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Retired boatbuilder Dave Jackson is living proof that age is no barrier, having recently single-handedly won one of the races in this year’s Mahurangi Regatta at the age of 91.
He was presented with the Te Haupa Trophy and a bottle of rum at his Kaipara Flats home recently by Mahurangi Cruising Club Rear Commodore Victor Hopwood, having opted to sail his 16-footer Rose back to Sandspit Wharf instead of attending the official prizegiving at Scotts Landing on race day.
Club captain Martin Howson also attended the presentation and said he and other club members were in awe of Jackson’s achievement.
“On the day of the regatta, he picks the boat up out of storage, drives it to Sandspit Yacht Club, launches it all on his own, sails round to Scotts Landing, enters into the race and not only wins it, but wins it by a clear eight minutes!” he said. “He’s incredible. He’s been a boatbuilder all his life and he still can’t stop.”
The Te Haupa Trophy class is for traditional small sailboats under 20 feet in length. Rose, Jackson’s winning boat, was inspired by historic US naval architect and yacht designer
Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, one of whose boats he was once asked to repair. Jackson was so impressed by the design that he took measurements and built his own version.
Jackson has built countless wooden launches, sailboats, dinghies and more over his many decades and is an acknowledged and respected expert on traditional and classic boats. He was slip master at
Sandspit Yacht Club for many years and his maritime adventures include competing in mullet boats in the Lipton Cup during the 1970s and circumnavigating New Zealand in 1985 in a 42-foot launch he had built himself.
