Good Guys .

[Chilli Dog]

this is a pretty good video of the the new boat http://www.3news.co.nz/Team-NZs-unbelie ... fault.aspx

[Charles uk]

As your fairly new at this Seagull racing stuff Chilly, you won't be aware of Team New Zealand's history of Seagull racing, I haven't heard it mentioned for a few years so I'll have to look up some facts before I reveal all.

[Charles uk]

In January 1993 British Seagull started selling the blue painted Seagull 5 & 5R a very different beast to the grey Seagull 5 that proceeded it.

Very few of the components are interchangable but basically it's a Kingfisher powerhead on a Yamaha FNR leg.

A Kiwi Seagull distributor based in Cristchurch on the South Island took delivery of 3 of them, It's not known who bought them from new, but Team New Zealand got their hands on one sometime in the mid 1990's, they entered this motor running on a fibreglass racing skiff type hull with an outrigger on each side on the Waikato run, trouncing all their fellow entrants. Even John Crighton with his reed valved 102 couldn't catch them!
Every year for 3 years team NZ got 1mph faster & so did JC but no matter how much quicker JC got, they were just that bit faster.

Then JC discovered that the Bermudians were importing & racing in similar classes, Seagull Sports, which were a badge engineered reed valved loop charged 125cc Selva with a FNR gearbox.
As Team New Zealand were the only user of the Seagull 5 on the Waikato it was decided that the rules should be modified to permit the use of he Seagull Sport in the same class as the 5.

On hearing of this challenger, team NZ decided a new hull would be neccessary to retain their winning streak, so they built a Carbon fibre lightweight long hull & dumped it's redundant GRP forerunner, somehow JC became the owner of this & the owner of a 5hp Seagull Sport.
After some modification of the hull to ensure the boat & motor had a happy relationship, JC then showed them the error of their ways by beating them with their old hull powered by a Sport.

The sad part of this story is that Team NZ never ran on the Waikato again competively, which was the loss of a very able competitor, but times change & it looks like they're busy at the moment, I wonder what they did with that carbon hull?

[Horsley-Anarak]

Is that it?

H-A

[Charles uk]

No but there are recent pics of it, that one was built by Raoul Leyland & those outriggers are microlight floats.

[Chicken]

Are you talking about this one Charlie

[Charles uk]

Can't see enough in that picture Cam, to even read the writing, if it's the GRP boat it should say on the side "Quo Fata Ferunt".

[Heron Addict]

With a bit of manipulation it looks like it

[Charles uk]

That's the GRP hull then, minus the outriggers.

[Chilli Dog]

Quo Fata Ferunt, means “Whither the Fates Carry [Us]”and it is written under the Coat of arms of Bermuda , fancy that !

[Chilli Dog]

okay so it's been a slow news week , so here are some unpublished photos of seagulls I took

[Chilli Dog]

me and a gull

[Chilli Dog]

me and a gull

[Chilli Dog]

messy seagulls

[Chilli Dog]

by the way that brown stuff on the ground is grass no rain for 2 1/2 months now