BREEZE Magazine Sept - Oct 2021

BREEZE Breeze Magazine 1

Issue No. 237 • September – October 2021

Official Publication of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron

2 Breeze Magazine

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CONTENTS

Cover: Equilibrium competing in the Doyle Sails Winter Series – Photo by Andrew Delves.

EDITORIAL Please address all editorial correspondence to the Editor, Ivor Wilkins ivorw@xtra.co.nz Phone 09 425 7791 ADVERTISING inklink@xtra.co.nz Phone 09 378-1222.

DISCLAIMER The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are purely those of the authors and are not necessarily the official view of the RNZYS, nor of the publishers.

PERMISSION Reproduction rights in part or in full of the contents of this publication must be applied for from the Editor.

DEADLINES For Dec – January Issue Editorial - 26 November Advertising booking - 26 November Advertising material due - 3 December Magazine posted - 10 December Layout and Typesetting by Ocean Press Ltd Printed by Soar Printing Registered as a magazine at the GPO, Wellington. ISSN 0113-7360

From the Commodore .........................................................................................................................................................5 From the CEO ...........................................................................................................................................................................6 Cruising Report ........................................................................................................................................................................8 Blake statue is latest addition to RNZYS Collection .......................................................................................10 Sailing Office Report ........................................................................................................................................................... 12 In Memoriam: Peter Hay ...................................................................................................................................................14 A taste of Mexico at RNZYS ........................................................................................................................................16 RNZYS Events ........................................................................................................................................................................18 An RNZYS Charity Auction prize to remember ...............................................................................................20 AC venue remains an open question .......................................................................................................................22 2021 Cup defence smothered in red tape ...........................................................................................................25 Solo globetrotter’s life-changing voyage ...................................................................................................................28 Star-studded line-up returns to their roots for YTP Alumni Regatta ..................................................... 31 Hard lessons from the Covid Games .......................................................................................................................32 The ‘accidental’ race officer .............................................................................................................................................33 Bean Rock lighthouse shares RNZYS birthday ...................................................................................................34 Scenes from the Doyle Sails Winter Series ...........................................................................................................36 Welcoming new members to the RNZYS ............................................................................................................38 RNZYS authors in print ....................................................................................................................................................40 Planting a legacy at Kawau ...............................................................................................................................................44 Top notch wining and dining experience ................................................................................................................46 Kawu Boating Club launches Labour Weekend sailfest ..................................................................................48 Stratis technology celebrates significant milestone ...........................................................................................50 Performance Programme Report ............................................................................................................................... 54 Youth Programme Report ............................................................................................................................................... 55 Classic Yacht Association Journal ..................................................................................................................................56 Marine Scene ...........................................................................................................................................................................58 Directory Ads ..........................................................................................................................................................................60 FLAG OFFICERS Commodore Aaron Young 021 747 470 Vice Commodore Andrew Aitken 027 579 4194 Rear Commodore Gillian Williams 021 540 896 BREEZE MAGAZINE Editor Ivor Wilkins 09 425 7791

ivorw@xtra.co.nz Assistant Editor Debra Douglas 0211 856 846

chaucer@xtra.co.nz Advertising Debbie Whiting 09 378 1222

inklink@xtra.co.nz

MANAGEMENT TEAM Chief Executive Officer Hayden Porter 09 360 6805 Membership Director Kim Bond 09 360 6804 Youth Coaching Reuben Corbett 09 360 6811 Sailing Director Laurie Jury 09 360 6809 Events Manager Catriona Stanton 09 360 6834 Quarterdeck Restaurant Reservations

09 360 6820 RNZYS Office Box 46-182, Herne Bay, Auckland 1147

09 360 6800

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6 Breeze Magazine

GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE SUPPORT OF MAJOR PARTNERS

SUPPORTERS

MASTERCARD YOUTH TRAINING PROGRAMME SPONSORS

RNZYS PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME SPONSORS

CORPORATE MEMBERS

Accor Hotels

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Hikvision

Spark New Zealand

Antipodes

Clean Corp

Hick Bros Construction

Southern Spars

Argosy Property Limited

Compass Communications

Integrated Marine Group

Suncorp New Zealand

Argus Fire Protection

Datacom

JC McCall Plumbing

Teak Construction

Asahi Beverages

Edu Experts

Kennedy Point Marina

Team Turf

B&G

36 Degrees Brokers

Martelli McKegg

Thos Holdsworth & Sons

Bank of New Zealand

Ecology New Zealand

Milford Asset Management VMG Clothing

Barfoot & Thompson

Emirates

Negociants

Westpac

Bellingham Wallace

Ezi Car Rentals

Panasonic

Yamaha

BEP Marine Ltd

Franklin Smith

Propspeed

Catalano Shipping Services

Furuno/ENL

Rayglass Boats

CBRE

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Breeze Magazine 7

FROM THE COMMODORE As I write this article during yet another Auckland lockdown, we are supposed to have had our 2021 AGM by now, and should have just celebrated the official RNZYS 150th birthday. My first year as Commodore ends just as it began – with a lockdown and a closed club!

Despite this we have achieved a lot. As each two-year term for a Commodore unfolds, we try our best to leave the club in a better place than when we started – I now have 11 months to go.

While the year has been thoroughly enjoyable, a considerable time sacrifice is made so firstly, thank you to my family, our Committee, and all the staff, for your continued support. I also thank each and every member who has supported me, and the Committee, as we led the club through the last year.

Through these interesting Covid times, we have all learnt a lot. We are forced to shut the doors and not only halt all our membership events and food and beverage operation, but we also stop sailing. The staff and Committee now have this process pretty well documented and practiced, but it’s still challenging and frustrating for all of us, not least of all financially.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge and thank our outgoing Committee members.

Jonty Cullinane has always offered frank, considered logical ideas and feedback. He has been involved with both Sailing and Membership Committees, and more recently

Finance & Risk, which he has offered to stay on this Committee for the next term.

Peter Boardman has served on the General Committee for 12 years and has been the driving force and advocate for Kawau. He led the successful application for the Kawau facility resource consent, a well-deserved reward for his hard work and determination for his time on the General Committee. Peter will continue to work with the Kawau subcommittee where his knowledge and experience will be very helpful.

I would also like to pay our respects to Peter Hay (Past Commodore, Life member and Trustee) who gave so much to the club over so many years. We certainly miss him, along with his wealth of knowledge and significant contribution to club life.

The General Committee has confirmed acceptance by Past Commodore Bill Endean to join Graeme Bennett and Bryan Kensington, as our third Trustee.

We still have a huge amount of on-water activity to come despite the Doyle Sails Winter Series finishing prematurely due to Covid. RNZYS will celebrate Opening Day in October, along with the start of the Doyle Sails Wednesday Night series. Remember also to note November 4th for our very own Corporate Charity Regatta, where money raised will support the International Sailing Fund and the Kawau Reforestation project.

Operationally, the club is traditionally far quieter during the winter months and this year is no exception. We have also been hit with many additional costs, like many businesses, with increased wage costs and higher-priced supplies. Be assured though, the Flag officers and CEO meet almost daily to make sure we are on track and thinking of many ideas that allow us to keep all members engaged. It has been a long lockdown, so let’s hope we can all be back in person soon.

America’s Cup 37 discussions and opinions continue with many parties, but for us most importantly with our team. As Trustee of the

America’s Cup, we are in daily communication with Emirates Team NZ given we have to sign and present a Protocol by the middle of November. The America’s Cup Protocol defines the items of mutual consent under the America’s Cup Deed of Gift agreed between the Defender (RNZYS) and Challenger of Record (RYS). Whilst I appreciate there will be many opinions on what is right and wrong, we have stood by our team as per our agreement and have always maintained if we have a choice it is our preference that the AC37 event is held in Auckland, assuming it is credible with adequate finance as well as Government support. We are getting close to making some key decisions with our team around the next cycle of the event, where we hope to be able to successfully defend the oldest trophy in international sport.

I mentioned a year ago that my own goals reached further than seeing a successful America’s Cup and having a few parties to celebrate the sesquicentennial. The RNZYS has such an influential role across sailing in New Zealand that we must lead the way here.

I would like to help to grow the sport with all clubs and increase our own club sailing standard. At a membership level, I would also like to see members being passionately involved in our club, having fun on and off the water. To that point, we have increased membership numbers slightly, and have higher numbers racing than we have ever had.

The RNZYS has collaborated with many other clubs to create events like the Barfoot & Thompson Bridge to Bean Race and sharing the America’s Cup for club and regatta prizegivings.

Our ongoing collaborations with other clubs continue to be a work in progress, and we are always looking for more opportunities to grow New Zealand sailing. Through this teamwork, we continue to strive for our vision – to be the world’s leading yacht club.

I look forward to seeing you back at the club, or out on the water soon.

Aaron Young, Commodore

Thinking of selling your boat?

As a result of a big sales year, we continually require new listings. Our sales team has a great record of success and is standing by to provide professional and attentive service in marketing your vessel.

Wayne (09) 376 6331 • 0274 502 654 • www.lauriecollins.co.nz

8 Breeze Magazine

FROM THE CEO

Spring has sprung and as we plan to re-enter summer (and our post-lockdown club) we will once again be operating in a ‘different’ way for a period to come. Thank you to all the members who have sent notes of support and also got involved in the various online activities we have been undertaking the past couple of months.

August was set to be one of the busier months of the year with our 150th Gala and AGM being just a couple of the large events planned. These events will still take place, albeit delayed and potentially changed a little depending on the health guidelines that we have to adapt to.

There have been moments of ‘here we go again’ as I am sure there has been with all of our members and their own businesses.

However, we will be very much focused on a quick recovery and completely rely on you, our members, to help with this. Our goal is to provide a very safe and enjoyable environment and as part of this we have a number of enforced changes to how we have to operate.

So, please bear with us as this transition takes place. While we have had a few practices with this over the past 18 months, there are also a few new items for us to deal with as well. Key things are: • Contact tracing is required for all yachts and your crew on board – through Top Yacht • All customer-facing staff will wear masks when serving you • You do not need to wear a mask when eating or drinking • You must check in when entering the premises • During Level 2, we may initially have some restrictions on numbers per dedicated venue in the building: 50 for indoor spaces (luckily we have several) and 100 per outdoor venue. This will no doubt change over time.

We will be once again promoting the private dining options for smaller groups as a good safe option to meet with your friends and family. We will also use video conferencing tools to allow normally larger groups to break into smaller ones for things like prizegivings and likely our AGM. At the start of Level 3, our planting project at Kawau has been able to resume and this has now largely been completed by staff as opposed to volunteers, while the main building has been closed. Our chefs and Food and Beverage team have been great helping with this, as we needed to get these plants in before summer starts, so just in time!

We are also able to recommence work on the new deck at Lidgard House and a special thanks to members Rodney McVicar from Buildpro and Lyndon Urquhart from Harts Fasteners for supplying the timber and fixings at some great prices for the club.

Labour Weekend is opening weekend for Kawau Boating Club – they have a great weekend planned of racing and activities for those that aren’t doing the PIC Coastal Classic, or a great place to stop on the way home from that iconic race. We really encourage you to get involved where you can.

We conducted a Member Survey in July and overall some really positive feedback was received. Thank you to the 535 members who responded. Of the responses, 70% were from full and senior members, 80% were from men, and 20% from women; 75% were aged 55 and over. Your responses will help your Committee review the future direction of the club and address areas needing improvement, for the benefit of all our members.

Highlights of the survey: • You come to our club for lunches, dinners and social events, and to go yachting/boating • As a member, what you value most is a sense of belonging, pride and the community within the club, and the opportunity to socialise and meet up with family and friends • You are overwhelmingly happy with our people, our facilities, our sailing programmes and communication. You mentioned our Food & Beverage offering as the key area needing improvement • 89% of you would recommend joining the

club to friends and family • 88% bring non-members to the club, and 83% think we have the right mix of memberonly and all-hands events • 62% of you are in favour of a review of membership subscriptions The results of the survey have been reviewed by your General Committee and your feedback will be an important input for the upcoming review of the club’s future strategy and direction, expected to be carried out over the next 12 months.

We will report back on actions taken as a result of this year’s survey results.

A reminder Food & Beverage also has some ongoing great value meals and beverage specials that give members some exceptional value. $5 rums post sailing and $9 pint of the month for members, to name a couple.

Supporting your club is very important right now, as we look to recover from essentially losing three months of trading. I have been really encouraged already by the contact from members on ‘how can we help?’ Some of these things might be: • Use the club – come to events (on and off the water) • Join your friends and crew – if you have regular crew, partners or guests that are not members, we really encourage that they join – there are a number of initiatives as well as benefits for them • Retail – check out the shop for some very good specials on clothing and merchandise at the moment • Support the Corporate Regatta and/or the Gala – buy a ticket, or provide an auction item (dates to be confirmed, Covid willing) • Support the Kawau tree planting project • Join our volunteers • Go sailing!

We have a number of event date changes, so keep an eye out for these and make sure you book and get involved.

Thank you for your support in advance and for helping us keep our club on an even keel.

We have certainly been hit hard again by a pretty rough gust, but with a great crew and members on board we will be able to once again ride this out.

