Boating New Zealand — February 2018

12 Boating New Zealand

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SINKING &

SWIMMING

N

elson’s Iron Duke Sea Scouts have won the Jellicoe Trident,

the top award at the 28th National Scout Regatta on Porirua

Harbour, held earlier this year. The Trident was first presented

in 1924, and the Dukes last held it 50 years ago, in 1967.

Nearly 600 youths and volunteers – with a fleet of 80 boats – took

part in the triennial event. It attracted 19 contingents representing 27

Scout Groups from across New Zealand – as well as a small group from

Australia. The nine-day regatta saw youths competing in sailing, rowing,

kayaking and seamanship events.

An estimated 15,900 meals were made by a team of volunteers to

keep the crews well-fed and energised throughout the event, with all

excess food donated to the Salvation Army to help those in need.

The Tin Tin-inspired

shark also looked

devilishly sleek on

the beach...

Y

ou would think that a shark or an orca could easily out-

swim a bunch of butterflies but the 12th annual Tata’s

Titanic Cardboard Boat Race sank that theory, literally.

Twelve teams rocked up to the Golden Bay event on

Sunday, 14 January with home-made boats made of cardboard,

tape, paint and creativity. Judges inspected the boats before

they got wet, noting crafty use of longitudinal cylinders, taped

boxes within boxes, pontoons and even ring frames that would

hopefully provide sufficient strength, water-tight integrity,

buoyancy and stability for long enough to finish.

The women-dominated team of the Community Hospital

brought Like a Butterfly, a large platform decorated with about

100 paper butterflies made by the hospital’s elderly residents.

The 12 paddlers were the noisiest crew with the highest

power-to-weight ratio. They looked set to be clear winners, but

headed back to the wing mark instead of the finish line in the

final leg. That mistake cost them line honours.

Thor’s Dinghy, a small but feisty craft, took its chance and

revealed a surprising turn of speed for its blunt bow. Paddled by

Lilly and Noah Fitzsimmons, Thor’s Dinghy also picked up the

Best Bribery and Flattery Award with some delicious home-made

Viking cakes for judges Alan Kilgour, Bob Butts and Kevin Winter.

Ultimately the on-water event had the final say. The

mighty dorsal fin of Orcastraited, crewed by Robert, Oscar,

Alex and Ruben Chubb, rode with poise but lacked speed and

took a nose-dive for the bottom, shortly after being lapped

IRON DUKES RE-CLAIM TRIDENT

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY REBECCA HAYTER