Innehållsförteckning för April 2018 från Boating NZ

This is the situation in which I found myself, checking out Riviera’s new 4800 Sport Yacht. After all, if you’re on a boat designed for super-comfortable cruising, it’s only natural that a responsible writer should thoroughly investigate its potential for relaxation and socialising. Riviera is a well-known name to New Zealand boaties, and the 4800 offers just what you’d expect from this Australian brand. She’s the second of her kind in New Zealand and is the kind of boat in which you want to arrive at a bay, with curvaceous, modern lines that are definitely going to turn heads. And its twin 600hp Volvo diesels gets to your destination quick-smart too. There’s no sign of the perennial bad weather on the day we head out of Westhaven, and flat water…

Held annually on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, the Windcraft Owner’s Regatta is a celebration of the three yacht brands the company represents – Hanse, Dehler and Moody. It offers yacht owners an opportunity to meet one another – to share life-stories and sailing ideas. This year’s event – from Rangitoto’s Islington Bay, around Rakino Island to Owhanake Bay on Waiheke Island – took place in a very light south-easterly and attracted 38 boats. Among them plenty of 415s. The 415 is well-represented in New Zealand – around 17 at last count – and, given that the hull shape and sail plans of the 415 and 418 are almost identical, I was particularly interested to see how they compared. And I had the prize seat for doing so – I was guest…

SUPERYACHT CORMORANT New Zealand made RIBs are garnering an international reputation for quality. The latest RIBs from Auckland’s Southern Pacific Inflatables include a new tender for a visiting superyacht built in a stunning military grey and carbon-black to match the mothership’s colour scheme. The specification was for a Cormorant 430 with Orca Hypalon tubes and a lightweight alloy hull to ensure ease of lifting and deployment. Coupled with a new Suzuki DF40 tiller-steer featuring ‘lean burn’ technology, the RIB goes like a “burnt boot”. With an open deck and large-diameter tubes, this RIB carries payloads of up to 720kg at a good clip, while keeping its crew dry and comfortable. www.kiwiyachting.co.nz The RIB goes like a “burnt boot”. X-YACHTS X46 In 2016 X-Yachts launched the X range, incorporating the best…

Perhaps it was Harry’s humble wholesomeness and quiet determination that kept him below the radar – or maybe his unlikely background. Born in landlocked Iowa in 1869, he had a hard, Quaker upbringing which gave him a rugged independence. But the rural upbringing meant he never learnt to swim and didn’t see the sea until he arrived in California at the age of 18. The constant presence of the sea in California got him dreaming about far horizons, but it wasn’t until he purchased the plans for a Seagoer design from Rudder magazine for two dollars that he began to put his dreams into action. Harry found a rent-free space near the shore of the Los Angeles harbour and, at nearly 50 years old, built the 34- foot yawl Islander…

The event – held at Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park in early March – drew 110 entries and several hundred spectators. Beattieful is named after the original builder and is owned by Porirua’s Graeme Dutch who says it was used in the Pelorus Sound from 1961-2002, in Kaiapoi from 2002-07, and is currently homed in Picton. The 16-foot clinker is powered by a 60hp Yamaha outboard. She is a veteran of the Show and won the Mathieson-Jeffcott trophy for the Best Motor-Powered Craft in 2010. Judges spokesman Ben Cox said Beattieful stood out for her authenticity: “The attention to detail, the standard of the finish and touches like the deck hatch and little table in the cockpit really impressed us.” Part of our motivation is the potential…

A high-performance, one-design flying catamaran constructed mainly from carbon fibre, the Mothquito is manufactured by Spanish company IFS (Increased Foiling System). Designer Toni Blanc says it’s named after the pioneering International Moth, and that the IFS system not only increases stability and dynamic performance but also decreases the risk of pitch-poling – all while allowing for an oversized sail area. The Mothquito incorporates long, outward-facing V-foils that increase the cat’s dynamic beam by 200 percent, providing great lateral stability and a significant increase in righting moment. Extendable arms adjust the distance of the T-foil rudders beyond the transom. This increases the distance between dynamic lift points (V-foils and rudder T-foils), extending the boat’s length in flight by nearly 50 percent (from 3.05m to 4.50m). The V-foils are easily hoisted above…

MRS FRISBEE GOES HOME An emaciated Atlantic grey seal which nearly choked to death with a frisbee stuck around her neck has been released back into the wild after a five-month recovery programme. The seal was ‘nearly dead’ with deep cut wounds when she was found last year at Horsey beach in Norfolk in the UK. Staff at the RSPCA’s East Winch wildlife centre – where staff nicknamed her Mrs Frisbee – had to cut away the plastic toy which had cut deep into the seal’s neck. They believe Mrs Frisbee could have been struggling with the plastic ring throttling her for up to six months. But she has since made a full recovery, having ballooned from 67kg on admission to 180kg on the day she was released. Centre Manager…

