Boating New Zealand

Six years ago Simon Justice sat in his classic timber launch, wondering whether she was worth the trouble. The elderly Ford engine had spewed oil from every orifice and seawater from the leaking stern gland sloshed through the bilges. Peeling paint, dodgy wiring and unreliable systems were crying out for work. A lot of work.

Engine height is critical for getting the most from any given boat setup – social, pleasure or race. Put simply, the higher the engine the lower the drag. The lower the drag the less resistance and the higher potential for yield of speed gains.

The horizon was a magnet as long as I can remember but like the gold at rainbow’s end, it was always just out of reach. For a few years I had lots of fun racing in the gulf and Northland coast in Andromeda, the 26ft Des Townsondesigned yacht my father (who died a year into the project) and I built in my late teen years, but the pull of the Pacific was hard to resist.

I left Sub Lt R. H. (Home) A. Kidston aboard H.M.S. Diomede at Suva in June 1934 with the newspapers trumpeting that he had entered the MacRobertson London-Melbourne Centenary air race with his late brother Glen Kidston’s Lockheed Vega. Needless to say, even Home Kidston was unable to take enough time off from his naval duties to take a ship to England, prepare for the race and take part in it.

Dragging a reliable, suitably-sized drogue slows the boat’s drift, making lure presentation easier and much more effective. A drogue can also offer advantages when fishing at anchor.