’s electrifying performance. This is the MARWIN Racing Team GC32 – captured by photographer Will Calver during the recent Bay of Islands Sailing Week – with GC32 Team Vodafone Sailing in the background. After a month in the Bay of Islands, MARWIN GC32 is now heading for Auckland and will compete in the Jack Tar Regatta hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron from March 18-20. The cat has been in New Zealand as part of preparations for the 2016 GC32 Racing Tour which begins in May. It’s an innovative series of events held throughout Europe. The team with the best results from the series is…

We welcome your letters and feedback for publication. Address to: The Editor, Boating New Zealand, PO Box 6341, Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141, or email editor@boatingnz.co.nz Return of an Icon I AM PEPE DE MIGUEL, the proud owner of S/Y Kahurangi and I am writing because I read the article published in your magazine in 2010 written by Harold Kidd. When I bought Kahurangi from the late John C. Olsen back in 2006, I made him two promises: I would take her back to New Zealand and I would contact him from the last stop before arriving in Auckland for him to join us for the last leg of the voyage. Sadly, I won’t be able to fulfill the last promise but at least I can try my best to do…

An Extreme 950 Game King, Midnight Express is the second Extreme aluminium boat to join the franchise, complementing a walk-around 850 Game King centrecabin model. The Extremes replaced a pair of GRP Rayglass 2800s that were a familiar sight out on the Gulf; one Rayglass remains in the Wave Dancer fleet. Midnight Express is owned and operated by father and son team Peter and George Bourke. George has offshore experience on superyachts and is a keen angler. He heads up the fishing charter side of the business, but Midnight Express also undertakes long range water taxi and general transport duties all over the Gulf as far afield as Great Barrier Island, Kawau Island and Coromandel Peninsula. The water taxi business, called Hauraki Express, gets regular work transporting DoC staff and…

1. Who designed the Cherub dinghy? 2. What was the name of the ship’s cat on Shackleton’s ship Endurance? 3. What does the term deadrise mean? 4. Built in 1964 and operated on Lake Wakatipu, what type of boat is Meteor III? 5. When boating where would you find a cill? 6. Which is the largest member of the dolphin family? 7. The South Island’s Lake Rotoiti flows into which river? 8. What is the Maori name and meaning for the North Island? 9. What is the standard engine used in the NZ Offshore Superboat class? 10. Have more fatal shark attacks been recorded in the North Island or South Island? 11. On a chart, what does this symbol signify + ? 12. Where is Image Boats based? 13. Does…

When the operators of the Panama Canal elected to widen the waterway’s famous Gaillard Cut some 20 years ago to accommodate two-way traffic – thereby greatly increasing the canal’s carrying capacity – they turned to Vega. The Porirua-based company is a specialist manufacturer of navigation beacons and lighthouse technology. Gaillard Cut was equipped with two of Vega’s precision PEL sector Lights, allowing behemoth freighters and tankers to tip-toe past each other in safety. The Canal’s new lights added another country to Vega’s client base. Today, says its chief executive Arjen Maarleveld, it’s difficult of think any of the world’s coastlines that doesn’t have a Vega presence. Even landlocked countries, with rivers and lakes, use Vega lights. He estimates the company has a 15 per cent share of the world market…