32 Boating New Zealand
crew. hey’ve been on most of the voyages. So we all know each other
very well. Still, everyone welcomes the opportunity for a bit of shore
freedom in places like Auckland.”
Katharsis II will spend the New Zealand winter in Auckland while
Koper enjoys a sunny break in the Northern Hemisphere’s summer.
While here she will enjoy some much-needed TLC – including the itting
of a new boom, courtesy of Southern Spars.
he yacht has a carbon-ibre rig, and soon after completing the
Antarctic circumnavigation, just when the crew were celebrating their
accomplishment and thinking the worst was behind them, they ran into
a series of storms on the way to Hobart. he boom snapped in a crash-
gybe, forcing the boat to limp the remaining 1,000 nautical miles to
Hobart under foresails only – and perversely, in very light winds.
WHAT’S NEXT?
As yet Koper has no irm plans. hough he has previously
circumnavigated New Zealand, he has never visited her sub-Antarctic
islands – Auckland and Campbell – so that’s one possibility. “hese
islands are renowned for their birdlife – seeing it would be fantastic.”
But there is another drawcard – back on the other side of the planet,
above the Arctic Circle – the north-east passage across the top of Russia.
Of course.
I don’t want to sound pedantic, but just how does the boat’s name
it into this lifestyle? My dictionary’s deinition of ‘catharsis’ has zero
reference to high-stress sailing in extreme conditions.
“It was my daughter’s suggestion – she thought it was a good
name at a particular point in my life. For me, sailing is an invigorating
experience and despite the conditions, it always brings an element of
peace. It also provides a welcome ‘distance’ from my business – and
that’s always relaxing. So the name is kind of appropriate – and even
though the English word is spelt with a C, it derives from the Greek
word, where it’s spelt with a K.”
But there is also a far more prosaic reason for the name.
“One of my previous yachts was called Kiwi – yes, a New Zealand
boat. I bought her in Europe – many years ago – but the seller wanted
to keep the name. I know it’s bad luck to change a boat’s name, but I
didn’t have a choice. Katharsis was of a sort of compromise – at least the
names begin with the same letter.”
A krazy Pole having another katharsis in Kiwiland. Sounds kinda
kool. BNZRIGHT Are you sure you know
where we are? It seems like we’ve
been going round and round and
round...it all looks the same???