Innehållsförteckning för June 2019 från Boating NZ

A 72-year-old adventuresome French pensioner – Jean-Jacques Savin – has successfully floated across the Atlantic in a bright orange, 3m-long plywood barrel he built himself. Savin set off from the Canary Islands on Boxing Day last year and after 127 days and six hours at sea arrived at the tiny Dutch island of St. Eustatius in the Caribbean on May 2. During the 2930-mile journey the barrel was slowly pushed west by ocean currents. The voyage was inspired by a French doctor, Alain Bombard, who in 1952 did a similar solo trip from the Canary Islands to Barbados in an inflatable boat. He’d survived on raw fish and saltwater. Despite his age, it seems Savin has had plenty of experience living in deprived conditions – he is a former military…

Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox won gold in their first World Cup Series regatta – and first event in Europe – at the recent Genoa event. The pair finished third in the men’s 470 medal race and, crucially, were two boats ahead of Zangjun Xu and Chao Wang of China who started the day in first, to win the event by one point. That gold medal came on the back of the silver won by Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie and bronze picked up by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in the 49er on the first day of medal racing.…

Two men who share a love for the sea are celebrating their 25th year as volunteers at the New Zealand Maritime Museum. Roger Hames and Bob Hawkins have been mainstays at the museum almost since it first opened its doors in 1993. Roger, a former chartered accountant, volunteers as a model boat maker every Thursday. As well as building exact replicas of boats and ships, he brings a batch of freshly-baked muffins for the museum team every Thursday morning (that’s around 31,000 muffins so far). “I make muffins because they’re the only thing I know how to make. My wife Maggie does most of the cooking at home,” he says. Roger has made models of several significant boats, including the Tiri, the original Radio Hauraki vessel which broadcast from the…

Half a century ago one of the most exciting adventures in the history of sailing took place: the first Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. On April 22nd, 1969 the then penniless and 30-year-old William Robert Pat Knox-Johnston, better known as ‘Robin’, reached Falmouth in Cornwall, completing the solo journey that had kept him away from the terra firma for 312 days. His only partners on the voyage were the Henri Lloyd brand, which had supplied him with sailing clothing, and plenty of Tennents beer – the hop-based drink that for a Briton is worth more than an oilskin. It was also a providential escort, as a crack in the fresh water tanks dangerously depleted his supplies, until he managed to collect rainwater from the salt-encrusted mainsail. No one had solo…

BOATS IN BUILD A significant run of SF32s, the recently-reviewed SF36s, Custom 800s, Custom 750s and SF45s fills the factory. All these boats – plus Custom 950s in various stages of build – offer an excellent chance to see the process and effort involved in the production of a Dickey boat. TECHNOLOGY & TALENT Newly-installed CNC equipment, including a router, is integral to the team’s ability to speed up the delivery of trailer boats. It’s also central to several R&D projects and should allow faster implementation of design enhancements. Technological improvements like the CNC router are essential, and they open opportunities for skilled people across the company including operators, programmers, designers and engineers. Dickey Boats welcomes enquiries from good people at any level, from apprentice to senior professional. PAINT SHOP…

The Beneteau Monte Carlo 52 will be launched in September 2019 at the Cannes Yachting Festival. This elegant contemporary French cruiser is over 16 metres long and boasts enhanced spaces, light and comfort. Her distinctive exterior style is the work of Carlo Nuvolari and Dan Lenard; Andréani Design is responsible for the interior accommodation. The V-hull was designed in partnership with MICAD. The Monte Carlo 52 is longer and has a greater beam than the previous model, the Monte Carlo 5, which it will replace in the Monte Carlo catalogue. Her lines and slender profile are more contemporary, but she is extremely spacious for her size. www.beneteau.com…

Innovison’s smallest model, the 515 Active, is a surprising package: a small boat that feels much bigger inside, with big boat ride and handling characteristics to match. Innovision Boats’ owner, Simon Minoprio, is passionate about his designs and like the rest of the Innovision range of semicustom aluminium trailer boats, the 515 Active stands out from the crowd. With a distinctive plumb bow, its waterline length is longer than some 6m vessels, which in part explains why it behaves like a bigger boat on the water. The 515 Active’s hull is also at its widest at the chines, rather than at the gunwales, which improves stability at rest, optimises floor space inside the boat and ensures excellent toeroom – important attributes in a walkaround centre-console boat designed primarily for inshore…