Hayden Porter, CEO

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Wayne (09) 376 6331 • 0274 502 654 • www.lauriecollins.co.nz

Breeze Magazine 9

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Mid Winter Madness at ‘Cape Horn’ for the RNZYS Cruising Division

In what is becoming an annual event, more than 20 RNZYS members from seven boats set sail for “Cape Horn” on the shortest day of 2021.

This particular Cape Horn is situated in Izzy Bay on Rangitoto, so a somewhat shorter and calmer passage than the Southern Ocean landmark, but a great excuse for many to give their boats a mid-winter run.

Although the forecast was for rain, the brave and bold donned winter woollies and met ashore for a BYO toast and token photo or two.

Penny Whiting was quick to update last year’s sign, and the sun even made an appearance for much of the shore gathering.

As the rain set in, many guests reconvened on Mike Malcolm’s Affinity to continue with tales from the Horn as well as a mid-winter swim for a few hardier souls.

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12 Breeze Magazine

Blake statue is latest addition to RNZYS collection A generous bequest from Janet Willis recently saw a superb Michael Weir sculpture of Sir Peter Blake added to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s collection of artworks.

Janet Willis was a niece of former Commodore Scott Wilson (1947-49).

The piece was handed to the Squadron by a cousin, Jenny Aitken. “Janet always said she wanted it to go to the Squadron,” said Jenny.

“There has been a family connection with the Squadron, but, more importantly, she thought of the connection with Sir Peter Blake and the Squadron.”

Janet Willis, who died in March, apparently bought the piece direct from the sculptor after Sir Peter led Team New Zealand’s historic first America’s Cup victory in 1995.

Accompanying the sculpture was a small framed photograph of Janet with Sir Peter, but Jenny Aitken said she did not know the circumstances of the photograph. Both have

been added to the Blake memorabilia displayed in the Cornes Library.

Entitled The Visionary, the Blake piece stands 46cm high, mounted on a 25x25cm marble base. It is part of a series of Weir sculptures of prominent New Zealand sports personalities.

Vice Commodore Andrew Aitken was delighted to receive the generous bequest on behalf of the RNZYS. The RNZYS has developed a “Gifting and Legacy Programme” to facilitate bequests of this nature or donations in support of specific projects including the RNZYS Foundation, the International Sailing Fund, Youth Training and Learn-to-Sail programmes, the Kawau Island boatshed development, major events, and the 150th Anniversary Environmental Project.

Donors may also specify other projects they wish to support.

For information, contact Membership Director Kim Bond, phone 09 360 6905, email legacy@rnzys.org.nz

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Breeze Magazine 13

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14 Breeze Magazine

From the Sailing Office Up until we went back into Covid lockdown, winter racing at the club was going very well and saw the biggest fleet for our Doyle Sails Winter Series in over five years. The racing was intense and it was great to have plenty of variety with the wind strength and wind direction.

Some stand-out performances include Simon Manning and Andy Robertson’s modified Farr 36 Kaizen in B division, who stepped up their performance after a major refit and were dominating on line, PHS and PHRF Handicaps.

Past Commodore Steve Mair was also having a great series with his Melges 40 Clockwork, leading the 40R division on line and PHRF and close in second on PHS to John Medocroft’s Carrera.

The other hotly contested division with 15 series entries was the ‘non spinnaker’ E division.

This season, things were going the way of John Faire’s Terminator, leading on both line and

The new Dehler 30 One-Design competing in the Doyle Sails Winter Series. Andrew Delves Photo

PHS Handicap over last year’s winner Mike Malcolm’s Bird on the Wing.

All up there are 11 Divisions with a total of 102 series entries and another 22 casual entries. It’s been fantastic to see 124 yachts on the water. That’s approximately 750 sailors.

Looking to the summer, the CBRE Club Championships are stepping up this season with each divisional winner being invited to race in the MRX Club Championships Final.

The winning team receives a $10,000 grant to represent the RNZYS at an international event in 2022. The current RNZYS skippers leading the CBRE Club Championships are: A Division Brian Petersen B Division Angie Crafer 40R John Meadowcroft C Division Tony Smith F Division Marguerite Delbet Stewart 34s Paul Groom Sports Boats Cliff Gordon

MRX Matt Bouzaid E Division John Faire Yet to start their CBRE Club Championships series are the Ladies, Etchells and Young 88s.

For most divisions, the Club Championships is comprised of the Doyle Sails Winter Series, Doyle Sails Wednesday Night Series and the 36 Degrees Commodores Cup. A new event this year is the Three Kings Race. Starting on the 18th November, this is a 500 nautical mile race beginning in Auckland, rounding the Three Kings Islands, which are 30 nautical miles north of the top of New Zealand, and back to Auckland. This will be one of the longer distance races that the RNZYS has run in a while. More than 35 boats are expected to compete.

In the Sailing Office, we are looking forward to another packed summer of racing.

Laurie Jury, Sailing Director

Breeze Magazine 15

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16 Breeze Magazine

IN MEMORIAM

Peter Hay

The St Mary’s In Holy Trinity Church in Parnell was packed to capacity for the funeral of Peter Hay, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron

Trustee, Life Member and Past Commodore (1994-1996).

Peter Hay was the first RNZYS Commodore to welcome the America’s Cup into the club’s trophy collection, following the historic Team New Zealand victory in San Diego in 1995. He is also the only member to have been a Trustee, Life Member and Commodore.

Members of the Hay family gave moving accounts of Peter’s five-year battle against cancer under the devoted care of his wife, Jan. They spoke of his childhood years walking on the beach from the family home on the Takapuna clifftop, sailing dinghies at Medlands Beach, playing rugby at Kings College and as a prop for the New Zealand Universities team.

“His touch reached far and wide in the community,” said his daughter, Penny, who spoke of his warm smile, tenderness, fun and passion for life.

Lifelong friend and sailing partner, Kim McDell said Peter was “a great all-round sailor, but more importantly a good bugger, whether alongside you on the rail in a gale, or enjoying a rum at the after-party”.

Hay represented New Zealand in two Southern Cross Cups, including two SydneyHobart classics, two Admiral’s Cups, including two Fastnet races, and a Kenwood Cup in Hawaii.

“We called him Bear as he was big and strong, not only in stature, but as a man.”

For 25 years, Peter Hay was part of a fourway partnership in the Farr 41MX, Zamzamah, built by McDell Marine. “Pete just loved it and sailed the boat extremely well.”

The crew was all of similar vintage and during one race, a crewman on a rival yacht was head to warn, “Watch out for those guys on Zamzamah because they have 700 years of experience aboard.”

In January this year, Hay joined the Zamzamah crew for their annual fixture at the Bay of Islands Sailing Week. “He could hardly walk, yet he helmed the boat superbly,” McDell recalled. “We will all have enduring memories of a smiling, determined Peter Hay sailing a terrific race on a beautiful Bay of Islands day.”

Exhausted at the end of the race, he was immediately driven back to Auckland.

“When Peter got to a stage where he could no longer race, we would see him standing by his precious flagpole at his home in Devonport, waving to us as we sailed by,” said McDell.

Peter Baird Hay, 1944 – 2021.

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Breeze Magazine 17

Ready to dive in...

This month we talk to Chris Lewis Growing up, his father owned a furniture store where he worked after school sweeping floors and arranging stock. He watched as dad greeted customers, started a friendly chat then almost by ‘accident’ sold them something.

Today Chris does what dad did make people feel comfortable.

Now, with 16+ year’s experience in the Garden City of Christchurch where some of our country’s biggest challenges have shaken us all Chris realised his best attributes have helped him succeed.

Stay calm, be kind and lend an ear.

What was your first job, career or business?

Well, it’s no wonder I like making people feel comfortable because I started out my working life as an upholsterer. I spent many years in the furniture industry restoring, recreating and designing classic furniture, as seen in this photo.

How did you end up at Ray White Wynyard Quarter?

Family holidays and getaways have been spent in and around Auckland and I’ve developed a love for the region. My wife Diane surprised me with a night at the Park Hyatt Hotel, in the morning I spotted a Ray White office directly across the road, so I walked in, asked if they were hiring and to my delight we all clicked so the next thing we knew we were moving to Auckland.

How do properties differ up here?

There are many similarities – the character homes of Remuera and Fendalton, the cutting edge architecture of new builds in Greater Ponsonby and Merivale. However, the key difference is the height and scale of Auckland’s inner-city and vibrant waterfront versus Christchurch’s low-rise developments.

I’m captivated by the energy and pace of the projects in Wynyard Quarter.

You have a great reputation in Christchurch does it feel like it is translating to Auckland?

Thank you, I built a strong referral-based business over 16 years in the Garden City and look forward to building that momentum in the City of Sails! Transitioning to my new home and work area is about consistently doing the right thing and simply be a decent human being every day.

Auckland gets a pretty bad rap sometimes so are you feeling welcomed in the Big Smoke?

Everyone is so friendly, when you grow up with the rivalry thing between Auckland and the rest of New Zealand, it’s easy to be guilty of a bias.

Now I’m happy to eat humble pie and shout from the rooftops ‘Aucklanders are awesome!’

You have had a staggering 920 listings which seems like a considerable amount.

Very proud of those numbers, I find it fascinating that almost exactly 50% were auctions and 50% exclusive listings so yes, I have learned a thing or two, but you’ll still see me at every training session.

How are you dealing with our famous traffic?

Let’s face it - all of New Zealand has a car culture so it’s no surprise that with more people there are more cars, so I’ve been expecting it. But I’m spoilt - from home I can walk the harbour suburbs and waterfront to get to the office or visit clients. I haven’t had the bumper-to-bumper experience yet!

What does it take to keep up the sales?

At the end of the day preparation equals performance, so I always go back to what my upholstery craft taught me - prepare a solid framework, build up the required layers and lastly, arrange the final details. But mostly I just love bringing people together so that everyone wins.

Christchurch has had a tough go of it in the last decade - and the whole country has felt it too - what lesson can be learned from what Christchurch went through?

Leadership and support are the key words that describe how we got through, from a national, local government and workplace level we were incredibly grateful. It was an amazing example of kiwis doing what kiwis do best, rallying around with resources and directing them to the front line.

Chris Lewis Licensee Salesperson Ray White Wynyard Quarter chris.lewis@raywhite.com M 027 405 0287 rwwynyardquarter.co.nz

18 Breeze Magazine

A taste of Mexico at RNZYS Story & pictures by Debra Douglas “Mexican food celebrates the togetherness of people who enjoy each other’s company, can grab a drink or two and have a few laughs here and there.” That’s how RNZYS Executive Chef Jean Brito describes the party mood at his recent Mexican cooking class held at the Squadron.

Jean, who was born in Mexico City and studied at the Instituto Culinario de México in Puebla for four years specialising in culinary arts and fine dining, is well qualified to bring a bit of heat to a cold winter’s evening.

“With great participation from the audience and help from member Penny Whiting and the entertaining Annabelle White, the aim of the class was to present authentic Mexican dishes with guests provided with

1

a booklet of easy recipes to follow and replicate back home,” said Jean.

Sixty members and friends enjoyed a three-course dinner in an intimate cooking studio, accompanied by homemade ‘aguas frescas’ (light non-alcoholic beverages made from one or more fruits, cereals, flowers or seeds blended with sugar and water).

Jean: “We definitely will have more of these evenings. Every time we get great feedback and response from the audience, So I am thinking about a Spanish cooking class next time.”

Among those who enjoyed the flavours of Mexico were: 1/ It’s an exuberant ‘hola amigos’ from guest and celebrity chef Annabelle White and RNZYS Executive Chef Jean Brito.

Breeze Magazine 19

The cooking class menu To drink ‘Para Tomar’

Hibiscus Flower ‘Agua de Jamaica’ Roasted Rice ‘Aqua de Horchata’

To snack ‘Para Botanear’

Prawn Aguachile Tostadas Chilli, red onion, coriander, avocado, cucumber Chicken Tinga Tostadas Chipotle, pulled chicken, caramelised onion, tomato

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9

To eat ‘Para Comer’

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Pictured left: Johnny Montgomery (centre) perched on the tailgate of a C130 high above Auckland. Above: P.J. and Johnny Montgomery with two other guests.

An RNZYS Charity Auction prize to remember Standing on the open tailgate in the open maw of a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules C130 flying more than 3km high in the sky, Johnny Montgomery was buffeted by the 120-knot winds as he gazed down at the passing landscape below.

As the wind tugged and clawed at him, he was comforted by the harness securing him to the aircraft, but acknowledges, “It was a bit scary standing on that open platform in the wind. But it was amazing.”

The Hercules flight was the highlight of a day spent at the RNZAF base at Whenuapai, which Life Member P.J. Montgomery (and Johnny’s dad) won in an auction at the 2019 Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron charity regatta. Because of Covid, it took until this year to redeem their prize.

At the auction, Johnny noticed the RNZAF item and suggested it would be a cool experience. “Later in the evening, the bidding had gone quite high, so I said to my dad to forget it,” Johnny said. “I was surprised when I discovered it was one of my Christmas gifts.”

As part of their day on the base, PJ and Johnny joined a group of 11 military personnel who were doing parachute training from the Hercules. “We were not allowed to take

photographs, because these were special ops forces,” says PJ. “To start, we flew at 4,000ft and watched the first group prepare to jump. It was like you see in the movies, with their orange tapes tethered to a line.The amber light came on and out they went.

