HAINES HUNTER SUPPORTS LEGASEA
Industry leaders since 1946, Seacraft with its iconic brand Haines Hunter, has focussed on constructing dry, soft-riding boats. These efforts have allowed others to experience the wonders of New Zealand’s coastal playground.
Innovatively, Seacraft was one of the first to begin commercially manufacturing fibreglass hulls in New Zealand. Now, it is once again looking to the future.
“It’s pretty simple,” explains Lionel Sands, pictured above left with business partner Denis Kendall. “We want our kids and grandkids to share our passion for the ocean. If we are to leave a legacy we can be proud of, we need to make changes today, tomorrow may be too late.
“Global demand for fish is insatiable. With fish populations reaching new lows, we need change. Collectively we need to restore our coastal fisheries.”
Haines Hunter made the bold decision to become a LegaSea Platinum Partner, one of five nationwide. It also expanded its apprenticeship programme which is allowing it to impart a lifetime of learnings to future generations of boatbuilders. Currently it has six apprentice boatbuilders, composite technicians and service technicians.
The expression “Put your money where your mouth is!” springs to mind.
The boat building industry and the marine environment will be better tomorrow thanks to Haines Hunters’ investment today.
www.haineshunter.co.nz www.legasea.co.nz
DEVIL RAY BALLET
This graceful photo of three giant devil rays performing a ‘ballet’ – shot by Duncan Murrell – was judged the Best of Show at the recent Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organised by the Underwater Photography Guide.
Judges said this 7th annual competition attracted a very high calibre of photos from 70 countries and that 2018 was the most competitive year to date.
Murrell’s shot uses soft, ambient light to accentuate the movements of elegant giants. Other exceptional images include astonishing fish and marine life shots, rarely seen animal behaviour, innovative shooting techniques, stunning portraits, seals, ocean adventure, whales and some dramatic moments between humans and marine life.
Sixteen different categories ensure a competitive contest for all levels and disciplines of underwater photography, including compact, mirrorless, and DSLR cameras. There is also a new category called ‘Underwater Art.’ Judges included prestigious underwater photographers Tony Wu, Martin Edge and Marty Snyderman, accompanied by Underwater Photography Guide publisher Scott Gietler.
Over $80,000 in prizes was awarded, making the Ocean Art prize value among the highest in the world.
CELESTIAL SUCCESS
Scorning modern electronics for a sextant, a 73-year-old French sailor has won the 30,000-mile Golden Globe solo round-the-world race after 212 days at sea – his first sailing victory – and a new record for the oldest skipper to sail solo non-stop around the world.
Jean-Luc Van Den Heede arrived in France’s Les Sables d’Olonne at the end of January in his 35-foot yacht Matmut. Of the 18 competitors who started the race in July last year, only five finished.
The race was Van Den Heede’s sixth circumnavigation. He nearly abandoned the event in November when his mast was damaged during a Southern Ocean storm, with 65-knot winds and 11m seas. A repair on land would have disqualified him, so he fixed the mast himself before rounding Cape Horn.
“But I admit that climbing a mast is no longer OK at my age,” he said in a post-race interview. “I climbed seven times. The worst thing was trying to undo the pins.”
Among those greeting Van Den Heede on his arrival was British sailor Robin Knox-Johnston, who won the only other Golden Globe race 50 years ago.
MNZM FOR BROOKE
Brooke has helped preserve New Zealand’s wooden boatbuilding heritage and continues to contribute to and advise pro bono on boatbuilding and restoration. He pioneered and was pivotal in the integration of the ‘Design-and-Build’ mode of teaching and learning into the national curriculum of Workshop Technology.
Where previously students copied existing designs or components, under Design-andBuild students conceive the design and see it through to completion. This principle has become the mainstay of technology education and is flourishing under the NCEA environment.
He was an advisor in technical subjects for the then Department of Education from 1987 to 1990 and was the National Moderator of the Northern Region appointed to assess National Standards.
He has been National Examiner for Ship, Yacht and Boatbuilding and has been a member of the Ship, Yacht and Boatbuilding Advisory Committee for Unitec. He has moderated Ship, Yacht and Boatbuilding Trade and Advanced Trade examinations. He has been General Manager of the Boating Industry Training Organisation.