Yanmar Japan has developed a new marine activity called the Wheeebo, based around the concept that anyone can enjoy exciting new experiences on the water. Powered by a Nickel-hydride battery, the Wheeebo’s electric motor propels the circular, 140-150cm in diameter board to a around three knots. Acceleration is controlled by a handheld remote control. Users of the circular board lean in the desired direction of travel and onboard sensors detect the change in weight distribution and engage the board’s motor to propel the board across the water. While operation is a simple and intuitive, a moderate amount of skill is required for mastery. Suitable for calm water use, the Wheeebo’s operational life is approximately one hour between charges. FIND IT @ www.yanmar.com/global/wheeebo/ Suitable for calm water use by people of…

New Zealand’s foray into undersea cables began in August 1866 with a copper telegraph line across Cook Strait. It ran from Whites Bay, north of Blenheim, to Lyall Bay on Wellington’s south coast. But laying it took a few goes… In the first attempt the cable snapped. A second attempt came up short because the cable drifted sideways in strong currents. Re-using pieces of the first cable helped make up the difference. A bonus of the new cable was the introduction of Standard Time nationwide. Previously, provincial centres maintained their own time based on longitude, but separate stations opening/closing at different times didn’t make for smooth communication. With its new cable, New Zealand became the world’s first country to implement Standard Time.…

Decades ago, as a young boy determined to learn the arts of hands-on seamanship, I found a berth on the scow Success, gathering rubbish and gash (galley scraps) from ships in Port Wellington. All the waste was quarantined so, after chugging around the overseas ships, we’d motor down Evans Bay and discharge at a wharf where our cargo was incinerated. It was a great ship-handling education, going alongside the towering steel hulls in all sorts of weather while crewmen craned their refuse to land on the Success’ deck. Drums of borscht from the Russians or chow mein from the Chinese. The 21m hard chine scow was built by D.N. Darroch at Stanley Bay, Auckland in 1925 – the last and the smallest true scow built in New Zealand. Originally named…

The practice of shifting ballast in racing yachts goes back a long way. The Americans developed a class of scow-like centreboarders loosely known as ‘sandbaggers’ in which burly crewmembers slung sandbags from side to side when changing tacks. Not only was it dangerous but it was considered unfair practice by the yacht clubs. Early mullet boats racing in Auckland shifted ballast until ‘fairplay men’ were carried to ensure it didn’t happen. Writing in 1911, R.J. Scott coyly admitted to meeting the challenge of yachts like Pastime in his beamy old-timer Fleetwing by sandbagging her with brawny fitters from the Addington Railway workshops. He even alleged that a lead trolley had once appeared through the lee side of Pastime. My opinion is that he was mistaken, as Malcolm Miller was always…

REVIVING A CLASSIC UPGRADE TO A SMARTER MFD LIGHTER, SMALLER, STRONGER MARITIMO 51 www.boatingnz.co.nz…

Forest & Bird is heartened that 90% of respondents to a Department of Conservation survey support changes to whitebaiting regulations. “This level of public support bodes well for finding solutions that will help ensure our unique and threatened native fish have a future,” says Annabeth Cohen, Forest & Bird’s freshwater advocate. DOC’s public survey was supported by feedback at public meetings, the Whitebait Working Group and consultation with Māori. The findings will become a discussion document for public consultation later in the year. “The future management of our native fish species is such an important issue, and it’s great all New Zealanders will have an opportunity to have their say,” says Cohen. “We know our whitebait species face many threats, including habitat loss, pollution, climate change and physical barriers to…

The number of Kiwis taking an ocean cruise broke through the 100,000 threshold for the first time in 2018 – a total of 112,000 passengers. This is a 14.6% increase on the previous year, giving New Zealand a growth rate well ahead of the world’s largest and more established cruise markets including the USA (9.4%) and Europe (3.3%). The figures are presented in the annual Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) 2018 Ocean Source Market report for New Zealand. “New Zealanders have developed a strong passion for cruising, resulting in growth rates that are among the highest in the world,” says CLIA Australasia Managing Director Joel Katz. “Not only are they choosing a cruise to explore the world in increasing numbers, they’re also opting to cruise in their own waters to…