“Then we climbed to 11,000ft and a group with massive packs strapped to their chests stepped up. These are the people who parachute behind enemy lines and have to be self-sufficient for days on end. We later learned that these groups would be doing four jumps that day, finishing at 11pm.

“It was so impressive to see the level of professionalism and attention to detail in everything they did.”

Once the parachutists had leaped out, Johnny was harnessed up and joined the two jump-masters to stand at the edge of the open platform. “Although it was a bit nerve-wracking, I did feel that with proper parachute training, I would happily give it a go and jump out,” said Johnny.

The flight ended with a circuit out over East Coast Bays and up the Waitemata Harbour and back to the base. It brought to a close a busy day which began at 8am and included

visits to see the Navy Seahawk helicopters and the Orions, which play an important search and rescue role and have been involved in a number of missions to assist stricken yachts at sea.

Lunch in the Officers’ Mess hosted by the Commander Officer and Deputy Commanding Officer was followed by the Hercules adventure.

“All in all an unbelievable experience,” says PJ. The next RNZYS charity regatta is on November 4 and, once again, will include an auction with a wide range of desirable items donated by members and supporters.

The proceeds this year will go towards the International Sailing Fund and the tree-planting project at Kawau Island, which is part of the 150th anniversary’s legacy programme.

“As always, a number of interesting and exciting experiences will be available,” says Membership Director Kim Bond. “It would be great if we were able to secure another visit to the RNZAF base, as this one was such a success.

“If members have any high-value items or experiences they would like to offer for the auction, we would love to hear from them,” says Kim.

By Ivor Wilkins

Breeze Magazine 23

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AC venue remains an open question

By Ivor Wilkins On the evening of June 15, when Grant Dalton briefed Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) members about the venue selection process for the next America’s Cup, he predicted negotiations would go right to the final minutes before the September 17 announcement deadline.

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The Squadron and ETNZ have been in this down-to-the-wire territory before. Following the 2017 victory in Bermuda, there was no certainty that the New Zealand government would come to the party with vital financial support for an Auckland defence.

In the circumstances, investigations began into offering hosting rights to a venue outside of New Zealand. “It was less than 45 minutes before we were about to sign to go somewhere else that the deal was done to

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Breeze Magazine 25 stay here in New Zealand,” Dalton told the Squadron gathering in June.

What Dalton did not predict and nobody could anticipate was that the process would push beyond the September 17 deadline. But, with last-minute wobbles from two of the potential international hosts and an eleventh-hour development in a hometown bid to keep the Cup in Auckland, the deadline was extended.

“For the benefit of both the 37th America’s Cup and the eventual host venue, we would rather allow some more time now, so we make the right decision as opposed to a rushed decision,” said RNZYS Commodore Aaron Young.

Just 48 hours before the September 17 deadline, the Cup regatta was heading to Ireland. The other two potential offshore venues, Valencia and Jeddah, had slipped out of contention.

Valencia, still carrying debts from its 2007 hosting of the Cup, withdrew its bid to host another regatta despite much of the infrastructure remaining in place. However, the Spanish government was reportedly still showing interest in supporting a hosting bid. Barcelona was mooted as one possibility and, with central government backing, Valencia’s hopes could still be revived.

Although Saudi Arabia has been investing large sums in attracting major sporting events, there were indications its America’s Cup proposal was less attractive than those of its rivals.

That left Ireland in the strongest position and in the weeks leading up to the September 17 deadline, a stream of bullish news reports proclaimed Cork’s position as front-runner in the bidding war.

“It’s ours to lose now,” Cork Chamber of Commerce president Paula Cogan told the Irish Examiner on September 14. “If, in a few years’ time, we looked back on this and thought we’d lost this opportunity, it would reflect badly on the decision-makers of the time. This is perhaps a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity for Cork, for Ireland, to host such a huge global sporting event.”

Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, had attended a number of high-level presentations and appeared to be strongly promoting the Cork bid. But at the last minute, an unrelated political stoush, difficulties with the ruling party’s coalition partners and nervousness about the costbenefit ratio of a Cup regatta appeared to stall Ireland’s charge. The Irish requested more time for due diligence.

Meanwhile, back in New Zealand, a private-sector initiative to raise enough money to keep the Cup regatta in Auckland also made an 11th-hour move to revive its position. The campaign is fronted by Mark

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Dunphy, chairman and CEO of Greymouth Petroleum. He occupied a senior position at Fay Richwhite, when the merchant banking firm backed New Zealand’s America’s Cup debut at the 1987 America’s Cup in Fremantle, Australia.

The Dunphy-led America’s Cup bid has charted an erratic course.

From the outset, the tone was aggressive, very much in the form of a corporate raider intent on a divide and conquer strategy.

In various statements and interviews, Dunphy demanded funds should be managed by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, not ETNZ; that Grant Dalton must quit the team leadership; that funds should be channelled through entities that would give the backers significant tax advantages. There were rumours of court action and injunctions, which never fail to send shivers of dread through the Cup community.

Despite repeated efforts to open detailed discussions, Dunphy refused to engage directly with ETNZ, beyond a single hour-long telephone conversation with Dalton.

In the face of what was characterised as a hostile takeover bid, the RNZYS and ETNZ closed ranks, declaring they were “in complete alignment”. Senior members of the team also issued a lengthy statement in support of Dalton, describing efforts to unseat him as “mind boggling” and accusing Dunphy of undermining the structure of the team.

In the face of these and other strong expressions of support for Dalton from Sir Stephen Tindall, former chairman of the ETNZ board of directors, and others, Dunphy began to backtrack. Dalton could stay, he said. Although that would mean some backers would no longer support the bid, others would step up to the plate. The tax aspects of the plan would also be dropped.

But, as the clock ticked down, there was still no direct engagement with ETNZ and no detailed proposal. On September 1, Bob Field, a longstanding ETNZ board member, wrote a second letter from the team to Dunphy requesting details of the proposed funders and a credible indication of their willingness to commit funding, and on what terms.

Emphasising “utmost urgency”, Field wrote: “If you and your proposed funders are sincere in their goals, then we welcome a direct and candid dialogue.” For two weeks, there was no response. Then, two days before the deadline, there was another shift when Dunphy sent a more conciliatory letter to Field and the RNZYS. In the light of these last-minute moves in Ireland, Spain and New Zealand, the RNZYS and ETNZ decided to delay the host venue announcement.

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26 Breeze Magazine Although they recognised the need for challengers to know the venue as soon as practicable, the postponement statement did not commit to a new deadline. The next scheduled milestone is the release of the Protocol on November 17. The Protocol would be meaningless without would-be competitors knowing where the regatta is to be sailed.

“ETNZ and RNZYS believe it is both prudent and responsible to extend the deadline in which the offshore venues can continue to progress negotiations,” the statement said. That would enable ETNZ team members to visit the offshore venues to carry out essential on-theground deliberations, which had been impossible under current Covid restrictions.

“This extension of the process will also allow Mr Dunphy further time to answer the questions we have already put to him over the past month.” Dalton added: “Now that we finally have an 11th hour letter from Mr Dunphy, it would be remiss of us not to explore the viability of an Auckland event and if it in fact can be fully and completely funded locally. To date, there has been no evidence of this being the case.”

The New Zealand government indicated the original $99 million offer to support an Auckland defence was still on the table. Grant Robertson, who is both Minister of Finance and of Sport, said the government was happy to have further conversations about whether the government’s contribution would be sufficient, but he added the government could not go beyond its original offer.

However, in the week following the postponement, relations between Dalton and Dunphy soured and then severed in acrimony. Dalton sought direct answers about Dunphy’s relationships with Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Prada chief Patrizio Bertarelli, all of whom have been Cup rivals of ETNZ. Dunphy denied he was working with or on behalf of any offshore interests.

But on September 22, ETNZ broke off all dealings with the Dunphy bid. It cited an email to the New York Yacht Club proposing a move to have the Royal Yacht Squadron disqualified as Challenger of Record,

which would clear the way for New York to become Challenger of Record. According to ETNZ, the email was sent by lawyer, Dr Hamish Ross, with Dunphy copied on the message.

“The email clearly outlines their intentional lobbying of the NYYC to take legal action in the New York Supreme Court against the Challenger of Record with a purpose of intentionally disrupting the venue selection process,” said the ETNZ statement, which also cited a subsequent Zoom call initiated by Dunphy.

In a follow-up radio interview, Dalton said Dunphy’s 75-minute Zoom call was to a NYYC member and discussed the Ross initiative. Dunphy denied any connection with the Ross plan.

NYYC, which held the America’s Cup for 132 years, rejected the proposal. “We applaud Commodore Culver and the NYYC for wanting no part and rejecting Mr Ross and Mr Dunphy’s overtures,” said ETNZ. RNZYS Commodore Aaron Young expressed concern and disappointment over the turn of events. Reaffirming full support for ETNZ, he added: “RNZYS has a preference that the defence be held in Auckland with the caveat that there is funding to run a credible defence together with support from local and central government.”

While the location remains undecided, some concrete details of the 37th America’s Cup have emerged with the announcement of a new AC40 class. This will be a foiling monohull, similar to the training boat ETNZ used to good effect in the lead-up to its successful 2021 defence.

The new class will be built at the ETNZ facility in Auckland and will be used by the challenger teams for scale testing and development, match race training and for scheduled regattas leading up to the 37th America’s Cup. They will also be used for women’s and youth regattas to be held at the 37th America’s Cup venue. It will be compulsory for the yacht clubs of teams competing in the America’s Cup to field crews for the women’s and youth regattas, but entries will be open to yacht clubs not competing in the America’s Cup as well.

ETNZ’s 12m foiling monohull, Te Kahu, was a powerful tool in the team’s preparation for its successful 2021 defence of the America’s Cup.

Breeze Magazine 27 `

2021 Cup Defence smothered in Red Tape

By Ivor Wilkins Shortly before New Zealand slid into another prologned Covid lockdown in August, an official central and local government report on Auckland’s 2021 America’s Cup Defence revealed to nobody’s surprise that the regatta’s economic returns fell short of expectation.

Dozens of pages of economic analysis,

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America’s C up Final EvenEt vent Limited Report

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surveys, graphs, tables, graphics, appendices and detailed exposition conclude that in a world radically altered by a devastating global pandemic fewer than expected international visitors attended, fewer big-spending superyachts arrived, fewer international media were able to provide first-hand coverage and fewer teams competed. Consequently, income did not match expenditure.

In what was described as a “perfect storm” of adverse circumstances, no other outcome could have been seriously expected. What is surprising, however, is how the joint report issued by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and Auckland City Council chose to paint the event in the most negative light possible.

“The positive aspects get brushed aside and

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instead they have written it up in the most negative way,” said a Cup insider. “It is pretty infuriating, really.”

The report, for example, outlines that government and Auckland City agencies invested $384.4 million in the event and suffered significant deficits, -$91.6m for Auckland and -$156.1m for the government.

While it acknowledges that some of the city expenditure was for unrelated projects that were brought forward for completion in time for the Cup, it is left to a second report to underline the positive result of that.

In its own separate review, Auckland Unlimited, a branch of Auckland City that promotes economic and cultural development, reveals that $92 million of the city’s expenditure was on already-planned works. Furthermore, bringing those infrastructure projects to early completion “will result in future savings of $67 million”.

From the government side, the major factors negatively impacting the event were the closed borders due to Covid. New Zealand’s aggressive response to the Covid threat. The inescapable consequence of the hardline approach was that big income-generators – international fans, media, superyachts etc – were locked out.

The government turned a deaf ear to intense lobbying to allow the superyachts to treat their passages to Auckland as an effective form of self-isolation and quarantine; 110 superyachts were denied entry. The government also declined to sanction the Youth America’s Cup, which had attracted 19 entries from 13 countries and would have been an income-generator in its own right.

Even with these set-backs, for the four months of Auckland’s America’s Cup summer, the city and the country enjoyed glorious international exposure. While most of the northern hemisphere was in the depths of a winter of Covid restriction and lockdown, the most-viewed America’s Cup of all time broadcast images of AC75s flying across the water against the backdrop of a city basking in the sunshine with tens of thousands of fans out and about enjoying the spectacle.

According to America’s Cup Events Ltd (ACE), the global TV and live-streaming audience to 198 countries was just under 1 billion, 3.2 times the reach of the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda in 2017.

“Social media was a further area of strong growth across all the America’s Cup channels.

Followers more than doubled from 491,000 to 1.09 million between the 35th and 36th

America’s Cups. Social media channels … delivered 499 million impressions during the racing period and totalled 715 million impressions over the entire 36th America’s Cup campaign.”

The MBIE/Auckland City report took a very narrow view of the value of this exposure with a figure of $11 million. By contrast, a broadcast and media analysis by Nielsen came up with a Total Gross Media Value of $NZ1.4 billion. The QI adjusted figure, which compares exposure against classic forms of advertising, for AC36 (November 2020-March 2021) was $NZ354 million across all media.

The strategy behind the city and government’s determinedly grim view of the 36th America’s Cup is hard to discern.

It came after ETNZ rejected their $99 million offer for an Auckland defence regatta. The offer reportedly included event infrastructure and in-kind support, leaving only about a third as direct funds for the event.

This has left open the possibility that the next AC regatta will be hosted at an offshore venue. A number of locations, including Ireland, Spain and Saudi Arabia are in the final mix.

