Description
Planted in the sea 1200 miles from the nearest significant landmass, New Zealand was always going to be a nation of sailors. As the era of immigrants arriving by boat was coming to a close, those already there had turned again to the sea for their recreation conducting the battles of peacetime on the water.
First had been the Logans with their aristocrat Ariki, leading the fleet for three decades. Then came Ranger and another thirty years of men and boats battling for supremacy on the Waitemata. Gradually but surely as the sailors, designers and sailmakers learned from the innovations that were changing the world, a boat would emerge to topple the latest king of the Waitemata. But before that happened, while men still dreamed in timber, a boat did come along that was capable of toppling Ranger. As New Zealanders took their sailing skills to the world a new champion emerged, and after proving she could beat Ranger, instead of confronting the cosy competition on the Waitemata, her owner chose instead to take the competition to the greatest, most vicious ocean race in the world and win the Sydney Hobart.
Little did he know that years after, having raced in every condition the Pacific Ocean had to offer, the boat, like so many Kiwis before her, would one day call Australia home, and earn her place as one of the premier classic yachts racing out of Sydney Harbour.
Like the ocean she raced on, she could be fickle, harsh, uncompromising and brutal. But she was also a fabulously beautiful boat who captured the hearts and souls of all the men who owned and sailed on her.
She was:Â Fidelis
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