We were going for a blast in his latest prototype 5.2m RIB on Lyttelton Harbour in a sloppy easterly swell. I was dressed for a drenching in my full wet weather gear. It was a fashion decision based on my previous spray-soaked experience in RIBs. I felt like I’d turned up at Hawaiian-themed dress-up party in tails and a top hat. A mildly embarrassing feeling that was soon put to one side as I was introduced to the boat. Frith, as she has is called, is the second prototype of a RIB design that is set to change the game. As an engineer by training, Milton often comes across things that could be better with a bit of design thinking. He’s done this numerous times with such things as bikes,…

On May 2, BRP announced an agreement to acquire 80% of the outstanding shares of Telwater Pty, Ltd (‘Telwater’), Australia’s leading manufacturer of aluminium boats and trailers. When the acquisition’s completed, Paul Phelan, Telwater’s current owner and Managing Director who started as a welder with the company 30 years ago, will continue to play an important role in the operations of the business and will hold 20% of the company’s shares. It will be business as usual for the 270 employees at Telwater’s Coomera factory and Telwater’s 230 dealerships across Australia, Asia Pacific and Europe. BRP Marine Group businesses like Alumacraft, Manitou and Evinrude will be able to leverage Telwater’s competitive advantages, such as its stretch-forming capabilities, manufacturing excellence and Australian market share. In Australia, Telwater manufactures over 8,000 Quintrex,…

The Moana 56 has been awarded Asia Boating’s ‘Best multihull motoryacht over 50ft’ against some stiff competition. The vessel was also nominated for ‘Best Asian-built yacht’. With a hull designed by Auckland’s Stimson Yacht Design and Naval Architecture and the interior/exterior designed by Wong Yacht Design in Shenzhen, China, it is a testament to the team’s drive for quality and attention to detail. Chris Wong studied Transport Design at Massey University, Albany, in 2012, specialising in marine. Christian Stimson was judging the final year design projects, including Wong’s. On returning to China, Wong set up Wong Yacht Design and began collaborating with Stimson Yacht Design & Naval Architecture on several projects. Wong is a partner and CEO of Moana Yachts, which plans to move production from the Xinlong yard to…

The first fibreglass Elite AT43 hull came out of the mould at Allan Tongs Boat Builders (ATBB) on Tuesday May 7, looking beautifully straight and fair. The AT43 is a Bill Upfold design for moulded GRP construction. Bulkheads and engine girders were installed prior to releasing the hull from the mould and the team at ATBB is currently hard at work with interior fit-out and engineering. The GRP deck moulding was ready to be released as this magazine went to press. Making the moulds for a vessel of this size is a long and involved process, which has taken ATBB a full year, including the work so far on this AT43. But with all the moulds now completed, subsequent AT43s will take much less time to build. Allan Tongs Boat…

But electronic kit can fail and over-confident or incompetent users can make errors with serious consequences. The well-publicised grounding of Team Vestas Wind in the 2014 Volvo Ocean Race, due to “deficient use of electronic charts” should serve as a warning – if the pros can make this sort of error, the recreational boatie should be extra vigilant. ‘Old fashioned’ paper charts aren’t just as a back-up for electronic plotters – they should be viewed as an essential tool for the navigator. Planning and compiling routes on a chart plotter/mobile device is possible, but the screens are often too small for this to be practical or safe. On an electronic plotter you can zoom in but may lose the wider picture; or you can zoom out and lose the detail.…

As any modern major-general will tell you, accurate intelligence (information) is crucial for waging war successfully. Conversely, you can also make headway by restricting the enemy’s ability to gather intelligence. Cutting undersea cables/intercepting messages has been (still is?) a popular strategy. Cable sabotage began in WW1 with the British cable-laying ship the Alert. Britain controlled most of the planet’s undersea cable network and, within two hours of war being declared on August 5, 1914 the Alert was alerted and she put to sea. A few hours later, Germany’s ability to communicate internationally virtually ceased. During the Cold War some 50 years later, in what became known as Operation Ivy Bells, the USSR’s encrypted messages along an undersea cable were intercepted by an American submarine, the USS Halibut. The sub attached…