Perhaps the negative strategy is to show the Cup as an economic lemon, so taxpayers will not care if it goes offshore. Conversely, it could

Breeze Magazine 29 be an attempt to scare foreign bidders away in the hope of retaining the Cup for New Zealand. “Probably a bit of both,” said one seasoned Cup observer.

Despite the 2021 experience, there is ample evidence that the Cup has previously been a significant money-spinner for New Zealand. The defence regattas of 2000 and 2003 each returned around half a billion dollars of extra economic activity into the New Zealand economy, according to an official government report in 2003.

That outcome “well and truly demonstrates the value of the last two America’s Cup events to New Zealand, with major benefits for our marine, accommodation and hospitality, retail and entertainment, and transport sectors,” said Trevor Mallard, who was Minister of Sport at the time. “This level of pay-off certainly made the government’s investment of around $10 million into Team NZ and an economic leverage fund in 2003 worthwhile.”

There is every reason to believe that, with the basic infrastructure already in place and a post-Covid return to “business-as-usual”, an America’s Cup regatta in Auckland would be an economic success.

However, if the Cup remains in or returns

to New Zealand, serious streamlining of the event management structure is clearly called for. Although the operational side of the regatta was acknowledged by all parties to be a success, behind the scenes overblown committees, bureaucratic red tape, and conflicting advice threatened to constipate proceedings.

ACE, which was the arm of ETNZ charged with running the event, was clearly frustrated.

“In total there were 32 different regular meeting forums that ACE attended, most of which were unproductive,” according to its wrap-up review.

The smothering red tape had agency representatives interfering in matters that fell well outside their areas of expertise or responsibility. This led to one caustic piece of advice for future iterations: “It is ok to say to someone, ‘I will not be responding any further, as that matter is not your responsibility’.”

At government level, MBIE set up a “cumbersome and time-consuming” chain of communication with the relevant government agencies. To create efficiencies, ACE by-passed the structure and dealt directly with the agencies. “This was not viewed positively by MBIE, but ensured key event issues and plans could be agreed in a timely manner.”

At a city level, it was even worse. Although

Auckland Unlimited was not actually responsible for delivering the event, it set up and chaired a group of nearly 40 people representing a wide group of interests, which contributed to unnecessary demands on time and resources.

“Unfortunately, due to the number of people who attended,” ACE reported, “they became very unproductive and the required outcomes were not able to be achieved.”

Auckland City Council also required no less than 15 management plans, with an additional 13 management plans associated with the Event Resource Consent, all of which required regular monitoring and reporting sessions.

Prada, which invested $150 million towards the event operations and the race village, complained about not being involved in the negotiations, meetings and decision-making process. “Unfortunately, the Event Concept – He Waka Eke Noa (we are all paddling in the same canoe) – was a very good intention, but remained in the words; Challenger of Record and ACE were rarely in the same waka,” the company reported.

Given the tortuous bureaucratic ordeal involved, Prada may have been shown a kindness in being spared a seat at many of those tables.

30 Breeze Magazine

Solo globetrotter’s life-changing voyage Story and pictures by Debra Douglas Solo American yachtswoman Elana Connor knows first-hand how time on the water can change your life. A former foster teenager who spent many years in state care, Elana learned to sail on San Francisco Bay as an adult. Since then, she has made three solo ocean passages in three years, covering more than 10,000 nautical miles on board her 10.4m sloop Windfola, with just her rescue dog, Zia, as crew.

Hoping to complete a solo round-the-world journey, Elana made

landfall in Tauranga in December 2019. But her circumnavigation was abruptly halted by Covid-19 border closures. So rather than sitting idle, Elana embarked on a figure-of-eight voyage around New Zealand, turning a setback into an opportunity to impact the lives of hundreds of Kiwi kids in foster care.

Teaming up with VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai, a charity organisation helping to advocate for children in care and the Spirit of Adventure Trust, Elana’s 3000nm route started in October 2020 from Auckland

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Breeze Magazine 31

Elana Connor on board Windfola. Photo / Elana Connor.

Hunia Mackay, National Advisor Maori, VOYCE Whakarongo Mai, with Elana Connor.

and ended back in the city in May. During the voyage she raised $43,000 to create a new scholarship for foster kids aged 16-18, to take a 10-day voyage on the tall ship, Spirit of New Zealand. During the trip, Elana also held ‘Open Boat’ days for children in foster care at each of the 22 ports visited and she spoke at 19 sailing clubs.

Another reason Elana set out on her adventure was to demystify yachting and make it more approachable to women.

Elana: “Woman to woman, part of the reason I did this is because

I found I was waiting to make a decision in my life, hoping I’d meet someone who wanted to do things with me. Well, I haven’t met that person. I had a big wake-up a few years ago and I was like: What am I doing? When am I going to realise I am the person I’m waiting for?”

Unsure what the future holds for the next leg of her odyssey – Elana was planning on heading to the Indian Ocean, but the pandemic continues to interfere – she is happy to be stranded in New Zealand and says she loves it here. Elana added the RNZYS to her speaking series.

Matt was extremely effective in supporting me through the sale of a property through difficult personal circumstances. His ability to navigate through the challenges that presented that were unique to selling our home, as well as his ability to connect with potential buyers, was extremely effective in achieving a very pleasing result. Matt will most certainly be my first call when I decide to sell my next home.

- Paul B.

32 Breeze Magazine

Pictured at the Elana Connor evening were:

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Lois and Tumoana Webster.

Stella and David Pye. Sarah Lichtenstein and Neville Broadbent.

Cindy and Rich West.

5/ Carrie Tam and Jurka Vuletic 6/ From left, Roger Green, Elana Connor and Jenny Green.

7/ From left, Thomas and Kate Browne with Vice Commodore Andrew Aitken.

7

Breeze Magazine 33

Star-Studded Line-up returns to their roots for the RNZYS YTP Alumni Regatta

By Billy Woodworth All current and past sailors, graduates, coaches, staff, and volunteers in the RNZYS Mastercard Youth Training Programme are invited to a grand reunion weekend of racing, reconnecting and fun from October 15th to 17th.

The weekend also celebrates the 35th anniversary of Youth Training Programme (YTP) in our 150th anniversary year.

The sailing component will kick off with a fun rum race / harbour race on Friday 15th October, which will be followed by drinks and food back at the RNZYS. Saturday will then take you back to your roots, with the Elliott 7’s hitting the water for some sprint racing. Saturday night is party night. Put on your favourite regatta shirt, have a few drinks and reminisce about the good old days.

Sunday gets more serious with a Super 16 knockout match racing competition, with bragging rights up for grabs and no doubt plenty of banter, followed by a prizegiving that afternoon to finish off a stellar weekend.

Craig Satterthwaite (YTP 1990-92), an America’s Cup winner with Alinghi, 2015 Round North Island winner and former Volvo Ocean Race participant, is ready for the challenge.

However, he is mostly looking forward to “catching up with old mates

I have not seen in a while” and returning to where his sailing career started. Some of Satterthwaite’s fondest memories include winning the 1991 Nutrasweet International Youth Match Racing with Simon Dickey and Sharon Ferris, and meeting his wife Paula.

This sentiment is shared by Mark Christensen (YTP 1988-89), a three-time Volvo Ocean Race winner and Transpac Race record holder with Phillipe Kahn in Pegasus 50. He is looking forward to catching up with familiar faces back home again after many years sailing across the world. His favourite memory of YTP was “an epic ride back one year from Kawau, including lots of colourful and good natured advice from coach Harold Bennett”.

Megan Thomson (YTP 2017-19, PP 2019-21), the skipper of the all-female 2.0 Racing team, is very excited to “race against and meet a number of alumni who were before my time”. Thomson is excited that there are several legends jumping in for the event and the opportunity to be on the same start line doesn’t come around every day.

For more details and to enter, fill out the online form at https://www. rnzys.org.nz/rnzys-events/ytp-alumni-regatta/

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Hot favourites in the 49er Class, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke’s Silver was New Zealand’s only sailing medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Sailing Energy / World Sailing Photo.

Hard lessons from Covid Games

By Ivor Wilkins Just under half of New Zealand’s record 20-strong medal haul at the Tokyo Olympic Games came from watersports, primarily rowing with three golds and two silvers, and kayaking with three golds. Sailing’s contribution, however, was confined to a single silver medal.

The customary review that will follow the Tokyo result will reflect on why an experienced group (only the Nacra pair were making their Olympic debut) produced the worst sailing result since 2004 in Greece when sailing produced no medals at all; Barbara Kendall, competing in her fourth of five Olympic appearances, produced the best sailing result at Athens with a 5th place in boardsailing.

“We will be doing a debrief with our athletes, our coaches and our management team,” said Yachting New Zealand CEO David Abercrombie, who acknowledged there was

no hiding from the disappointing result. “We will debrief properly and try to determine where the gaps were and where we need to step up.”

“Our sailors had prepared well, despite the challenges brought about by Covid, and came in with high expectations,” added YNZ High Performance Director Ian Stewart.

“We saw some clinical performances in classes and our sailors had their moments.

However, inconsistencies cost points and our team will naturally go home with the feeling of what might have been.”

Yachting commentator Peter Lester, who attended the Games in Tokyo, said New Zealand’s traditional weakness in light air sailing was evident once again at Enoshima, but a failure to capitalise when the breeze was up proved costly.

He also questioned whether leaping into the SailGP circuit straight after the America’s

Cup impacted the results of Burling and Tuke in the 49er and Josh Junior in the Finn.

“Nobody admires the talents of Burling and Tuke more than I do,” said Lester, “but some poor starts and Burling falling off the boat in Race Five point to uncharacteristic mistakes that suggest not enough time on the boat.”

Burling and Tuke were the defending Olympic champions and reigning world champions, but came away with the silver medal after a tight battle in the final medal race.

“A question for the debrief is what impact did SailGP have on their preparation. I would say it was considerable,” said Lester.

Josh Junior’s 5th place result in the Finn was two better than his 7th at the 2016 Rio Games, but well below expectation. Following the unprecedented Finn Gold Cup performance in Portugal earlier this year – when Andy Maloney won the title and Junior was 3rd – New Zealand came into the class’s Olympic

Breeze Magazine 35 swansong at Tokyo heavily favoured as a medal contender.

The only other class to improve its Rio result was the men’s 470. Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox finished 10th in 2016 and, with a consistent performance throughout the regatta, progressed to 4th in Tokyo, which also marked the last Olympics for the class in its current form (it will feature mixed gender crews in 2024).

Sam Meech, Laser bronze medallist at Rio, never found his mojo in Japan and finished 10th, while Alex Maloney and Molly Meech in the 49erFX fared worse, dropping from the silver medal slot in Rio to 12th at Tokyo.

The young Nacra pairing of Micah Wilkinson and Olivia Dawson struck bad luck when Olivia fractured her fibula in training shortly before the Games and did well to recover in time to compete. They were also 12th.

Although thorough reviews and debriefs will follow – not to mention the pressing matter of arguing to retain its current Tier 1 funding status with High Performance Sport NZ – Yachting New Zealand will be keen to quickly shift attention to the Paris Olympics.

With the Covid disruptions to the calendar, the next Games cycle is reduced to just three years.

“We always conduct thorough reviews,” said Ian Stewart, “but now we need to make sure we grow with the key lessons as we turn our full attention to the Paris Olympics.”

Talking of Paris, Stewart is confident that 2024 will see a reverse of the astonishing collapse of boardsailing, which in the past provided New Zealand sailing’s most prolific Olympic medal haul (seven), but had no Kiwi representation at Rio 2016 or Tokyo 2020.

In 2024, Paris sees the introduction of two board sailing disciplines with foiling kiteboards and Windfoilers.

“There is definitely an exciting new generation coming through,” said Stewart. “The introduction of foiling has transformed the scene overnight and the Windfoilers are now our largest and most active Olympic class.

“There is a very strong class association led by some of the legends of the earlier windsurfing era and we have very strong prospects in both men and women. Next year, the European championships will be held at the Olympic venue in Marseilles. That will attract a world class fleet and provide our guys with their first check-in to see how they are placed.”

The ‘accidental’ Race Officer

Megan Kensington and her Tokyo Olympics RS:X finish boat team.

By Debra Douglas Despite an involvement with sailing as a youngster, going on to crew on competitive keel boats and then ‘marrying’ into sailing, Squadron Race Management volunteer Megan Kensington is first to admit she is a more experienced race officer than a sailor. However, she thinks of herself as a bit of an “accidental” race officer.

“My husband John was doing a lot of MRX racing and I went out on the water to take photos. Peter Carr, who was Race Management Chairman, encouraged me to help run races and become a national race officer.”

In 2008, after more encouragement from the umpire and race officer teams, Megan earned her certification as an International Race Officer. She is now one of four New Zealanders with this qualification.

The skills she has learned have led to adjudication at high profile events such as the Volvo Ocean Race, the 2003 America’s Cup and the 49er Worlds. And this year it was the Tokyo Olympics where she was an International Technical Officer (ITO) at the RS:X events (Olympic Boardsailing class).

Megan: “The local country always runs its Olympic events, so there were Japanese Race Officers (ROs) across all the sailing courses at Enoshima. Each course, however, had three ITOs officiating on the start boat, pin boat and finish boat. My team on the finish boat included six Japanese, three of whom spoke some English. There were no Kiwis in the RS:X events – organisers try to avoid any conflict of interest.

