Innehållsförteckning för November 2016 från Boating NZ

By the time most of you come to read this, the United States of America will have a new President, and the mind-numbing circus that’s choked international news channels over the last year will have ended. I hope. I won’t test my crystal-ball skills by predicting the winner, but will admit to being nervous whatever the outcome. Because this election, I think, has changed the US forever. How the world sees it, how it sees itself, how it interacts with the international community. It’s experienced a societal seismic shift. Will it still be the world’s dominant superpower? Its biggest economy? Will it have the delicacy and diplomacy required to cope with an increasingly aggressive China and a brooding Russia? Has WWIII – as some pundits are calling it – already…

” This is a boat that will cruise at 40 knots when the conditions are right” Three Honda V6 250hp outboards on Oona’s transom certainly don’t lack for thrust – this White Pointer has performance to burn – but their uncanny quietness turns high-speed cruising into a serene experience. White Pointer Boats and Honda Marine had to overcome a number of challenges with this vessel, including getting the boat’s balance right. With all that machinery hanging off the transom, White Pointer had to tweak the hull slightly and reposition fuel and water tanks. The team at Honda is still working through engine height adjustments and propeller selection. THREE ENGINES AND ALL THE FRUIT In every respect Oona is an impressive vessel. She’s primarily a sport-fishing boat, but equipped to the…

Answers 1. Four – Men’s 49er, Women’s 49erFX, Women’s 470 and Men’s Laser. 2. A species of fish with a skeleton of cartilage. 3. The Laser dinghy. 4. From 1600 to 1800 hours (usually split into two, hour long, first and second dog watch). 5. In the bilges - it is a strainer used to stop large debris blocking the bilge pump hose. 6. Kawhia. 7. Joseph Conrad, author of Heart of Darkness 1857-1924. 8. In a channel or area where manoeuvrability is restricted. 9. The letter K. 10. You should stop your vessel immediately. (Try flying it during your next race!). 11. c. 112.5 degrees. 12. 35g or about 7 teaspoons. 13. a. On longer than it is off. 14. Piercy Island or The Hole in the Rock. 15.…

My mates say I’ve always been a Pork Chop. That may be so, but that’s hardly my fault, is it? I tried being a Diablo for time and hoped that when Tom extended my keel with that beautiful torpedo-like bulb and added the square top main that he saw me as something more than a Pork Chop – perhaps a Tusker? But alas, Tom wanted me to stay a Pork Chop and so Pork Chop I am. It’s always very daunting anticipating a new owner. No boat wants the stigma of having “For Sale” plastered over her. Especially not for long. If you ask me, two weeks is about the right amount of time. The longer one languishes in the marina, watching wistfully as other boats come and go, people…

In general, the fish recreational anglers are most interested in become easier to catch. Snapper in prime condition migrate inshore prior to spawning and fishing for them becomes more rewarding as their numbers increase. The fact that they are hungry and aggressive only works to the angler’s advantage. SNAPPER BONANZA In the Hauraki Gulf and elsewhere work-ups have been increasing in size and intensity since the middle of winter. By November in most years, snapper have gathered in sheltered embayments and close to suitable juvenile habitats like harbours and estuaries ready to spawn. While they wait for the water to reach 18o Celcius, fish gorge on pilchards, anchovies and mackerel. Wheeling, diving gannets signpost workup activity, which intensifies in spring and generally moves inshore, making the fishing more accessible to…

The Mullet Boat A New Zealand Yachting Icon By Harold Kidd and Robin Elliot Published by Tino Rawa Trust, $30.00 A MUST-HAVE for lovers of the iconic ‘mulleties’, this comprehensive overview of the class – its origins, history, evolution and role in nurturing the seeds of racing in New Zealand – is a great read. Authors Kidd and Elliot are recognised authorities on the class – both veritable walking encyclopaedias about the scores of vessels which punctuate New Zealand’s mullet boat heritage. It’s an excellent, easy read – crammed with plenty of fascinating details and historic images of the personalities and vessels that shaped an era. You don’t have to be a mullet enthusiast to appreciate it. The Notorious Captain Hayes The Remarkable True Story of William ‘Bully’ Hayes, Pirate…

To the uninformed, sails are often referred to as “rags, bags or tarps.” While my first Optimist sail may have fallen into this category, most do not. Good sails are a delicate collection of sophisticated curves which form a subtle foil shape and in doing so allow a boat to move through the water in silence. Sails have been around a long time and some would argue they are the technology that made the early human exploration of the planet possible. The earliest evidence of sails being used is from the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture based in Eastern Europe 6000 years BC. The proto–Austronesian culture that were the ancestors of modern Pacific cultures developed their version of the sail around 3000 BC and in doing so managed to populate even the furthest…

When most of the centre console craft in New Zealand were either imported or custom built, the majority of domestic boat manufacturers took the view that, while such boats might be fine in warm and sunny Florida or Queensland, for New Zealand’s cool, windy conditions they were not ideal. In fact, with their open bows, many Kiwi boaters considered them unsafe, a criticism often also levelled at bowriders at the time. Cabin-style trailer boats were standard issue in New Zealand and remain favourites with Kiwi boaters today, providing shelter from the elements and a measure of security when punching into big seas, crossing river bars and launching through the surf. Their popularity is justified, especially in more southerly parts of our country. But centre console craft have enjoyed a remarkable…