Puzzle no.260 Across 7. _____ gear – covering used to protect boat line from wear and abrasion (7) 9. Hoist and secure sail (5) 10. Freshwater game fish (5) 11. Act of collision between moving vessel and stationary object (7) 11. Act of collision bet 14. What some jellyfish do (5) 16. Locations for marinas, eg (5) 18. Japanese dish made of seaweed (5) 20. NZ island in photo (7) 21. What muscles did after hard sailing race? (5) 23. Annual sailing race, maybe (5) 24. Line attached to bow of boat used for tying up (7) Down 1. Sinks vessel deliberately (8) 2. Type of shark found in NZ waters (4) 3. Metal pin on which rudder turns (6) 4. Circular coral reefs surrounding lagoons (6) 5. In central…

Success/Alwin G is still around, currently on the hard in Nelson. A group of maritime heritage enthusiasts is investigating her possible purchase with a view to restoring her. It’s estimated around 130 similar scows once plied New Zealand’s harbours. Commonly referred to as ‘trucks of the sea’ they were the backbone of maritime transport and played a major role in the country’s early development. Of these, only three original scows remain – the Jane Gifford, the Alma and the Success. Beautifully restored, the Jane Gifford is a popular tourist attraction in Warkworth, north of Auckland.…

The 128-foot Naema – built in 2012 – won May’s inaugural Capri Classica Regatta in Naples, an event that attracted four giant schooners. The regatta – the first round of the Schooner Cup Series – was created by the International Schooner Association in conjunction with the International Maxi Association. This Capri event will be followed by September’s Monaco Classic Week and Les Voiles de St Tropez, where the winner will be awarded the Schooner of the Year Trophy. Naema – inspired by the 1938 Alfred Mylne design Panda, raced against Mariette of 1915 (a 138-foot 1915 Nathanael Herreshoff schooner), Orianda (85-foot 1937 Dahlstrom staysail schooner) and Puritan – a 126-foot 1930 Alden gaff schooner. Perhaps the most unusual feature of the regatta is the start protocol. While most yacht races…

Seventeen-year old Sean Herbert has made history by becoming the first person to win the New Zealand Starling Nationals three times in a row. Sailing for RNZYS, Herbert pulled off the three-peat in a regatta that came right down to the final race at the Taipa Sailing Club. Will he try for four in a row? He thinks his size might be a limiting factor for the small class of boat: “I think the oldest competitor this year was 61 so you can stay in it as long as you like, but I’m over six-foot now and weigh 60kgs, so I’m on the brink of being too big.”…

Some boats kind of slip beneath the radar. There are around 10 Nimbus 305 Coupés already in the hands of satisfied Kiwi owners and importer Sports Marine has another five on order from the Swedish factory, but this one is the first we’ve had the opportunity to review. Nimbus manufactures a range of GRP sportboats and motoryachts in a variety of sizes and styles. The Nimbus 305, produced in Coupé and Drophead versions, sits somewhere in the middle of the company’s range. That the 305 Coupe should prove to be so popular in New Zealand shouldn’t really be a surprise: its compact dimensions, single-engine configuration, comprehensive equipment levels and a build-quality that benefits from Scandinavian style and attention to detail resonate with New Zealand boaters. The 305 Coupé is proving…

That early Navara lost points for the harshness of its ride, so-so turning circle, and most importantly, it was a bit gutless and so didn’t tow that well. But six years on, I really like the re-vamped Navara. I took the vehicle from Auckland to Waipu and back for the weekend, during which I towed my own FC 535 Centre Console and the company’s project boat Fishing News – a Buccaneer Billfisher 735. These weighed in at just under one and three tonnes respectively, representing a fair challenge to the Navara, particularly the Buccaneer. Without a boat hitched on behind, the Navara’s an impressively nimble ride – its twin-turbo 2.3-litre DOHC intercooled diesel delivering a healthy shove to your back. It handles nicely, sits firmly through the corners with little…