“It was a fantastic experience to be part of the Olympics, to see the amount of work that goes in to ensuring the competition is fair and run to a high level and to work with international ROs with a lot more experience

than me. The Japanese people, despite the language barrier, were great to work with; they were very well organised.

“And then there was the COVID situation, which made everything so much tougher. The heat, the face masks, the restrictions, all were challenging. We were closely monitored every day with salvia tests and temperature checks.

We obviously couldn’t go sightseeing on our days off, so I went back out on the water as an observer. And the minute the racing was finished, we were shipped out.”

For Megan that then meant two weeks in MIQ at the Grand Millennium Hotel, Auckland.

Again, she says that was a well organised experience. The food was good, the staff were caring and she had work to do, as a managing partner at ACIEM, which provides management, scientific and technical services.

An avid reader, she also made good use of her Kindle. The only problem was the day she was released from MIQ, Auckland was plunged into Level 4 lockdown!

“The first thing I did when I got home, after four weeks away, was to hug my dog and my husband, enjoy a simple salad and get my life back to normal (albeit lockdown normal).”

For Megan “normal” will include running local, national and hopefully international sailing events at the RNZYS with the volunteer teams.

“Becoming a volunteer can lead to being part of some exciting events, but the best thing about becoming a volunteer is the friendships you make and the camaraderie.

“People ask me why I stick at it. I just enjoy getting things right and learning. It’s about those people you are working with, bringing the new ones on, seeing them flourish and listening to their stories. As well as the desire to want to improve all the time. “

36 Breeze Magazine

Bean Rock Lighthouse shares RNZYS birthday Words and Photos by Ivor Wilkins Bean Rock Lighthouse, which stands as an attractive sentinel at the entrance to the Waitemata harbour, twins with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

Its commanding position between North Head and St Heliers makes it a familiar sight to sailors cruising down towards Waiheke Island,

or out into the Hauraki Gulf. More importantly, it is a night-time beacon, guiding incoming vessels away from danger.

It also forms a backdrop to multiple regattas and would have become a familiar sight to millions of international viewers during the 2021 America’s Cup as futuristic AC75s flew past the graceful Victorian-era structure.

It also forms the centrepiece of the

A lifetime of high action sailing in M-Class and 18ft skiffs

RNZYS’s 150th anniversary event, the Barfoot & Thompson Bridge to Bean Race, which is open to all dinghy classes and foiling vessels.

The course is from the Harbour Bridge to Bean Rock and the event has captured the imagination of a wide range of yacht clubs and classes. It is scheduled for 19 December.

According to New Zealand Maritime Museum Director Vincent Lipanovich, Bean

BOB GORDON

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Breeze Magazine 37

61 Roberta Avenue, Glendowie

Rock lighthouse is the “last wooden and wavewashed lighthouse in New Zealand”.

Named after P.C.D. Bean, the master of HMS Herald which first surveyed the harbour in 1840, the distinctive hexagonal-shaped structure was built by Auckland City Builder William Cameron to a design by engineer James Stewart, who was also Inspector of Steamers in Auckland. Stewart also designed the Ponui Passage lighthouse and oversaw the building of the Manukau Heads lighthouse.

The 1867 gold rush in the Coromandel had resulted in a significant increase in shipping movements in and out of the harbour and the reef, known by Maori as Te Toka a Kapetawa, posed a significant threat.

Built in native timbers, the cottage-style lighthouse surrounded by a verandah sits atop an open framework supported by 250mm diameter iron pilings driven deep into the rock.

Construction was completed in July 1871 after eight months of work.

Hugh Brown was the first keeper of the Bean Rock light. He served for 19 years and wore a track around the open verandah as he took his exercise, walking or jogging the 35 paces in thousands of circumnavigations of the structure. His tenure was followed by James Anderson, who spent two years in charge, from 1909 to 1911.

In a recorded interview now in the Auckland War Memorial Museum archives, Anderson’s son, Ivan, provided a vivid account of the light keeper’s life.

The family lived ashore in Devonport while James Anderson kept solitary station at Bean Rock to tend the kerosine light. He would set his alarm to wake and check the light every three hours. On foggy, or stormy nights, he would have to climb the external ladder to

ensure the light was beaming out its warning.

“During gales, the wind would howl through the steel rods on the beacon,” Ivan recounted.

“The dwelling was very drafty in windy weather and windows had to be pegged to stop the clatter.” In strong gusts, the entire structure would vibrate.

Accommodations were spartan with a coal stove, a small kitchen bench with a sink, a toilet but no bathroom and a fair-sized living room with a table, four chairs and a sofa. The small bedroom was equipped with a crude periscope device, which enabled the keeper to check that the light was operating.

Visitors were rare, but sometimes boats stopped by for “a little party and sing-song”.

On summer evenings, “you would hear the band on a ferry moonlight excursion close at hand. In early morning, we would often be treated to a show of dolphins playing around.”

As a boy, Ivan Anderson visited his father at the light at every possible chance. “I used to like to see it come up rough, so I would miss a couple of days school, but Dad would ask some small boat passing if they would give me a trip home.

“Fishing was a special attraction … On calm days Dad would lower the boat and I was allowed to fish from it while it would be tied on the north side in the deeper water where some good snapper lived,” Ivan recalled.

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A lifelong relationship with Auckland’s Eastern Bays

“There was no telephone and the only signal was the New Zealand ensign hoisted on the flagpole if a launch was urgently needed.”

His father taught him Morse code and Ivan would signal news by torch from the family home in Devonport.

In the lonely winter months, Anderson would amuse himself by making carvings, several of which won prizes at exhibitions.

The lighthouse keeper was also required to maintain the building, keeping rust at bay and forever painting the wooden structure.

In 1912, not long after James Anderson left Bean Rock, the government converted the light to unattended acetylene gas operation, according to an article in the Lighthouse Digest magazine of 2002. It was the first lighthouse in New Zealand to be fully automated.

Plans to scrap the Bean Rock Lighthouse in the 1980s were met with an outcry, which forced a rethink. In 1985, the lighthouse was severed from its base and moved ashore for a total makeover. When it was reinstated on its rock, a flotilla of boats celebrated its return with a blast of whistles and claxons.

As of 1989, the Bean Rock Lighthouse has been protected by a Heritage New Zealand Historic Place Category 1 listing, which ensures it will continue to be a graceful and practical presence on the harbour, guarding ships and boats from danger beneath.

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38 Breeze Magazine

Scenes from the Doyle Sails Winter Series Photos by Andrew Delves

Breeze Magazine 39

Photo Credit // Cory Silken

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40 Breeze Magazine

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Welcoming new members to the RNZYS The mid-winter New Members’ night saw 85 new members welcomed to the club. Hosted by Commodore Aaron Young, Squadron Flags and members of the General Committee, the ‘newbies’ were joined by family and friends and Past Commodores and partners.

Among those who celebrated the occasion were: 1/ From left, Nathan Williams, new junior family member Paige Williams (12) and Rear Commodore Gillian Williams.

2/ From left, new country and associate members David Bassett and Helen MacDonald with Erin Clatworthy.

3/ From left, Committee member Mike Malcolm, new family member Terence Stevens-Prior and Committee members Sheryl Lanigan and Mike Leyland.

4/ Marion Stock and new full member Paul Stock.

5/ From left, Lana Morrison, Jill Hanlyn and new country member Graeme Crawshaw.

6/ New family members Serena and Dwayne Boyes.

7/ From left, Russ Rutan, new associate member Dawn Baca, Karen Vause and new full member Peter Vause.

8/ New associate member Anne-Constance-Palmeri and Laki Dometakis.

9/ New country member Andrew Taylor and associate member Anita Taylor.

10/ New crew member Peter Rose and Adrianne Cranshaw Pictures by Debra Douglas

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42 Breeze Magazine

RNZYS Authors in print Two long-standing RNZYS members have been busy publishing new books related to personal sailing experiences and characters ...

Harold George, who was one of only four two-term Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Commodores (1937-39 and 1946-47), is the subject of a new book by Noel Vautier, who frequently sailed aboard George’s yacht Victory when Vaiutier was a young law student in Auckland.

Harold: A Nautical Life (Self-published, 2021) is an affectionate and insightful record of an accomplished RNZYS Commodore, military man and lawyer, as well as a charming portrait of racing and cruising in Auckland and much further afield during the inter-war and post war years.

Harold George was born into a sailing family. His father, Hector, managed the marine chandlery business of John Burns & Co (later Burnsco). His mother, Florence, was one of the Couldrey clan of designers and boatbuilders.

In 1929, Harold, his brother Geoffrey and a friend, embarked on a remarkable voyage aboard Victory to Norfolk Island. “Victory’s arrival at Norfolk Island was unexpected and caused quite a sensation,” Vautier records. “Never before had a small yacht come to the island from so far away.”

Victory’s return to New Zealand was less auspicious. Instead of being met with acclaim for such an audacious achievement, George was hauled before the courts for failing to observe proper health and quarantine protocols.

His defence for going ashore without clearance was that the crew were short of fresh water, but the court dismissed this as not sufficiently urgent to warrant breaking the law. He was convicted and ordered to pay costs of £3.13s.

One of Victory’s many racing achievements was winning the first Balokovic race, organised by Royal Akarana Yacht Club. The 180-mile course from Judge’s Bay to Sail Rock then around Little and Great Barrier, the Cuvier Islands and back to Auckland, saw the small fleet encountering weather ranging from complete calms to full-out gales, causing considerable damage and even injuries.

Between taking shelter in various anchorages to make repairs, it took Victory from 8pm on the Friday night to 9.17am on the Monday to claim a hard-won win.

Another well-known claim to fame was during a 1938 RNZYS weekend cruise for members of the Officers’ Club. With all the participants at anchor, Commodore George issued an open invitation to come aboard Victory, which nearly sank at anchor under the weight of bodies. The log later recorded 90 guest signatures.

Harold served in both world wars. During World War Two, he and Bunty Palmer helped set up a commando training base at Mallaig, a remote fishing village in Scotland. George participated in the famous commando raid on the Lofoten Islands in the far north of Norway.

He served under Lord Mountbatten, both in the commandos and later in the South East Asia Command, where he was appointed

Naval Planning Officer Combined Operations.

Harold married a wealthy American heiress, Edith, and some of Vautier’s recollections of post-war cruising include delightful vignettes of the parade of socialites and war heroes who came aboard.

“If we tacked into the wind Edith could get quite upset as the boat leaned over and would tell Harold quite abruptly to stop it …”

“Yes, dear,” he would respond.

The trials and tribulations of sailing without an engine are also well described, as are the efforts of having to ferry guests to and from the yacht at its Okahu Bay moorings in a dinghy with no outboard.

“Unfortunately, there was no pontoon or jetty and the ramp at low tide was covered with slime and could be quite treacherous. Sometimes two of us had to lift Edith into the dinghy – not very dignified!”

• Harold: A Nautical Life is available in the RNZYS Cornes Library and from the RNZYS Retail Store.

Australia-based Squadron member John Burgess was born into a sea-faring family just before World War Two and, after a childhood that included living on farms in Northland and the Waikato, quickly searched and found adventure at sea as a young man.

He has recounted these experiences in a rollicking book called Life, Luck and Liaisons (Xlibris, 2020).

His antecedents had close ties with the sea. His great grandfather, Captain I.J. Burgess, was born in London, but joined the merchant marine and voyaged to New Zealand under sail in 1846, later to become Auckland harbourmaster, a position which then encompassed the Waitemata, Manukau, Kaipara, Hokianga, Thames, Tauranga and other harbours.

His father, also a long-standing Squadron member and one of the founding members of Cobweb Corner, sailed mullet boats and later crewed on Ariki in Auckland and tried, with limited success, to teach his children to sail a Z-class dinghy on Lake Taupo.

Burgess’s book provides an entertaining account of growing up in post-war New Zealand amidst eccentric but accomplished relatives including strong-willed and frequently hard-drinking women with a powerful streak of Irish in them.

His first sailing adventures were on an American ketch called Monsoon.

He joined a motley crew, which included a talking mynah bird and the skipper’s not very hygienic Australian girlfriend, who made it clear her favours were not exclusive.

Breeze Magazine 43 After sailing to Fiji, where he jumped ship after being beaten up at a local wedding, he was taken on as crew by former US submariner Buck Taylor and his wife Dorie, who were on a world cruise with their homebuilt 28ft ketch, Koae.

Together they voyaged for two years in Australia, New Guinea, Timor, and finally wound up in Singapore, where Burgess used his RNZYS reciprocal privileges to make full use of the Royal Singapore Yacht Club’s facilities.

Life, Luck and Liaisons is a charming account of a young man’s adventures travelling to exotic destinations by sea at a time when cruising of this sort was still relatively rare. He encountered life in all its forms, including rising political tensions in Timor. He took advantage of luck along the way, both to seize opportunities and get out of various scrapes.

And in the process, liaisons, or “misunderstandings” over women, meant he became familiar with black eyes and local jail cells.

Following Life, Luck and Liaisons, Burgess wrote a second book, What’s the Story, recounting his life in London in the swinging sixties, where he began a successful career in the international meat trade.