He was commissioned from 2003 to 2005 to design and set up the Boatbuilding Training and Apprenticeship Scheme for the Nova Scotia Boatbuilders’ Association in Canada. Brooke was a leading figure in the establishment of the Auckland Traditional Boatbuilding School.
EDWARDS TAKES STARLING TITLE
South Island Wildcard Harry Edwards beat Auckland’s Max Scott to take the 2019 Starling Match Racing Nationals title in January – scoring three wins from four races and in the process adding his name to a trophy studded with the Who’s Who of New Zealand yachting.
RESULTS
1. HARRY EDWARDS – South Island - WILDCARD 2
2. MAX SCOTT – Auckland
3. EMILY OVEREND – Marlborough
4. LACHLAN DILLON – Bay of Plenty
SAVE THE BOATYARD
The sight of classics like Waitangi, Rawhiti, Ariki and so many others out on the waters of the harbour and Gulf is a soul-stirring event that reminds me of our immense heritage and our depth of expertise in the design, construction and build of such beautiful boats. To hear that the same heritage is now in danger of slipping away is truly concerning.
As a recent returnee to New Zealand, I freely admit to not having any understanding of the politics and processes underlying Panuku Development’s consultations and any decisions that are being made around the fate of the Percy Vos boat yard.
I can relate, however, that my experiences postretirement of spending a year as a student at a fully functional, highly successful boatbuilding school (North West School of Wooden Boatbuilding, Port Hadlock, WA, USA), and as a boatwright volunteer at a publicly accessible ‘experience’ centre (Center for Wooden Boats, Seattle, WA, USA), that the benefits to the US boatbuilding industry (old and new) and to the community at large of maintaining the skills and knowledge of wooden boatbuilding alongside more modern methodologies are immeasurable.
A showcase place, accessible to the public and to tourists, demonstrating wooden boatbuilding skills and techniques with construction and restoration examples should be an integral part of our vibrant and active boatbuilding industry.
What better place to have it than at the Vos boatyard on Auckland’s waterfront as a part of the Viaduct, Wynyard Quarter and new America’s Cup developments? This could easily provide for: a permanent home for the New Zealand Traditional Boatbuilding School; an experience centre for paying public/tourist access in a safe place for viewing activities; a facility for practical demonstrations, tuition, seminars; a place for local volunteer participation; a facility for showcasing our pre-European traditions of Maori/ Polynesian boatbuilding and voyaging.
Come on Panuku / Auckland City Council, help facilitate this happening.
Dr. G. Kere Kemp, North West School of Wooden Boatbuilding https://www.nwswb.edu/ , Center for Wooden Boats – http://cwb.org/
Millennium Cup queen
The 28m ketch Tawera lifted her skirts and romped home to take the title at this year’s edition of the Millennium Cup – the world’s most southerly superyacht regatta – held in the Bay of Islands. It was the 11th edition of the event.
The regatta is designed to highlight the importance of the superyacht sector in New Zealand’s marine industry, as well as showcase some of the country’s most visually-striking cruising grounds. With the approach of the 36th America’s Cup, organisers expect to see the competing fleet swell exponentially over the next three years.
The event attracts yachts with a penchant for adventure and is lauded by entrants for the sense of camaraderie found in this part of the world. “We’re already receiving entry enquiries for 2020 and 2021,” says event organiser, Stacey Cook.
“The J Class Association has also accepted our invitation to race in 2021 and we know having the strikingly-elegant classic yachts race alongside the event will add an extra dimension to our racing.”
At the prizegiving later in the evening at the Duke of Marlborough, Freya’s owner summed up the feel of the regatta. “It’s fantastic to come to this beautiful place, in this beautiful country, in the beautiful Bay of Islands. I’d like to say thank you for the hospitality and the wonderful, wonderful time.”
The event is organized by the NZ Millennium Cup Committee and the New Zealand Marine Export Group Inc. under the auspices of the Russell Boating Club.
BOEING, BOEING GONE
Airbus has announced it is scrapping its formidable A380 programme – and many of the mammoth carriers are heading for the scrap heap. Some Boeing 747s, by contrast, enjoy a more colourful afterlife.
Bahrain is sinking a retired 747 in the Persian Gulf in a bid to attract divers to a new 100,000m2 ‘underwater theme park’ – and the plane is to be the pièce de résistance.
