Boating New Zealand — January 2018

134 Boating New Zealand

THE REACTOR BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS

First Reactor to Fiji and New

Caledonia – Hans and Karen Prager in

Jaffa. Set off in May 1985 and arrived in

Fiji after 14 days.

First Tasman Crossing – completed in

13 days in April 1978 on Jaffa, skipper

Alan Wallis, crew John Bartlett.

Longest Distance – Hans and Karen

sailed Jaffa to Darwin, the Cocos

(Keeling) Islands, Bali and on to Turkey.

In May 1988 Jaffa cruised in the Greek

Dodecanese Islands, Santorini and

Kinaros. She is still in the Med.

Fastest Speed – 16.5 knots by Roger

Redmond on Rainbow III, January 2014,

rounding Separation Point: ‘wind would

have been 35-40kn, gull-winged, full

main and headsail ... a few willy-waws,

lifted off the water at times.’

Longest Solo Race – approximately

1,470nm, making 120nm per day. Set

in the New Plymouth-to-Mooloolaba

Race, April 2010, by Trish Lewis on

Wishbone. Elapsed time of 12 days, 5

hrs 41 minutes.

Heaviest Social – in 2009 Ecstasy

hosted 15 visitors in Islington Bay. With

around 13 people aboard water gurgles

through the cockpit drains and the

vessel’s bow began to lift.

Biggest Tow – set by Umeme II towing

12 Reactors around the shallow waters

of Issy Bay to celebrate the design’s

40 th anniversary.

First and Fastest Coastal Classic –

set in 2002 by Trish Lewis on Wishbone

• 25hrs, 25 mins (144nm, average
  speed of 5 knots).
  Longest Liveaboard – 22 years, set
  by the late Don Mackay who lived on
  Nokomis from 1991 until his death
  in 2013.

RIGHT Whiting

opted to use

fibreglass and a

production line

manufacturing

process. It offered

enormous

efficiencies and

ensured the

creation of a true

one-design classs.

Reactor owners are an enthusiastic bunch and over the design’s 50 years they –

and their boats – have notched up an eclectic array of records. Here is a sample: