Hobies in New Zealand

Kiwis are appearing on this site - everyone's coming out of their sailbags!

How many Kiwis use this site and where do you go sailing?

We live in Gisborne so do a lot of sailing direct of Kaiti Beach which is sheltered for 1 minute then we're directly into the ocean, open all the way to Chile. Still getting used to sailing in swell/chop but will get there. Have only owned the boat just over a year but have now got out with my crew on the trapeze - that's a whole lot of fun.

Went sailing several weeks ago (Waitangi weekend) on Lake Tarawera near Rotorua which was a blast. It was too windy for waterskiing/wakeboarding most of the time (4 ski boats available in our group) so I had crew queuing up for sailing - many had never been sailing before. One was heading out to buy a Hobie when he got home because he enjoyed it so much. We camped over the far side of the lake (you'll need someone else to ferry your camping gear over so it pays to know someone with a powerboat). It's about 20 minutes powerboat ride to the other side. It took us about 90minutes sailing time to get there. There's hot water coming out of the ground along the beach and numerous natural hot pools to jump into to warm up when you've got cold on the lake. Also good for cooking corned beef etc - just pop in a sack in the hot water for 4 hours and it's cooked!

We went sailing on Lake Waikaremoana the weekend before that - great lake. It is awesome camping among virgin forst, with 600-1000 year old Rimu and Rata trees all around the lake. Narrow road getting in (sometimes one lane) - took out the bank once with the rollers but the boat came through okay!

Sailed in the Bay of Islands over New Years - that's a great place to sail, what with so many islands.

I'm not into racing yet - just learning how to make the boat go fast and have lots of fun. Tipped the boat over backwards and pitchpoled it in one session on Lake Tarawera (my first) so it was a good learning experience about how easy it is to right the boat with two people.

Looking forward to hearing about others from New Zealand

Hey KiwiHobie,

Great to see kiwis on the site! I presume you sail a 16 ft?
I'm at the top of the South Island, so the Queen Charlotte Sound and Picton are where I mainly sail. Have a holiday home at Cape Jackson on the edge of Cook Strait (where the Russian Cruise Liner sank in the late 80's, so have started sailing out there, but it can get pretty wild so have to keep a close eye on the weather. I have a 14 Turbo, first year of sailing with zero prior experience so still learning the ropes.

Would love to try sailing on lakes when I get some spare time. Some constant wind would be nice rather than the gusty stuff we mainly get here.

Mind that offshore wind - it's a bloody long way to Chile if you can't sail upwind well!

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Hobie 14 Turbo, based in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand

Whoops - you guessed right. I have a 16 - approx 1988 vintage. I sailed a bit when I was young - my father and uncle had halfshares in a Windrush 12' cat (West Australian) - I can remember sailing it by myself when I was around 9-10 on lakes in the Waikato. Got my boat in October 2005-didn't do a lot in the first year - wife was scared of the boat. Have managed to train up some crew now so they're usually keen.

What was the Windrush like? I toyed with the idea of buying a 14 ft Windrush but everyone said to get a Hobie instead, so in the end thats what I did. Love the Hobie, but still always wonder about the Windrush....

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Hobie 14 Turbo, based in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand

From what I can remember it was small! When we tried to get our whole family on (Dad, Mum & two kids around 8-10 y.o.) it sure was riding low in the water. I can remember always having to look at the leeward hull to make sure it didn't bury itself - apparently it liked to do that almost more than the H16!

We did have good memories of the boat though - I can remember Dad taking me out (I was around 10) several miles off the beach at Takapuna, Auckland, and then surfing the waves all the way in. That was fun.

We visited the Windrush factory in West Australia when we went there in 1984 (wow, what a long time ago! - I must be old). Dad was looking at buying their new boat, a 20 footer with cabins in each hull. The top of the hull was raised up so you could sit in the hull. It had windows and a sliding (if I remember right) lid so that a person could sleep/sit in complete weathertightness. He was looking at buying one and then sailing it home to save on the freight - reckoned it wouldn't take him too many days and all his supplied could be in the hull! Never did get around to buying it though - pity.

I like the idea of the Hobie 14/16 tramp being raised up above the water more than any other cat I've seen. Not sure if this makes it a drier boat though.

Want a drier boat? Get a 17, 18, 21SC or Getaway with wing seats. The tramps of those boats are wetter but the wings are much, much drier (plus super comfortable!).

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Tim
Unofficial Fleet 72 Communications Officer and Div 4 Webmaster
http://www.hobiefleet72.org
http://www.div4.hobieclass.com/

Whoops. I meant of the 12/14/16 size boats. I wouldn't mind an 18 (seen the odd one for sale in NZ) or 21 (but never seen one of these for sale in NZ - not sure if there is any here).

Only problem I see with the 18 or 21 is that they're that much heavier again than the 16. I sometimes struggle getting enough crew so sometimes I force/cajole/encourage/bribe my wife or kids (10yo or less) to come out with me. That means I've got to do most of the grunting.