35. Chapter 2. Sailing boats

1. Sunfish

2005-08-01T15:11:00.018+12:00

My very first sail boat was nothing much but a piece of plank with a sail on it. It was a Sunfish. There was a centre board, rudder, a mast and one sail. It was even too small to be called a dinghy. The hull was made of fibre glass and it was small, meant for one person only. I first launched the Sunfish in the river near the Lutong bridge. It was a mistake as I knew next to nothing about

2. Optimist

2005-08-01T15:10:00.008+12:00

The next sail boat I bought was an Optimist from Peter Hammer for 1000 ringgit. He was overjoyed to have found a sucker buyer at last! That lousy pakeha (expatriate)did not tell me that the boat was suitable for kids only! It was very slow; but it cannot capsize because it was as wide as it was long and had three flotation chambers built into the plastic hull under the seats. I bought a small 2

3. Yamaha Sea-hopper

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The Seahopper was built by Yamaha in Japan to similar dimensions as the Laser. It actually looked very much like a Laser. It cost me 2000 ringgit; but it was worth every cent because this sail boat some times forgot that it had no engine! At about 15 knot cross wind, it would plane and consequently, the speed would increase suddenly with most of the hull out of the water, behaving like a speed

4. 470

2005-08-01T15:08:00.014+12:00

The Panaga boat club was buying a whole new fleet of 470’s and they were selling their old boats in 1985 by auction. I entered a bid for 3 boats and was successful! All in all, including trucking, the 470’s cost me 2000 ringgit, a very reasonable price indeed. A Pujut friend, Chin Luk Choi bought one hull for 400 ringgit for conversion to a fishing boat and that took care of the trucking fee and

5. Laser

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My most worthwhile purchase was a Laser dinghy for 650 ringgit! The expatriate owner came from Oman and he packed this dinghy inside his 20 ft. container together with all his furniture. On arrival he discovered Piasau boat club which has 14 brand new Lasers and six 470’s! All of them were available for his use, as he was entitled to free memberships to all the three expats social clubs! I was

6. Kestrel

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The first boat I bought in New Zealand was a 17 ft. trailer yacht, a Kestrel. I drove to Raglan to see the boat. The owner had the sails all rigged up waiting for me to inspect the boat. I walked around the boat twice and informed him that I would buy it for 2.8K if he would throw in the 2hp Yamaha! All I was interested in, at the time was whether the hull was sound and water tight. I did not

7. Noelex 22

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This is the ideal one man boat for all the lakes in the north island. At 22 ft., it has a cabin large enough for a small family and therefore is very spacious for a single hander. It is like a floating caravan, completely self contained with a small galley and a porta loo. I have used it to explore lake Rotorua, Rotoiti, Tarawera and parts of Taupo near Kinloch. Each trip, I stay one or two

Nanook's action photos

2005-07-31T15:11:00.000+12:00