I was lucky enough – during the fleet’s two-week stop-over – to sail on one of the Volvo 65 boats and speak to crew members from various teams. Let me say at the outset I think they’re insane, every last one of them – but they did offer intriguing insights into the VOR experience. Here are a few of my impressions: Multi-national and polyglot – with the 68 crew members on the seven vessels representing nationalities from all parts of the globe, the VOR is truly an ‘international’ event. I was a guest aboard China’s Dongfeng Racing Team in one of the Pro-Am races on Waitemata harbour. Thanks largely to my heroic grinding on the jib-trimming winch, we came second. I have a medal to prove it! I was also…

Having the VOR boats in Auckland before their tumultuous dive into the Southern Ocean was a pretty big deal for the city. What sort of economic impact did it have? We won’t know the answer until the numbers have been crunched – but everything points to the event being a great success – with even the weather playing ball. Officials estimate the two-week stop-over drew more than 500,000 visitors to Westhaven’s Race Village. And as anyone who visited will attest, the range of activities and interactive displays translated into a great vibe. A comparison with Alicante, in Spain, where the race started in October last year, provides an inkling. A recent study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) shows that the VOR generated nearly €100 million to the Spanish GDP and generated 1,700…

Last year, two Kiwis, a Czech, an Austrian, an Australian and an American went kayaking in Kyrgyzstan. They needed a wallet full of permits just to get close to the drop zone, which took a full day in a four-wheel drive with stacked kayaks. They all made it home – except the kayaks, which are in China. China? Yes. The kayakers rode through a gorge that poured out of Kyrgyzstan and into China. That was always the plan; they knew it would be impossible to retrieve the kayaks. Ari Walker, 26, is a golden boy of expedition-style kayaking from Golden Bay, top of the South Island. He spends seven months a year working on his father’s gold mine in Mongolia, then spends his earnings on air fares, permits and four…

follow the race FOR MORE DETAILS AND TO FOLLOW RACE UPDATES VISIT www.solo-tasman.co.nz “W ell if you’re doing it, I’ll have to then, won’t I?” This is a surprisingly casual statement from someone choosing to take on one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most gruelling single-handed yacht races. But it’s these exact words which have led to this year’s only father-and-son competitors in the Solo Trans-Tasman 1,380-nautical mile yacht race – father Malcolm Dickson racing against son Hamish. The race is a four-yearly contest across a fierce stretch of water famous for its legacy of shipwrecks, abandonments and cyclones. It starts in New Plymouth on April 1 and finishes in Mooloolaba on Australia’s Sunshine Coast. There are 17 entries with boats ranging from 9.3m to 16m. Both Dicksons are seasoned yachties who…

Puzzle no.246 Across 1. Flat-bottomed boat for carrying cargo between ship and shore (7) 5. Make watertight or impervious to water (5) 8. Boat communication device (5) 9. Wood and other loose material used to keep cargo in position in ship’s hold (7) 10. Indicators on compasses (7) 12. Dame _____ James - first woman to sail solo around world via Cape Horn (5) 13 & 5 Down. South Island coastal area in photo (5,9) 14. Remove ropes etc from masts and sails (5) 16. Large luxury passenger vessel (5) 18. Vehicle sometimes used to get boat in and out of water (7) 20. This describes boat stuck on bottom in shallow water (7) 21. Training practice exercise for emergency situation on board boat, eg (5) 22. _____ water -…

“Nice boat!” Countless times we have heard this compliment about our Anna Caroline. We are proud of her; as a true bluewater yacht she has kept us safe for close to 50,000 miles. In 2003 we bought her in Spain off a New Zealander. Larry needed the money and was done cruising. We took her to the Netherlands and refitted her. Of course we kept the beautiful kauri interior. In one of the drawers we found a little green man. We didn’t know what it was, but kept it as a tribute to the former owner. The name Espresso didn’t work for us, so we renamed her Anna Caroline van Staeten Landt. The names of our mothers, combined with the first name Abel Tasman gave to New Zealand. Then we…

POPULAR NAME Even though we are real sailing enthusiasts we enjoyed your article about the game fishing boat Yeah Buoy (March 2018). What a coincidence: we are also a German-born couple and our 27ft Catalina is also called Yeah Buoy! It has been a very original idea by our son following up on our previous trailer sailer Bloo Buoy. Our tender is called Baby Buoy. So we thought we had the game on words sussed, but it looks as if we found some (German) competition! However, we have pipped them in the race for official recognition since our boat is registered with Yachting New Zealand under its iconic name (Reg# 9533). Happy boating/sailing! Martin Esser, Whangarei ANYONE KNOW SYLVIE? Do any of your readers have information on a yacht currently…

