John Chapple Part 3: Interdominion 12-foot champion and centreboard designer
I tried to book an appointment with my old friend John Chapple to discuss his li...
A very brief history of marine rope (cordage)
Welcome to 'A very brief history of…' researching the history of everyday marine...
John Chapple Part 2: Flamingo wins the Silasec Trophy
Last month I left John Chapple in late 1956 planning and working on his new 12ft...
2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Challenge: New Zealand veteran Sharon Ferris-Choat makes history as early lea...
Kiwi offshore veteran Sharon Ferris-Choat has made history as the first woman si...
Tubby makes a splash
Kate, the oldest still-sailing boat in Aotearoa New Zealand, a utilitarian Haura...
2026 ILCA European Championships, Day 6: New Zealand’s George Gautrey wins ILCA 7 bronze in Cr...
New Zealand has claimed its second major Olympic-class sailing medal in the spac...
John Chapple Part 1: Brilliant allrounder
John David Lincoln Chapple died on 26th November 2025. He was a brilliant sailor...
Once were wreckers: Whakatahuri Family Boatbuiders
Whakatahuri in outer Pelorus Sound was once home to a family boatbuilding busine...
The legend lives on
50 years have passed since the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald—still an unsolv...
Coastal navigation and leadline: how early sailors found their way along the shoreline
Modern boats carry everything. GPS, charts, sounders, radar.
It wasn’t always...
The OK Dinghy: The New Zealand dominance
For nearly 70 years, the OK Dinghy has been one of this country’s most popular i...
The 1908 Rudder Cup entrants (part 3)
In the last two issues I have described, in the order of their entry, the builde...
2026 Marauder 8.4 Championship: Alan Wright design still racing strong in the Hauraki Gulf
A tough weekend of wind, patience and persistence saw the Marauder 8.4 fleet fin...
Ngataki: The little boat out and about promoting Auckland’s Wooden Boat Festival
Ngataki might be one of New Zealand’s most famous wooden boats. She’s small, cap...
Glorious hydrodynamic relaxation
Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park, framed by glacial slopes and nat...
Belle of the Bay
By the time Aucklander Kate Farrant turned 30 in September, her 1960s kauri ex-F...
Jumping in the deep end: crewing on classic boats
Stepping aboard a classic yacht can feel like stepping back in time. Long overha...
Beneteau First 30 at 50: how the yacht that launched the First range evolved
Next year, in 2027, the Beneteau First 30 turns 50. Few production yachts can cl...
Nautor Swan marked 60 years by setting course for the future at boot Düsseldorf
Nautor Swan marked its 60th anniversary by looking decisively forward, using the...
A true Kiwi navigator: The John Mansell story
John Mansell has lived his life intimately connected to the sea. John Macfarlane...
The Power of Sail: Part 3
The Golden Age of Sail
The Golden Age of Sail (17th to the mid-19th centuries) ...
The 1908 Rudder Cup entrants (part 2)
In the last issue of Boating NZ, I detailed the anticipation and excitement on t...
Simrad at 80: eight decades of marine electronics innovation
In 2026, Simrad Marine Electronics marks 80 years since its origins in post war ...
The 580 Regal, twenty years on
The 580 Regal first appeared on the New Zealand boating scene under the Sea Nymp...
Auckland Anniversary Weekend regattas: one long summer sail
Late January delivers one of the best sailing runs of the New Zealand summer. Fr...
Mahurangi Weekend returns to the classic calendar in January 2026
The New Zealand Classic Yachts Association’s Mahurangi Weekend returns from Frid...
The Rudder Cup; a survey of Auckland’s top launches of 1908 (part 1)
Last month I promised that this issue would be devoted to a rattling good yarn a...
Industry trailblazer: the Russ Bowler story (Part 2)
For many of those involved in
the 1987 New Zealand Challenge,
not least Micha...
The Power of Sail: Part 2
Welcome to ‘A very brief history of…’ researching the history of everyday marine...
The Russ Bowler story pt1: By Design
Russ Bowler was Bruce Farr’s partner for over 40 years. A skilled designer/sailo...
Brendon Cornes on retro boats and modern camaraderie
How a Facebook group has sparked a new community of classic boat enthusiasts acr...
From Viking seas to southern lakes: clinker boats and the spread of northern craft
From Viking seas to Kiwi lakes, clinker boats endure as seaworthy, beautiful ves...
Retro boats and caravans gather in Rotorua for swap meet
Retro boats and caravans come together in Rotorua on 19 October for a community ...
125 years of Ponsonby Cruising Club: Auckland’s mullet boats and maritime heart
Ponsonby Cruising Club celebrates 125 years of mullet boats, Lipton Cup traditio...
Auckland Heritage Festival 2025: A peek at the maritime journeys on show
From tugboats to steam ferries, the Auckland Heritage Festival 2025 celebrates t...
The painstaking, decades-long restoration of Auckland’s Toroa steam ferry
Like West Auckland's answer to Noah's ark, the Toroa ferry has been perched by t...
The second yacht named Tawera
In my last article I wrote about the strong relationship between the menfolk of ...
The Power of Sail – Part 1
Welcome to ‘A very brief history of ...’ researching the history of everyday mar...
The Peter Lester Story
Peter Lester
1954 – 2025
The worldwide sailing community was shocked to hear o...