During his sojourn in Europe, he continued sailing, racing on the Solent and in the Fastnet, met and married his New Zealand wife, Jenny, in London and finally settled in Australia.

This second book includes accounts of extensive land and sea travels, including crewing aboard an Australian yacht with a young family. Burgess was in his mid-60s and just recovering from serious brain surgery, when he received an out-of-the-blue invitation to join the 12.5m sloop Blown Away Too in the Maldives.

Despite the effects of his recent surgery, his instincts for adventure remained undimmed and he leaped at the chance, sailing with the family – not without its tensions and challenges – up the Red Sea to Egypt at a time of pirate activity.

Now in his 80s, Burgess reports he is busy writing a third book.

• Copies of his books are available in the RNZYS Cornes Library and can also be purchased online at www.johnburgessauthor.com, or www. xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/818605-whats-the-story.

44 Breeze Magazine

150th Year Commemorative Book | $139 The RNZYS 150th Commemorative Book is a beautiful coffee table style publication, finished to a very high quality and includes 464 pages in full colour. The book covers the foundations of the club in 1871 and extends right through to the conclusion of the successful America’s Cup defence in 2021. The overarching theme is of the Squadron’s leading role in the wider story of New Zealand’s outstanding yachting achievements on the global stage, and the comprehensive history of our great club.

Available for pre order now rnzys.org.nz

Breeze Magazine 45

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46 Breeze Magazine

Planting a Legacy at Kawau

By Ivor Wilkins Muddy boots and clothes, stiff shoulders and legs and a great deal of camaraderie and satisfaction marked the first weekend of the RNZYS tree-planting project at the Lidgard House property on Kawau Island in early August.

This was earmarked as a legacy project for the club’s 150th Anniversary and marks the start of implementing a long-planned improvement programme at the island. The legacy vision is that kiwi and other native birdlife will return. Estimated costs for the first year are $120,000.

“The planting is part of a five-year plan,” says Committee Member Peter Boardman, who is leading the project. “This is the first phase, where we have cleared the land to get rid of invasive plants, and trees and begun replacing them with natives.

“We plan to plant 4000 trees this year and about 2,500 a year over the course of the project. At the end of the project, we envisage developing the boatshed to include a bunkhouse facility. We have already begun the resource consent process for that development.”

Good progress was made over the first weekend, with 1300 trees planted on the steep slope behind Lidgard House. “We had a group

of 22 volunteers and staff on the first day and another eight on the second day. Overall, it was a very successful couple of days,” says CEO Hayden Porter, who ferried volunteers to and from the island from Sandspit aboard Pembles Bay, transported trailer loads of trees up and down the muddy track with the four-wheel drive ATV, joined the planters and manned the BBQ to provide the troops with much-needed sustenance.

As the volunteers worked their way across the steep slope, digging and planting to a pre-arranged plan, a constant murmur of conversation could be heard as they swapped yarns and jokes and occasionally eased their backs to admire progress. By the end of the weekend, what had been a barren, muddy slope had been transformed into a nursery of small treelings.

As a prelude to the planting, RNZYS Facility Manager Cooper Hopman oversaw the ground preparation phase. “The major part of that involved clearing the site. We loaded an 80-ton Stanway Marine barge with two diggers, two industrial chippers, a fuel trailer and the ATV. There wasn’t an inch of deck space left,” he recalls.

“We had a team from Aarons Contracting over there clearing and felling for four weeks.

We hauled out 160 large pines, macracarpa

and Japanese cedar. All the small stuff was put through chippers and was distributed along the loop track we created, which goes all the way up to the ridge above Lidgard House.

“That track will be retained and maintained, so that members can walk up and then link to a network of other tracks that cross the island.

“The chips were used to cover the track and also for mulch on the planting slopes. The pine logs were used to define and retain the track edges, while the macracarpa and Japanese cedar logs have been stored. Ultimately, they will be milled and used in the boatshed development,” says Cooper.

Assisting Cooper were Will Clough and Johnny Montgomery. Like a trio of island boys, they took up residence in Lidgard House, working by day, cooking their meals on the BBQ and keeping house by night. With the Kawau Island Boating Club (KBC) shut for the winter, they had to be self-sufficient, making occasional runs into Sandspit to stock up with supplies and provisions.

In addition to the tree project, they worked on maintenance tasks. These included repairing the seawall around the KBC where the sea had eroded the walking track, making repairs to the septic system, and doing a number of improvements around Lidgard House with assistance from Andrew Harris Construction.

Breeze Magazine 47

From left: Chairman of the House, Garry Scarborough selects his weapon for the day.

Committee Member Peter Boardman is leading the Kawau Legacy Project.

Below: An artist impression of the proposed bunkhouse development.

They replaced the wharf stairs, which were rotting and are continuing work on enlarging and re-planking the deck, which involves 1400 linear metres of timber from Buildpro, and 6,500 stainless steel screws from Harts Fasteners.

“It averaged out at about four days a week out there for nearly three months through the winter,” says Cooper. Finally, the big day

arrived when they were ready to transport 4,000 native trees across to the island, ready for planting.

“We used both Te Kouma and Pembles Bay and had a team of four volunteers, three staff members and some Ecology New Zealand contractors. It took 11 hours and four trips to move the treelings onto the island. We were all pretty tired and sore the next day.”

• Members can assist in a number of ways, which are detailed on the website rnzys.org.nz under the 150th Anniversary tab.

A second planting weekend was held on September 4-5, but a third weekend was cancelled due to the Covid lockdown..

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48 Breeze Magazine

Top-notch wining and dining experience

On the 17th of June, nearly 60 members and their guests enjoyed attending the first Butterworth Estate Wine Dinner in the Quarterdeck at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Butterworth Estate was founded by world-famous sailor Brad Butterworth, when he took over Martinborough winery Julicher. A relationship between Butterworth Estate and RNZYS was formed in 2019 when RNZYS commissioned a range of wines to celebrate its sesquicentennial anniversary.

Following the range of prestigious events that accompanied the 36th America’s Cup, RNZYS Operations Manager Mark Sorenson struck up a conversation with Butterworth Estate General Manager Nick Hewitt to create another.

Both parties saw a great opportunity to extend the excitement and splendor into the winter, and to showcase the Squadron as not just a leader in yacht racing, but in exquisite hospitality.

While brainstorming ideas for the dinner, it was quickly realised that a trip to the Estate in Martinborough was necessary to tie the wines and the food together. So, Nick invited Mark and RNZYS Executive Chef Jean Brito to Martinborough for a winery tour and a stay in the newly renovated original on-site cottage.

The trip included personal tours of the winery with winemaker Martin Bell, learning how each element, from Te Muna’s famed gravelly riverbed to its winter frosts, influence the wines there. Special care was taken to taste Martinborough’s finest local fares – tastes which were reflected in the menu included kina butter, Te Muna lamb and farmhouse cheeses.

The five-course degustation menu was top-notch, wowing guests and incorporating each of the matched wines into its corresponding course.

Paired beautifully with the 2019 Sauvignon Blanc, the FIRST COURSE was a favorite amongst guests as it was playfully served as five different amouse-bouche.

S salmon -Ōra King- / vanilla / nashi pear N nasturtium / mezcal / ceviche / cucumber / kohlrabi A amaranth / fried coconut soup / sage / pineapple C caviar / white chocolate / blini / cauliflower K kina butter / rēwena bread / pāua

Breeze Magazine 49

BOOK YOUR SUMMER SERVICE

The SECOND COURSE of scallops, celeriac, spiced tomato confit, and rice cracker was matched with the 2020 Regatta Rose’s notes of fresh berries and vanilla custard.

COURSE THREE took us to Jean’s roots in Mexico with duck confit, corn masa tamal, salsa verde, and fecotta cheese, complemented by notes of lime blossom in the Dry Riesling from 2020.

For the MAIN COURSE, Butterworth Estate’s hallmark 2018 Pinot Noir was perfect with lamb two-ways, pommes maxim, lavender custard, capsicum, and winter truffle.

The DESSERT COURSE was a range of farmhouse cheeses and petit fours to be washed down with plenty of wine refills.

The evening’s formalities included remarks by Brad Butterworth himself, detailed tasting notes from Winemaker Martin Bell, and Chef Jean Brito’s insight into how each course was inspired by the wines and the terroir of Te Muna.

Both new and established members of the Squadron were in attendance – all dressed in their best for the occasion. The dinner was a true celebration of the power of cuisine, viniculture, and great company – and a follow up is already being planned for this summer.

50 Breeze Magazine

Kawau Boating Club launches Labour Weekend sailfest For boaties disinclined to compete in the annual springtime ritual of the Coastal Classic, Kawau Boating Club has come up with an alternative way to celebrate the impending summer season.

The inaugural running of the Nautica Shipping and Logistics Kawau Sailing Weekend begins a race from Auckland to Kawau on Friday, October 22, starting from the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron at 1pm. This will be open to a racing and a cruising division and launches are also welcome.

On Saturday, there is an Up the River Raid, in which tenders and dinghys will follow the

river from Sandspit to Matakana for a visit to the famous Saturday market. Back on the island, revellers will enjoy a jump-up ashore with a live band.

Sunday will feature a round-the-island race, folowed by a prize-giving in the evening.

The club has ambitions to build the event into a major fixture on the sailing calendar.

“KBC is a magic facility and location – we hope to emulate the Hamilton Island Race Week and develop this regatta into the signature sailing event in NZ,” says Club Captain Jon Whisker.

Club Commodore, Mike Mahoney, says the event is not intended as competition for the

Coastal Classic, but to complement it. “This is for boaties who have probably done the Coastal Classic a couple of times and want something a little less demanding and more family-oriented. Particularly for the smaller boats, the Coastal Classic is a long way to go just to turn around and come back again.

“Our focus is on a family fun weekend. We are looking to mimic the casual atmosphere of the Mahurangi Regatta with no protests and not much in the way of formalities.” Notice of Race and Entry Forms are available on the KBC website kawauboatingclub.nz.

Major Partner Feature

52 Breeze Magazine

Stratis has come a long way since early experiments with a modified ballpoint pen. Inset: Richard Bouzaid.

Stratis technology celebrates significant milestone Twenty years ago, in an old-school Auckland sail loft, Richard Bouzaid began experimenting with a new way of building sails utilising an adapted ballpoint pen to direct single fibres onto a substrate in line with the predicted loads.

“We could only lay one Kevlar fibre at a time through an adapted ballpoint pen,” Bouzaid recalls. “It was a very typical Kiwi way of doing things.

“We were using a heatset glue on prepreg fibres with a plotter that was only 1.4m wide, so the sail panels had to be very narrow. We had this little laminator we ran the panels through.

“A young Spanish kid was working for us at the time. He ended up writing our original software to do the fibre layouts and generate files for the shapes.”

Although this was a decidedly small beginning, Bouzaid had big ambitions. New Zealand’s superyacht industry was fast gaining global recognition and the country had also just staged its successful defence of the America’s Cup, the first nation outside of the United States to achieve that.

At the start of a new millennium, with New Zealand riding a wave of success, Richard was eyeing the lucrative superyacht market.

“Obviously, laying one fibre at a time wasn’t going to work for superyachts, so we had big strides to make.”

Those early crude experiments were the beginning of big strides towards what eventually became Doyle Sails’ Stratis system and structurally engineered sails.

Utilising multiple fibre types and membranes, Stratis tailors a precision product for specific applications, from weekend warriors and club racers, through grand prix round-the-buoys machines, to round the world campaigners and luxury superyachts.

At the time of those first small steps with Kevlar fibres, Bouzaid was in a Doyle franchise loft in partnership with Chris McMaster, who became a big driver in the development of the new system. In 2017, the ownership of the entire Doyle Sails International brand was acquired by a partnership of Mike Sanderson, Richard Bouzaid and David Duff.

All 50 Doyle lofts around the world rely on the New Zealand operation for their supply of Stratis, ensuring consistent quality in every product. Almost all the custom design is also done in New Zealand with approximately 70% of the Stratis output exported in kitset form for the other lofts to assemble and finish.

“Two things are incredibly important to our manufacturing process,” Bouzaid continues. “They are high pressure laminations and a predictable environment. Everything is humidity and temperature controlled. We also deploy significant heat sensing monitoring and instrumentation, so that when we laminate, we have an incredible degree of control over the product’s consistency.”

At Doyle Sails’ 11,000m2 purpose-built headquarters in Auckland, the Stratis operation takes place in a separate climate-controlled area, where the sail fabrics are built on three flat platforms, 46m, 50m and 65m long, all at 11m wide.

The construction process involves laying down a complex matrix

Breeze Magazine 53 of fibres under a combination of vacuum, direct pressure and heat.

Fibre combinations of carbon, Technora, Ice, or Polyester are applied in varying ratios depending on the application.

“Each sail is designed and engineered for the customer’s yacht and application, whether it is intended for cruising, club racing, or grand prix campaigning. Every time the Stratis machine runs a path of fibres, it’s entirely custom-made for that sail.”

Computer-controlled machines lay down the precise arrangement of fibre threads as they pass backwards and forwards across the panel.

Laminating machines exert 12 tonnes of downward pressure and infrared heat on the surface, fibres and adhesives, which, together with extreme vacuum, ensure void-free lamination of the membrane.

