John Cusack sailed a Kestrel. He is physically handicapped but he was an excellent sailor. and a club champion many time. I learned to launch my trailer yacht by watching how he did it by himself.
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| Kestrel |
Here is a mixture of other trailer yachts seen at the Ngaroto sailing club, during the summer months from time to time:
This Elliot 5.7 was seen only once. He never came back. I wonder why.
The Caribou is a 20 ft. trailer yacht which has 4 berths. They are designed by Frank Pelin and used mainly for day or week end sailing rather than open class racing.
The Hartley TS 16 is New Zealand's original trailer sailer designed by Richard Hartley. He has earned a world wide reputation for solid, easily built designs especially for the DIY builder. It is still very popular as a solid, safe family cruising boat, although probably not as competitive on the racing scene as subsequent stock GRP designs. It has a hard chine hull with ply over frames construction.
This dinghy also appeared once at Ngaroto and never came back again. Perhaps the lake is too small for this boat?
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Peter's Espresso
The largest number of trailer yachts at Ngaroto are the 6.7 metres Jokers. A few years ago, we had 7 Jokers at Lake Ngaroto. The fleet has since been reduced to two. Some owners have moved on to keelers which are not trail-able. These need to be parked permanently at marinas. The fees are not cheap. I try to delay this process for as long as possible.
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| Trevor's Bojangles |
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| Nigel's Taiko |
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| Owen's ResiVor |
This boat is presently being advertised for sale on
Trademe. Asking price 14k
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| Joker 820 is the largest yacht in the Joker fleet. It even has a head (toilet) with a door! |
The cost of yachting increases exponentially when the boat size goes over 25 feet. e.g. My Noelex 22 is worth 7.5k, the Noelex 25 has a market value of 28k, whereas a Noelex 30 is selling for not less than 65K. New 35's costs 139K! With advancing years, older yachties may become richer; but the mast seems to become heavier! It becomes too much of a bother to rig up and rig down, every time one goes sailing.
To continue sailing, a compromise solution is to berth larger boats at a marina (boat parking). The mast is left permanently up with the main lowered or furled. The jib can also have a furler. No more hard work towing, rigging up, launching, recovering and rigging down the mast any more. The boat remains afloat always and the mast and other gears stay permanently rigged. The blue cloth is for protecting the sail against UV. The owner drives leisurely in his saloon (no more 4x4) to the marina, starts the motor and cast off; all within 5 minutes. Once clear of other boats, he removes sail covers, raise or unfurl sails, pull on the main sheet, cut the motor and away he goes, just like before; but all within 15 minutes!
Near Turangi on the shores of Lake Taupo, there is a marina at Waitetoko. They charge $460 to $600 per year for each berth, depending on the size of your boat. Most of these were between 25 and 35 footers. I saw three Noelex 30's. ($50K to 70K) there last week. The place is run by the NZ government (DOC) and the waiting list for a berth is one year. Perhaps there is no need to buy a keeler or stop sailing at all when I grow older. I am now looking at other options for continuing this life style on the water.
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| Noelex 30 |