The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) says the plane will be decommissioned correctly and will be eco-friendly to promote marine life growth. This involves removing all toxins and contaminants such as wiring, hydraulics, pneumatic and fuel systems – as well as all adhesives, insulation and chemicals.
The dive site will be ready by mid-year.
PROTECTORS ON PATROL
The agreements could be worth tens of millions of dollars to the local economy, including many large and small New Zealand marine suppliers.
A generous grant to Coastguard New Zealand from the Lottery Fund for community benefit related to the 2021 America’s Cup will see 24 Rayglass Protector RIBs loaned to Emirates Team New Zealand and America’s Cup Ltd.
These will be used as official patrol and support boats for the Prada Cup (the challenger series for the America’s Cup) and then for the America’s Cup Match itself. At the conclusion of the regatta they will be returned to the Royal New Zealand Coastguard.
In addition, Protectors have also been chosen as the support boats for Emirates Team New Zealand and most of the challenging syndicates.
Also choosing Protector are the organisers of the new SailGP competition, an annual global sailing contest planned for Sydney, San Francisco, New York, Cowes and Marseille.
The new competition uses identical F50 catamarans, capable of exceeding 50 knots. Each yacht will be accompanied by a Rayglass 10m Protector centre-console, a first-response RIB capable of keeping up with the catamaran’s’ speed. Each RIB will be transported in a single container between events.
OYSTERS FIX BIG APPLE
An organisation called – well, The Billion Oyster Project (BOP) – is working with hundreds of partners, schools and volunteers to build new oyster reefs in the harbour. The project – launched four years ago – has so far ‘deployed’ 28 million oysters and they are already having an impact.
“The water,” says Katie Mosher, BOP’s restoration manager, “has never been better in 150 years. We’ve definitely noticed an improvement when putting oysters on the bottom. There’s more fish, more crabs. It happens right away.”
Oysters, she adds, are ecosystem engineers which create a 3D reef habitat. “It’s full of different shapes and sizes of oysters that other species love to hunt in and live in and to search for prey. Oysters filter and clean the water when they breathe, making it clearer. This enables light to penetrate more easily to the bottom and allows more plants to grow on the seabed.”
The molluscs recycle nutrients and nitrogen, and can even mitigate the energy of large waves, reducing flooding and preventing erosion during storms or hurricanes.
New York once supported a flourishing oyster population – but it was driven to near extinction in the early 1900s, a victim of overfishing, pollution and sewage. Marine life slowly returned following the introduction of the 1972 Clean Water Act which outlawed the dumping of untreated wastewater and garbage.
OBC GETS BEHIND RESCUE HELICOPTER
The OBC raised $6,500 during its annual hardstand auction at the club on Monday September 3, which was donated to the Trust. ARHT relies on people to help it save lives. Sponsoring a rescue mission means you contribute funds directly to a specific mission flown by one of its helicopters, potentially saving someone’s life.
www.rescuehelicopter.org.nz/ www.obc.co.nz
INTERNATIONAL SCHOONER ASSOCIATION FOUNDED
Which is why owners and enthusiasts of these vessels have just launched a new initiative – the formation of the International Schooner Association.
In late September the 40th edition of the Régates Royales in Cannes attracted what was possibly the greatest group of classic schooners gathered together in modern times. At a reception and dinner hosted by one of the vessel’s owners – Tomas de Vargas Machuca – owners or representatives of 10 schooners signed up to the launch of the new association.
The intention is for the association to run events specifically and exclusively for classic schooners. The hope is to build a programme and a series such that, as well as individual regatta prizes, there can be an annual perpetual trophy awarded to the ‘Schooner of the Year’.
Plans are afoot for the first event to be held in Capri next spring. The formation of the association is supported by the International Maxi Association, whose function is to guide, structure and encourage all types of maxi yacht racing.
These 10 founder members of the International Schooner Association are the owners of:
Invader 1905, Orion 1910, Mariette of 1915, Puritan 1931, Orianda 1937, Aschanti IV of Vegesack (1954), Elena of London 2009 (replica of 1910 design), Atlantic 2010 (replica of 1903 design), Germania Nova 2011 (replica of 1907 Germania), Naema 2013 (inspired by an Alfred Mylne design).