It is highly automated and very efficient. On average the CAD fibrelaying machines travel 150,000 metres a week, laying down 1.3-million metres of fibre and consuming nearly 150kg of carbon and 190kg of para-aramids. The flat beds mean a whole range of different size sails, or sections of sails can be built simultaneously, maximizing the production capacity at all times.

It is a modern, high tech production system, although a fair dose of Kiwi number 8 wire ingenuity went into building it. Much of the machinery was modified from other industries — some from carpet manufacturing, some from laminating industries and some of the heating and sensing equipment came out of the food industry.

As part of its drive for quality control, Doyle Sails continues to devote resources and attention to research and development. “We are always investigating new technologies and looking at new products and refining what we do. That could be process-driven, design-driven, or related to mechanical componentry.”

In the past 10 years, with the weight-saving benefits already embedded in the process, attention has focused more on performance

and how the sails work. “A great deal of what we do now is about how we can manipulate our membranes to do more. It is not just about sails retaining rigid shapes. Our structures are designed to be manipulated, hence the evolution of Structured Luff and Cableless sails.

“This ability to manipulate the shapes means you no longer need five codes of each sail locked into a narrow working range. Our inventories provide flexibility.”

Advances in sail technology also feed back into broader areas of performance and design. On their own, lighter, stronger sails reduce weight aloft, which improves performance, but Structured Luff and Cableless sails also reduce loads, placing less demand on rigs and supporting structures.

“We are able to take load away from the mast and stays and carry more load in the sails,” says Bouzaid. “There are big gains being made there.”

As to the future, Bouzaid says tools developed in-house and the ongoing research into how all aspects of rig and sail systems interface are revealing things operators and designers could never see before and will lead to significant improvements in aerodynamics and all areas of performance.

“Increasingly, sails are going to be a lot more intelligent and provide a great deal of information through monitoring systems, fibre optics and data-streaming, much of which is coming from grand prix race programmes.

“Sails will probably look quite similar, but they will be doing much more than they are doing now.” Just as the technology has made astonishing strides in the past 20 years, Bouzaid predicts there will be no let-up in the pace going forward. “You will be staggered by the progress,” he says.

Buying or Selling?

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54 Breeze Magazine

Why we love founder-led companies

By Michael Higgins, Portfolio Manager – Milford Dynamic Fund As Portfolio Manager of the Milford Dynamic Fund, my focus is on smaller companies. It’s something I’m passionate about and have been lucky enough to be involved with for nearly 12 years. In smaller company investing, there is no shortage of those looking for capital to grow their business. There are some on the brink of reaching product acceptance and proving out their business model. Others may just need a little more time and/or capital to fully penetrate their addressable market. So, it’s extremely satisfying when you identify a business that ticks all the right boxes in our investment process.

Something unique to small cap investing is investing in companies that are more likely to be founder-led, family-linked, or employee-owned. One of the consistent themes I’ve witnessed over the years is that these businesses have an exceptional track record of outperformance.

Milford is fortunate in the Dynamic Fund that around 25% of the current portfolio is in founder-led or family-linked businesses. This is typically much less common in large cap investing given the time it takes for businesses to reach around the $4bn market capitalisation level required to enter the S&P/ASX 100 large capitalisation index.

As an interesting exercise, I tracked the three-year performance data of all the founder-led companies (19) we have owned in the Dynamic Fund over the past three months. It’s quite fascinating to see the significant outperformance these founder-led businesses have experienced, when compared to the ASX/S&P Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index. The founder-led portfolio has returned around 41% p.a. over three years against the ASX/S&P Small Ordinaries index return of 9.2%, an outperformance of 31.7% p.a!

Why is this so?

Companies with a founder who owns a material stake and who is still actively engaged in the business can often think and act differently to companies run by professional managers. So why do founder-led,

Source – Milford Asset Management, Bloomberg

family-linked, or employee-owned companies generally deliver superior performance over the long term? We have identified three key differentiators: 1. Long term mindset Founders are typically looking at establishing a business with a multi-generational timescale. According to a 2018 report by PWC strategy consulting arm Strategy&, the average tenure of a CEO in Australia is only five years. This is not a very long time to grow and develop a company. Management incentives are also typically associated with earnings performance over shorter timespans (1-3yrs), which can encourage management to focus on near term outcomes.

2. Skin in the game Milford believes having a founder’s money next to ours is very powerful. This makes for a real alignment of interests. I’m sure you have heard the saying, ‘no one works as hard as the owner’.

Where professional managers come and go over time, it is the founder who is there and leading it toward success. These founders derive meaning from the challenge, identity, ethos of their work and not necessarily from the incentive package that the boards’ remuneration committee has devised for them. It’s this commitment that often leads to remarkable levels of performance.

3. Soul in the game (emotional investment) Founders often bring a passion to business. They are building a legacy, which requires long term thinking. The most underestimated attribute we find is the broader love of the business and the intent to continue the success they’ve had into the future. As Warren Buffett says, “We’ve had terrific luck with the entrepreneurs who basically love their businesses the way I love Berkshire.”

I believe that Milford shares many of the same attributes I have discussed. One of our core values is to align our success to the performance of our clients’ capital. As a company, Milford is majority staff & board-owned and staff are only able to invest in Milford, or its funds.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide general information only. It does not take into account your investment needs or personal circumstances. It is not intended to be viewed as investment or financial advice. Should you require financial advice you should always speak to an Authorised Financial Adviser. If you would like to speak to a Milford Adviser please contact us on 0800 662 347.

Breeze Magazine 55

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56 Breeze Magazine

FOILING FAMILY ANDREW AITKEN ANDY ANDERSON BEACON MARINE COLIN & PATRICA CARRAN COLOURWORX ROY DICKSON DODSON JAPANESE PARTSWORLD DOYLE SAILS GRAEME EDWARDS GERALD FLYNN MATTHEW FLYNN GALBRAITH FAMILY DON GRAYSON HARKEN NZ PHILLIP HART HOPMAN FAMILY ICEFIRE LTD KZ RACE FURLERS LIGHTHOUSE MARINE EQUIPMENT LUCAS FAMILY MIKE MAHONEY STEVE MAIR MCKEOGH FAMILY MULCAHY ENGINEERING DAVID NATHAN NEW WORLD BIRKENHEAD PAGANI PORK CHOP RACING ANDREW REID SAVINGS WORKS JOHN & KATHRYN SINCLAIR SOUTHERN SPARS/ RIGPRO WASHTECH WESTHAVEN ROTARY WINDOWMAKERS HUGH L WRIGHT YACHTING DEVELOPMENTS ZHIK

SUPPORTERS

One of our RNZYS Performance Programme teams comprised of Alastair Gifford, Max South and Frankie Dair jetted off to the United States of America in July on a quest to do the Squadron proud on the international stage with the hope of making it a three-peat of RNZYS victories at the US Grand Slam Series. This is their report: The US Grand Slam Series is made up of four match racing events during August and early September held in Chicago, Detroit and New York.

As we all know in a Covid-19 world, plans change. To start with Alastair and Max joined the Mini maxi 72, Vesper, on the East Coast of America.They tasted immediate success as they combined with the rest of the Vesper team to win the East Coast ORC Championships.

Meanwhile, Frankie kept himself busy on the west coast winning the King of Spain Star class regatta while also getting involved with a Farr40 and various other boats. The team then linked up to train at Martha’s Vineyard in J70s to get back into the match racing mind frame. After training, the team got on the road and headed to Chicago for the first leg of the Grand Slam, the Chicago Match Cup. They were joined by Gavin Brady and his

daughter Rye. “We would like to say a huge thank you to Gavin for coming along and sharing his wealth of knowledge and wisdom.

This helped us grow as a team.

“After a tight and competitive regatta, we managed to come away with a hard-fought win in the final 3-1.” says Alastair. This is the first major win for the team and they will look to carry the momentum into the remaining events.

Since then, the team has gone their separate ways again. Alastair and Frankie set off to Los Angeles to sail and work before attending the remaining three US Grand Slam events in Detroit and Oackliff, with hopes of winning the series. Meanwhile, Max has set off to Europe to join Beau Geste for the 20th anniversary TP52 regatta. “There is a lot more to come for us with more regattas, as a team, over both America and Europe in the next few months. We are trying to make the most of the opportunities in these complex Covid-19 times,” states Max. “We would like to hugely express our gratitude to the RNZYS and all those involved in helping us make the most of these fantastic opportunities.”.

Cheers Alastair, Frankie and Max

Breeze Magazine 57

MAJOR SPONSOR

MASTERCARD YOUTH TRAINING PROGRAMME SUPPORTERS Three years ago, I joined the Mastercard Youth Training Programme (YTP) not really knowing what to expect as I had never participated in a training programme before. However, because I had previously done the Kawau Training Week years prior, I thought that this would be a good next step to further my overall understanding across all sailing areas.

TheYTP would also give me a chance to meet like-minded people, and through hard work and training on the majority of my weekends, I believe being part of this programme has enabled me to achieve more than I could have imagined.

It is a programme that pushes you to constantly improve in many areas of on-water sailing, including match, fleet and teams racing as well as doing the occasional harbour course. We are also encouraged to develop our understanding of sailing trim, rules, tactics, boat handling, fitness, as well as on and off water communications.

All of the above is coached, tested, then recorded in a performance ranking chart that creates a healthy competitive environment between all of the programme sailors.

These rankings provide the basis for how we are chosen to sail both in national and international regattas. Unfortunately, this year due to Covid-19, most regattas have been out of the question. Previously, we have had the opportunity to compete right around

New Zealand as well as in Sydney, Nouméa, Darwin, and China.

The programme has given us other opportunities in addition to enhancing our own sailing such as assisting with mark laying during the America’s Cup and learning to splice thanks to Harken. This year, I have also been fortunate enough that the RNZYS has allowed me to complete my university workintegrated-learning placement for my Bachelor of Sport and Recreation. This will involve learning more about Race Management in the Sailing Office and helping with the Learn to Sail Programme, both of which I am looking forward to.

From my personal experience, if you are looking for a way to carry on your sailing at a high level and make some friends while you are doing it, then I highly recommend joining the RNZYS Mastercard Youth Training Programme as it is a great next step.

Brooke Adamson YTP Member

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Gloriana (foreground) and Rogue reunited at Horizon Boats.

Gloriana and Rogue set to resume a 130-year-old rivalry

By Penelope Carrol The last time Gloriana and Rogue raced against each other was just over 130 years ago. But it won’t be long before the lovely 32-foot

(over-all length) clippers, built expressly in 1892 by sons of prominent Auckland boatbuilders to race each other, are competing again on the Waitematā and beyond.

Celebrating Tangaroa’s Return

Photographed from Waitangi by David Davies, it is great to see Tangaroa back racing in Auckland in the CYA fleet.

Launched in 1936, Tangaroa raced regularly in RNZYS events until leaving our shores for Hawaii in 1961.

Gloriana, the Classic Yacht Trust’s oldest boat, is a Logan design, and Rogue, a Bailey.

For months they lay sideby-side at Horizon Boats at Stillwater, being ‘tidied up’.

Gloriana arrived from her mooring behind Auckland’s Maritime Museum; and Rogue from the hard stand at Evans Bay, Wellington.

Although extensively restored and relaunched 15 years ago, Gloriana (lacking a permanent skipper and an engine) had remained mostly on her mooring with only the occasional outing. Rogue arrived back in Auckland “pretty much 120 years to the day when she was shipped to Wellington aboard the Elignamite,” says Wayne Olsen of Horizon Boats.

Gloriana has now returned to her museum mooring and, with both an engine installed and a committed skipper

Issue 136 – October 2021

(Giles Jordan), has begun racing again in the CYA B division. “She wasn’t built to be tied up against the dock,” says Giles.

Giles has sailed on and off since boyhood (Optimists, Darts and Pied Pipers) and discovered classic yachting in Europe in the 1980s, crewing in the Mediterranean (on Saharet of Tyre, a 112-foot 1933 classic) and working with a wooden boat charter company in Malta. When he returned to New Zealand and sailing, it was to crew on the CYA’s Frances and Thelma.

And now he is skippering Gloriana.

“She is very tender, Gloriana. We’ve had her out three times (two of these occasions racing) and we’ve had great fun; but we’re still very much learning.”

Her crew of three has yet to hoist Gloriana’s topsail, says Giles. The wind needs to be rather less than the 25 knots blowing during her last race.

The long job of restoring Rogue began in 2007 after her current owner noticed her berthed at Evans Bay late in 2006 and decided to purchase her: “I was attracted by Rogue’s lines and size. Then I learned of Rogue’s history and – being without a current project – thought her restoration might be an adventure, as well as a contribution to cultural heritage.” He never imagined it would be a 15-year adventure.

The owner came to sailing later in life, his first

Racing before the storm

After a relaxing time in the Nelson/Marlborough area, I was ready to head south.

The sailing was good until the wind backed 100° at the entrance of Queen Charlotte Sound. I ended up motoring into 25 knots, arriving in

Wharehunga Bay just as it really started to blow.

Severe storm conditions were building in the Tory Channel area. With brisk breezes in a southerly direction forecast for the next 24 hours, I set sails and

compass south for Robertson Point and Port Underwood.

About 4nm short of Robertson Point, however, the sailing conditions seemed too good to waste, so I gybed over to continue on toward Lyttleton. The broad reach across Cloudy Bay was delicious and turning the corner at Cape Campbell gave us a lovely downhill run with gybes about every 12 miles.

