Sunday, October 14, 2012

How it all started for me in 1968

I climbed the Sydney bridge with a friend in 1968. We saw many things from up there.
Opera House
There was the Opera House nearing completion, a hydrofoil coming from Manly to Circular Quays...
Spinnaker!
...and most important of all, a yacht passing under the bridge!

Ever since then I dreamt that one day I will sail in my own yacht. The seed was sown in Jan 1968 and took almost 30 years to germinate. Who says that miracles doesn't happen any more?! Today I own a 22-foot yacht, the Nanook.

Noelex-22
My Nanook has 4 berths (beds) inside the cabin, a porta-loo, cooker and even a kitchen sink. In fact it is a floating caravan designed for a small family, with very low running cost because it is wind powered (no petrol required) and is [moored] on the front lawn, all year round for free! Larger yachts of 28 foot and above are parked at the marina (fees required) with the mast permanently up.

The hull being immersed in sea water for long periods will need to be scrubbed and barnacles removed once every year or so. I sail my trailer yacht mostly in the fresh water lakes of the North Island. Some times I tow my boat to Tauranga harbour and launched it there for a day or two. I have explored many fresh water lakes near Rotorua and also Taupo. Most of my sailing is done on Lake Ngaroto, near Hamilton.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

The Ngaroto Sailing Club

During the summer months, (Oct -Mar), we organize regular regattas on Sundays. There were also sailing lessons conducted by Ross Wrenn at 9 am. just prior to the start of the regattas.


Thursday, May 5, 2011

International Optimist

This is the most stable sailing dinghy, suitable for beginners and very young children from age 6 years. It is a flat bottomed pram-bow dinghy with a tiny spritsail. It has 3 flotation chambers so that it cannot sink even when filled completely with water.

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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

P-class

The P-class fills a gap between the Opti and higher performance one man dinghies like the Starling, Zephyr, Laser, F.D.,3.7's, 505's and Paper Tiger.

This 3.7 comes complete with a trapeze for hiking out.




Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Starling

This boat is slightly faster than the Opti or P-class. Starlings are mostly made from marine ply. They are very light and easy to sail. Many are now made of fibre glass.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Zephyr, 11 ft dinghy

The Zephyr is a one man version of the high performance Mistral class dinghy, designed by Des Townsend. It is confined mainly to the Auckland area. Zephyr have since been overshadowed and replaced by the International Laser which is made of fibre glass and requires little maintenance. These photos were taken at Hamilton lake.
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Sunday, May 1, 2011

International Lasers

Most of the centre boarders at Ngaroto are Lasers. These are very fast, one-man dinghies which planes easily at 10 knots or more. However it also capsizes easily in wind gusts so that it is practical to wear a wet suit while on the water.
I used to sail a Laser in Borneo, an island 400 km east of Singapore. The northern part of this island consists of Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak; the rest, 80% is Indonesian Borneo. I lived in Sarawak until 1995 and did most of my sailing in the sea off Miri. The water was warm unlike NZ where a wet suit is necessary, especially in winter.