We’ve been checking out the sustainable fishing guide for NZ waters and were very surprised to find some of our favourite fish appearing in the red zone. Snapper and blue nose are often our go-to choices when developing recipes but according to the list they are not fished sustainably in NZ. So for this dish we decided to try one of the lesser known species that is fished sustainably, red gurnard. Check out the list online and challenge yourselves to branch out and try something new. Spring brings such a bounty of produce and we’ve based this salad on what is plentiful at the moment. The tangerines are prolific on the tree in our backyard and had to be included. Replace with oranges if you wish. Avocados have at long…

Anyone who’s fitted trim tabs knows how well these can work, enabling the skipper to compensate for uneven weight distribution, or to counter the tendency of some hulls to lean into the wind. Some tabs require a little fiddling to get the adjustment right, and as soon as someone moves or the wind changes direction they need to be tweaked again. Given the incredible advances in electronic accelerometers and gyroscopic stabilization (think: mobile phones and drones with cameras), it was only a matter of time before someone used these to create an automatic trim control system for boats. The Humphree X-Series is that product. The heart of the system is the central control unit containing microprocessors, tilt sensors and the accelerometer. This unit can detect roll and pitch to a…

HanseYachts awarded Boat Builder of the Year GERMANY'S HANSEYACHTS AG received the Boat Builder of the Year Award 2016 from British magazine Sailing Today. Editor Sam Fortescue said: “Hanse Group has had a very busy year, launching a new flagship in the form of the stunning new Hanse 675, the Hanse 588 and the award-winning Hanse 315. Meanwhile Hanse’s more performance-oriented Dehler brand saw the launch of a new 42-footer, while its classic 34 has been relaunched and brought bang up to date.” The redevelopment of the Dehler 34 was particularly exciting because the first Dehler 34, which was built in the 1980s, laid the cornerstone for a new type of boat: the performance cruiser. The CEO of HanseYachts, Dr. Jens Gerhardt, thanked Sailing Today for the award, along with…

Active sound FUSION INTRODUCES the world’s first purpose-built portable watersports stereo – FUSION STEREOACTIVE. Engineered in New Zealand, it has built-in Bluetooth audio streaming, AM/FM radio and USB audio playback. Puck-It mounts attach the stereo to any paddleboard, kayak, canoe, boat or hot tub. A waterproof cavity houses a low profile USB for MP3 playback. ACTIVESAFE securely houses any smartphone, vehicle keys, bank cards or loose change. Both STEREOACTIVE and ACTIVESAFE float. The 2.5-inch directional speakers deliver audio through the 40-watt speaker system. Batteries last for up to 20 hours and the type-A USB port also provides playback and charging for Apple iPhone Android AOA devices. Users can also control volume, track and source adjustment directly from a compatible Garmin smartwatch. www.fusion.co.nz On hold TALLON’S UNIVERSAL drink holder now mounts…

Although your boat spends much of its life in the water, the most fundamental requirement is to keep that water safely on the outside of the hull. And yet every boat has several holes cut through the hull to let water in or out, for cooling, cleaning or sanitation. Every such opening introduces an inherent weakness with potential for leaks and as such requires proper choice of materials, appropriate installation and occasionally a spot of careful maintenance. Fortunately, most fittings and hoses are simple to install and maintain and so are prime candidates for the DIYer. Having said that, the internet’s littered with sad tales about boats sinking at their moorings because an underwater fitting’s failed. While a boat sinking is the worst case scenario, even a minor leak can…

So, there we were, absolutely terrified, in the back of an ambulance in Cuba being rushed to hospital at the insistence of the Port Authority Medical Officer stationed at the marina. The doctor suspected I’d contracted cholera. As a cruiser, being caught up in a medical drama in a foreign port filled me with dread – not just because of the very real health concerns, but also the cost. We’d recently left USA and budgetary constraints forced us to seek quotations from doctors before making any appointments. Such is the life of cash-strapped cruisers. We’d no idea how much this unfolding drama would cost. We had recently completed a delightful cruise through the Bahamas, and had crossed from Great Inagua Island to mainland Cuba during some rather boisterous conditions. Jeanette…

It begins in 1958, when Wellington builder Roland [Rollo] Dutton damaged his kneecap so badly in a fall from a ladder he was forced to give up his career. Adversity often generates positive change. Rollo moved his family up to Hamilton, and following his love of boats, began building canoes and dinghies in his garage. Customer demand for bigger boats led to him building Carl Augustin plywood runabouts. Augustin’s runabout plans featured relatively simple forward topside shapes to facilitate sheet plywood construction. But Rollo modified these plans to incorporate flared bows for a drier ride, and he built the forward topsides in double diagonal planking, with sheet plywood everywhere else. This gave his boats a more distinctive shape. Under the brand name Rollo’s Boats, Rollo built runabouts in lengths ranging…

In the last issue of Boating New Zealand I examined the short life of W.H. Hazard and his launch Virginia which played a central role in establishing the sport of game-fishing in this country. While writing that article I recalled that Hazard had three nearcontemporaries and friends, who also had short lives, but packed with activity on the water. All four men were born within 10 years of one another and died prematurely within four years of one another. Soldier, gunsmith and sporting goods retailer W.H. Hazard was born in Thames in 1872 and died during a minor medical procedure in 1921. William Robert Twigg, a prominent engineer, was born in 1875 and died in 1925. He owned a large number of launches during his lifetime, many of them powered…