However, as the following sea built by 2200, I knew I should have put in a third reef! Too late. Lesson to self: “once at sea and going downhill, reefs are easier to take out than put in.”

By 0300, we were motoring in a sloppy sea on top of the increasing swell pushed up by the developing gale in Cook Strait. The new NW wind arrived just before midday, which saw us again broad reaching, heading straight for Port Lyttelton.

At 1915 on December 1, I dropped our pick at Corsair

experience racing on a Farr in Wellington harbour.

He had always loved the water and swimming and found, once he went on to experience sailing on classic wooden boats, that he also loved sailing. Crewing on ‘little Thelma’ (a 1903 Bailey) and other wooden boats in Wellington, along with trips to San Francisco and Maine to sail in wooden classic regattas, led to his passion for classic yachts and his purchase of the then-derelict Rogue.

Restoration work began at Matt Price’s Wellington boatyard and included stripping Rogue back to bare wood inside and out and replacing almost everything

except for the fabric of the hull itself. Among the replacements was “the iron contraption” on her keel which was installed after the lead was removed and melted down for bullets during WWI. Her restoration has continued with Wayne in Auckland and is now almost complete.

“We’re just waiting on some castings and there’s a bunch of varnishing and painting to do inside and out.

But we can’t get materials during Level 4 lockdown,” says Wayne.

After her official relaunch and a commissioning sail later this year, her owner and crew will take time to get to know how to best handle her

on the water. “Like Gloriana, historically Rogue has had a tendency to be very tender.

The new ballast is meant to stop that. But no-one knows yet how she will go.”

Plans are for Rogue to be moored in the Mahurangi River for cruising during part of the year and at other times in Auckland for “occasional racing”.

Rogue’s owner is suggesting the 2022 CYA summer racing season (in December next year) might be a good time for the newly restored Rogue to begin racing again. “That will be both boats’ 130th anniversary,” he says.

Gloriana and Rogue’s first ever contest was the 1892

In October 2020, we shared excerpts from the first part of Peter Mortimer’s Picton to Stewart Island voyage on Tamariki. Here he has a very fast ride to Lyttleton – and a reminder about reefing!

Dusk falls with the Kaikura Ranges off to the west.

Bay, having sailed 200nm from Queen Charlotte Sound at an average speed of 6.4 knots.

Eight days later, I moved into Lyttelton’s Te Ana Marina. Tucked into a corner at the west end of the commercial port, you enjoy a daily parade of tugs dancing an interesting array of ships – oil tankers, gas tankers, ice-breakers, log carriers, huge offshore fishing vessels, research vessels and occasional car carriers – in and out from the wharf with amazing dexterity.

A highlight was observing the Tuia 250 Cook celebrations, held at the marina on December 7.

One of the waka in the celebration fleet had sailed from Tahiti. It had been designed and built three years earlier at Salthouse Boatbuilders in Greenhithe, Auckland where I’d watched its launching.

Next stop, Akaroa…

Judges Bay Regatta, just before Christmas. Gloriana won, with Rogue second.

Rogue never beat Gloriana during her time racing on the Waitematā during the 1890s, but she won many races in Wellington Harbour from 1901 racing under her new name of Muritai.

Gloriana and Rogue’s racing prospects and race fortunes were avidly discussed and reported on in the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Star through the 1890s.

While not of the same widespread interest 130 years on, some of us still await their next race with great anticipation …

CLASSIC YACHT ASSOCIATION CONTACTS – GENERAL ENQUIRIES: Joyce Talbot, admin@classicyacht.org.nz CLUB CAPTAIN YACHTS: Richard Cave, yachtcaptain@classicyacht.org.nz CLUB CAPTAIN LAUNCHES: Jason Prew, launchcaptain@classicyacht.org.nz

60 Breeze Magazine

Marine Scene Scen e Latest

information

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Products

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Navico partners with world’s first electric powerboat champs Beneteau’s First brand stages a come-back After a 15 year hiatus, Beneteau is thrilled to announce the return of the legendary First line of racer/ cruisers. Three years in development between Beneteau and Seascape designers, the First 36 will be the first model to launch from this renewed line.

True to the First’s heritage, the 36 aims to bridge the gap between sports boat and comfortable cruising. A wide and modern hull shape is designed to get on the plane in midrange winds, perfect for both club racing and

cruising with the family.

Big names in her design include Seascape’s Samuel Manuard, Beneteau’s Lorenzo Argento, with structurally engineering by Pure Design Team New Zealand, who are also recognized for their involvement with TP52s, Ineos’ AC75, and IMOCA 60s.

Premiering at the BOOT Düsseldorf in Europe January 2022. www.36degrees.nz

Volvo Penta launches emission-reduction system With new emission-reduction legislation extending to larger leisure craft in several international legislations, Volvo Penta has worked on an optimized solution that reduces emissions and increases fuel efficiency.

Volvo Penta’s IMO Tier III solution is the most compact on the market – making the transition to IMO III compliance simple, both for Volvo Penta IPS and traditional inboard shaft installations. The compact design means that existing Volvo Penta IPS-powered yachts will be able to fit the system without engine room alterations. Furthermore, thanks to the patentpending flexible and modular outlet, the SCR system can be installed in both a vertical and horizontal position, thus making it an even more versatile solution.

This solution will be available for ordering in January 2022. www.volvopenta.com

Navico has announced a partnership with the world’s first electric powerboating championship, scheduled to kick off in early 2023 with up to 12 teams set to race on a tight, technical course reaching speeds up to 50 knots (58mph; 93km/h). The announcement coincides with the E1 Series unveiling its first full-size model of the RaceBird electric powerboat at a presentation ceremony at the Yacht Club de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Simrad® electronics will be the Official Marine Electronics Partner of the E1 Series, while C-MAP becomes the Official Cartography Partner.

C-MAP and Simrad® products will provide specialist navigation and marine electronics for the RaceBirds and support craft at race events, integrating Simrad’s latest technology into the cockpits and C-MAP’s digital cartography and mapping technology for teams and race management. www.navico.com

Breeze Magazine 61

Dockside inflatable fenders born of a boating passion

Yacht Sales Co secures exclusive Dufour agency Founded by marine industry expert Mark Elkington,The Yacht Sales Co is set to follow the success of Multihull Solutions, which Elkington established in 2008 and has since become the region’s leading multihull sales specialist.

The Yacht Sales Co deals with the sales of quality new and pre-owned sail and power yachts in centres across the company’s Asia Pacific network.

The company has been appointed exclusive Australian and New Zealand dealer of the prestigious Dufour brand of sailing monohulls.

Mark Elkington said the partnership was an

exciting endorsement for The Yacht Sales Co, which already has a strong relationship with Dufour’s parent company, the Fountaine Pajot Group, following decades of representing their catamaran range in the region.

New Zealand clients will be looked after by NZ general manager Dominic Lowe, a wellrespected name in the NZ market.

The Dufour range comprises nine models, all Umberto Felci designs, ranging from the 310 to the new flagship Dufour 61. info@yachtsalesco.com.

Fiordland 12-night voyage offer for RNZYS Island Escape Cruises operate adventure voyages in Fiordland and now add a complete new dimension to the region with the addition of the luxurious new 53m, 32-passenger ship Island Escape.

Our newest voyage is a 12-night cruise.

We will have Peter (PJ) Montgomery, the noted New Zealand America’s Cup sailing guru

onboard to share some of his experiences and his knowledge of these waters.

Voyages are limited editions, allinclusive and star t from $12,050 pp.

For all bookings RNZYS will receive a 10% commission supporting the club. www.islandescapecruises.com

At the end of a long haul out on the water, it’s time to dock in at the berth and get home for dinner. Just one problem — the wind has picked up, the tide is going in the opposite direction and the chances of not smacking into the berth are almost nil.

Risking the paintwork on the most precious thing in life (and the marriage) can make for an ugly end to an otherwise perfect day.

The solution? A better-designed inflatable dock fender to make parking the beauty a breeze.

This is how Safe2Dock was created.

True story. www.safe2dock.com

62 Breeze Magazine

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Breeze Magazine 63

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64 Breeze Magazine

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MY

CY

CMY

K

320 Rosebank Road, Avondale, Auckland 1010 info@doylesails.com

ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS 09 359 5999 sales@nz.northsails.com Unit 3 23B Westhaven Drive, Westhaven

nz.northsails.com

217 Archers Road, Glenfield PO Box 37419 Parnell, Auckland, NZ

SAILS SERVICE COVERS & UPHOLSTERY ONE DESIGN

TITANIUM FABRICATION

BARBECUES

FIRE PROTECTION

Distributing Magma BBQ’s for over 25 yrs

Shop online or in store

w w w. s op ac.co.n z So-Pac Marine 41c William Pickering Dr Albany, Auckland 09 448 5900

Specialising in all Marine Fire Safety Requirements We specialise in hand operated fire protection services and related safety equipment for commercial, marine and domestic use.

Comprehensive range of MNZ and SOLAS/MED approved fire and safety equipment IQP Registered NZQA Qualified Technicians Lloyds Accredited FFPANZ Members Long standing business for over 20 years in the industry

28 Hamer Street, Westhaven, Auckland Phone: 09 357 6767 | Email: office@actron.co.nz

Breeze Magazine 65

SAFETY EQUIPMENT

PROPELLERS

QUALITY MARINE PRODUCTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

2-blade folding propeller 3-blade folding propeller

All types available for both saildrive and shaft installation

4-blade folding propeller

EXPERIENCED, QUALIFIED, PROFESSIONAL

Liferaa Servicing and Certifications Inflatable Boat Servicing and Repairs Lifejacket Servicing and Certifications Immersion & Dry Suit Servicing and Repairs Repair, Re Programming, Servicing and Battery Replacement for ACR EPRIB’s, PLB’s, SART’s and AIS Systems.

28 Hamer Street, Westhaven, Auckland Phone: 09 308 9165 | Email: sales@wilcomarineservices.co.nz

09 448 5900 | info@sopac.co.nz | www.sopac.co.nz

MARINE BOOKS I woke to a scream so terrible that icebergs shattered

Wild Seas to Greenland

By Rebecca Hayter $39.95

Available from Rebecca Hayter: mob 0274 782 478 Email rebecca@rebeccahayter.co.nz Website www.rebeccahayter.co.nz

Directory Advertising $120.00

for

Standard BuSineSS Card

Size

(85

x

The Folding Propeller for Yachts Lowest Drag, Highest Thrust

45)

$600.00

for

Six iSSueS (1 Year)

2 blade 3 blade 4 blade

Contact: Debbie Whiting tel: 09 378 1222 • email inklink@xtra.co.nz

BOAT HAULAGE

Ph 0800 926 627 or 09 358 2050 For more details contact sales@powerequipment.co.nz

VIP.S129

Office: 09 483 8111 – Pete: 0274 731 260 – Luke: 021 686 394

QUALITY MARINE PRODUCTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

AUTOMATIC FEATHERING PROPELLERS • 2, 3, 4 & 5 blade models, pitch adjustable

Email: pete@boathaulage.co.nz

• New props • Anodes • Spare Parts • Reconditioning

09 448 5900 | info@sopac.co.nz | www.sopac.co.nz

66 Breeze Magazine

RNZYS Sale 40% off selected Karen Walker & 150th merchandise until 31.10.21 or while stock lasts

Karen Walker Blue Rain Jacket $145 | $87

Karen Walker Yellow Rain Jacket $145 | $87

Karen Walker Yellow Rain Jacket $145 | $87

Karen Walker Lighthouse T-Shirt $115 | $69

Karen Walker Runaway Sailor T-Shirt $115 | $69

150th Long Sleeve Shirt - Unisex $140 | $84

150th Anchor Tee (Navy or White) $60 | $36

150th Burgee Tee $79 | $47

150th Pocket Tee (Navy or White) $79 | $47

Available now instore or online www.rnzys.org.nz

Breeze Magazine 67

NEW YAMAHA

OUTBOARD

+ RIGGING

LIVE

LIFE

/YamahaMarineNZ

LOCAL

yamaha-motor.co.nz

FROM

*

*Finance to approved personal applicants or commercial applicants with a registered valid NZBN (excludes fleet, government and rental buyers). Weekly repayments are the monthly equivalent of: (A) $264 for a F40LA $11,663 RRP including GST; (B) $300 for a F60LB $13,403 RRP including GST; (C) $343 for a F70LA $15,243 RRP including GST; (D) $414 for a F90LB $18,773 RRP including GST; (E) $462 for a F115LB $21,013 RRP including GST. Offer is based on an interest rate of 9.95% over a 5-year loan term with a $395 application fee and $8.05 PPSR fees.

Finance is provided by Yamaha Motor Finance New Zealand Ltd. (YMF) NZBN 9429036270798 FSP 9622. Offer is subject to YMF’s credit and lending criteria. Unit price advertised includes standard rigging (6Y8 two round gauge, 703 remote, control cable 14ft, K series alloy prop). Please ask your dealer for full details. Offer available from participating Yamaha dealers which stocks last from 01/05/2021 until 30/08/2021. Units must be warranty registered and finance contracts must settle by 31/10/2021. Not in conjunction other offers.

68 Breeze Magazine