ONE MAN AND HIS BOATS: HAROLD GEORGE; Victory at war

Victory’s exploits in the semi-secret trip to Norfolk Island and back in December 1928 had a profound ripple effect in Auckland yachting circles, particularly on the many cash-strapped yachtsmen who could see themselves transported into the magic of the Pacific Islands with a well-found yacht and a heap of courage.

An immediate follower of the faith was Whangarei yachtsman Hereward Pickmere who bought the big cruiser in the winter of 1931 to fit it out to sail to Fiji to take up a job there as a surveyor. At the same time, Johnny Wray famously set to work on his home-built to become the archetypal Kiwi battler offshore cruiser. Then, with the additional ingredients of the visiting Australian yacht and Erling Tamb’s yacht and later, German yachtsman Georg Dibbern and his , the Trans-Tasman races started. Coupled with the wholesome designs of Bert Woollacott, this led