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Biggest Reactor Race Entry – 27 starters in
the 150th Auckland Anniversary Regatta, 1990.
Most Restorations – Geoff Cooper
restored six neglected Reactors to pristine
condition over the years: Reliant, Wishbone,
Reflector, Ecstasy, Siskin and Antares II.
First New Zealand Circumnavigation –
Sassy, sailed by Jennifer and Rowley Skemp.
First Reactor to win Auckland-to-
Tauranga Race – Julie III (now Random
Precision) in 1970s, with Paul Whiting
as skipper. Race went well until leaving
Channel Island. The story goes that Paul
asked for the charts. Nobody had them!
The only option was to hug the coast,
leaving the rest of the fleet to take the
shorter, direct course. Julie III won – the
only yacht to have a breeze. Everyone else
was becalmed!
Oldest Owner to Win a Race – Colin
Brown, who won the Auckland Anniversary
Regatta on Line and on Handicap in
Umeme II on 2 January 2001. He was then
81 years young.Longest Reactor Ownership (as at 31
December 2016):
Umeme II Colin Brown 1974-2001 (27 years)
Quita Ted Holloway 1984-2013 (29 years)
Command Bill Tweed 1985-2015 (30 years)
Phocoena Ross McLean 14.04.1985 – 32
years and counting
Déjà Vu Neil Scott 24.07.1984 – 33 years
and counting
But the winner is Seajay II owned by Harold
Sherwood since 1974 – 43 years and
counting...
First Reactor through Piercy Island’s Hole
in the Wall – Solution, then owned by Jim
and Debbie (née Whiting) Griffin.
Most Racing Cups Won – Conflict, as at 31
December 2016, with 67 Wins. China Doll lies
second with 63 wins (some wins under her
former name, Impulse).
First Reactor in Rikoriko Cave (Poor Knights
Islands) – Rapidus, in February 2014. Rikoriko
is the world’s largest sea cave by volume
(220,870m^3 ). It is 153m long, 96m wide and
38m high (12m is below water).Junior Offshore Group championships in
1969 and extended the winning streak in
1970 and 1971. Reactor became a useful sales
tool – and the foundation for an entire class
of cruiser/racers.
So when he exhibited her at the 1970 New
Zealand Boat Show she attracted plenty of
interest – and orders. By mid-1971 he’d built
14 Reactors in the old shed, and five years
later, after a move to a new factory, the tally
had risen to 67. The class had become an
established one-design phenomenon.TRAGEDY
In addition to the Reactor, Whiting designed
numerous yachts, including the Quarter
Tonner Magic Bus (which won the 1976
Quarter Ton Championship). Sadly, his
meteoric career was cut short by a dark star.
He competed in the 1979 Sydney-to-
Hobart race in his yacht Smackwater Jack.
Returning to New Zealand a few days later
with his wife Alison, John Sugden and Scott
Combs, the vessel encountered 80-knot
winds and 11m seas. No trace was ever found
of the yacht or its crew. BNZTHE REACTOR STORY
This booklet was launched at the National
Maritime Museum NanniDiesel Reactor
Exhibition in 2005, celebrating Paul Whiting’s
life. It tells the story of his first yacht design.loa 25’6” (7.6m)
lwl 19’10” (6.05m)
beam 8’ (2.44m)
draft 4’8” (1.42m)
displacement 5,020lb (2277kg)
ballast 2,100lb ( 952.5kg)
cost in 1970: about $6,000
optimum speed to windward:
sq/root of LWL x 1.3 = 5.8 knots
A skeg was added to the design
(from the 20th boat) to reduce
chances of broaching when flying
a kite in strong winds.REACTOR SPECIFICATIONS