At 45,000 miles, this 2017-18 VOR is the longest in the 45-year history of the event. Auckland – the end of Leg 6 from Hong Kong – was the halfway mark. Plenty of racing remains, and anyone could win. Only five points separate Mapfre – the Spanish team leading the race – and Dongfeng Racing Team, the Chinese boat in second place (39 to 34 points). In third place is Team Sun Hung/Scallywag from Hong Kong (26), Team AkzoNobel, Dutch, and USA/Denmark’s Vestas 11th Hour Racing (both on 23), followed by the Dutch Team Brunel (20), with the United Nations’ Turn the Tide on Plastic bringing up the rear on 12 points. While you might think this effectively equates to a two-horse race, think again. To appreciate how close the…

Scallywag is Hong Kong’s first-ever entry – and the crew elected to have the yacht equipped with SeaDek marine non-skid by local agent Batavian. Leg 7 of the race – from Auckland to Brazil’s Itajai via the Southern Ocean – is widely considered the race’s most gruelling. The crew wanted a non-skid surface that would provide both safety and comfort as they negotiated the fearsome seas and the infamous Cape Horn. SeaDek’s innovative PE/EVA blended foam decking was deemed the ideal solution. Wellington’s Batavian is New Zealand’s sole SeaDek Certified Fabricator, and with an extensive network of Certified Installers throughout the country, was quickly able to fabricate a custom deck kit to fit the VO65. “There is no better product than SeaDek for this job.” Scallywag team manager Tim Newton…

Undercover’s owner is Nick Gill, a local builder, who turned to his brother-in-law Mark Cosgrove, owner of Mercury Bay Marine, when it came to setting up his custom Surtees 750 Game Fisher. Mark owns a Surtees 6.1 Bar Crusher. DIESEL POWER Nick hadn’t owned a Surtees boat before, but he’d liked what he found while fishing and diving from mates’ boats. Initially he was thinking about something in the 7m range, but once he began putting his wish list together, decided the bigger 750 would better suit his needs. But he was adamant it should be diesel-powered… Although Mercury Bay Marine is not a Surtees dealer, Mark is very familiar with the brand, and as a Mercury dealer has plenty of experience with Mercruiser TDi engines. Mark was happy to…

Sandra and Garry Elliott have been putting the fun into boating for years, first with their Ross 930 Wasted Away, then with the Ross 1066 Wasted Away Again and now with Margaritaville. As Garry jokes, it took them 20 years to get through one line of the Jimmy Buffett song. But the time comes for all yachties to slip into something more comfortable, and for the Elliotts, it’s Margaritaville, their Ron Given-designed E-Cat 11.5m, built by Craig Partridge Yachts in the Bay of Islands. The powercat was built alongside Partridge’s E-cat, Taiaha Rua, which featured in the July 2016 edition of Boating New Zealand. The Elliotts saw Partridge’s own boat under construction and decided they wanted a bit of that – with a few modifications. “It was good to see…

MIXIT™ can be downloaded from the AkzoNobel website – www.azkonobel.com Not everyone wants a white boat – some boaties have a more colourful outlook on life. And to help them find a colour that best echoes that outlook, AkzoNobel has introduced MIXIT™. AkzoNobel is the name behind the global paint brands Awlgrip and International. The MIXIT™ tool draws on some 18,000 colours in the company’s database palette and has made them freely available – via a web-based platform – to boaties in search of a little distinctiveness. If you had any doubt about the success of the technology, you only have to look at the colourful fleet of VOR boats that has just departed from Auckland. AkzoNobel is the official paint supplier to the boats – all of which took…

Donaldson, 47, attempted the crossing in 2014 and came agonisingly close to completing it after 84 days at sea. After paddling half the Tasman with an unrepairable rudder and sitting in a once-in- 40-year storm – while looking at Mount Taranaki 80km away – he aborted the attempt. This time, Donaldson will again depart Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales coast and aim for the Taranaki coast 2,200 kilometres east – although he will probably paddle around 3,000 kilometres. “This time around it’s about finishing the job,” he says. “It’s about the challenge. No one has done it solo by kayak before.” A former multisport athlete (triathlon, cross country, adventure racing), Donaldson has represented New Zealand in several disciplines, including triathlon in the Commonwealth Games. Follow Scott’s progress www.tasmankayak.com/…