When the Elliott 50 Ran Tan II left Auckland on 20 April, she was following the wakes of legends such as Starlight Express, Anticipation and Lion New Zealand who routinely sailed thousands of miles to compete at international level in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. Since Petersen bought Ran Tan in 2014, the yacht’s maintained a busy offshore racing schedule. In 2016, she raced to Fiji, then sailed across to Noumea for the Groupama Race and finished fourth on line behind Scallywag, Beau Geste and Ichiban. In 2017 she competed in the Sydney to Hobart race, at times hitting more than 30 knots on a glamour run down the coast to finish 15th on line in one day, 23 hours and 34 minutes. In Melbourne, Ran Tan took second on…

On May 1 the last of almost 1200 commercial operators transferred to the new Maritime Operator Safety System (MOSS). “It has been a successful, five-year process,” says Maritime NZ Deputy Director, Compliance, Pelin Fantham. MOSS was introduced in July 2014, and Maritime NZ ran a gradual transition to help make the change from the old safety system to the new as smooth as possible for the industry. On May 1, Fantham presented Penwarden Holdings Ltd with its certification in a small ceremony on Whangarei Harbour. She congratulated the company for completing the transition and bringing its fishing vessels Bilyara, and the brand new Karearea, into MOSS. “MOSS was designed to make it clear that an entire maritime operation, not just the vessel, needs to be examined to ensure all the…

McLay Boats has released a new amphibious model called the 741 Raptor. Based around McLay’s popular and capable 741 Hardtop, the 741 Raptor features on-land as well as on-water capabilities, thanks to a Tectrax amphibious electric all-wheel-drive system. The Raptor breaks new ground for amphibious vessels with an allelectric tricycle undercarriage that retracts completely into the boat’s aluminium hull. An innovative bow door slides open to deploy the bow wheel and slides closed again once the wheel is fully retracted into the hull. Rear wheels retract inside the transom. With the undercarriage retracted, there is no danger of wrapping fishing lines in the rear wheels or of the front wheel interfering with normal drum winch anchoring, problems amphibious craft with exposed wheels can suffer. McLay Boats believe the 741 Raptor…

Submarine cables? What happened to orbiting satellites and on-demand-wireless-connectivity? Well, as it turns out, those technologies have speed, latency and capacity issues – which is why an estimated 99% of all global digital data traffic runs across the submarine network. This includes your emails, photos, videos and social media – a frenetic 24/7 merry-go-round orchestrated in no small part by the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, interconnecting more than four billion internet users. In addition, it carries the swathe of data that shapes global industry, science, commerce and finance, accounting for some €8 billion of daily transactions. At last count there were around 350 fibre-optic cables criss-crossing the ocean floor – together measuring nearly a million kilometres – and those monitoring these things say the volume of…

While undersea cables remain the backbone of the internet, they could have additional roles. The International Telecommunication Union – in conjunction with around 100 partners – is exploring an initiative involving sensors mounted on the submarine cables to measure (in real time) aspects of climate change linked to the circulation of ocean currents. Such sensors could also be an early warning of underwater seismic events and tsunamis.…

The organisation is transforming the area on the western side of Auckland’s ever-changing cityscape, adjacent to the iconic Auckland Harbour Bridge. The new Westhaven Marine Village will form a marine hub that epitomises the ‘city of sails’ lifestyle. It will be a space where marine businesses can be close to their customers and part of the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest marina – a facility that includes around 2,000 boats, four yacht clubs, and is established as a world-class marine hub. The 2000m2 Village development will accommodate mainly marine-related businesses – chandlers, yacht brokers and marine service operators. A north-facing tenancy has been allocated for a food and beverage offering where an established operator will be able to take advantage of the vista towards Auckland’s city. Match Realty has been appointed to…

This July marks the 50th anniversary of two extraordinary events that electrified New Zealanders: man landed on the moon – and a nondescript Auckland sloop won the One Ton Cup in Germany’s Heligoland. Both events featured on the front page of the Auckland Star’s first edition on Monday 21 July, 1969. It’s hard to overstate the impact of the little sloop’s achievement on Kiwi sailing. She not only announced the nation’s presence on the global yacht racing stage, she also inspired generations of local sailors, designers and builders. Perversely, she was almost lost for good – rescued in the nick of time from a marina in Bermuda. Designed by Olin J Stephens II (Sparkman & Stephens), Rainbow II was built in 1966 to meet the RORC rule. Her construction–focused on…