About Halo

Halo is a Whiting 29 masthead sloop designed by Paul Whiting and launched in 1984. First owners were Mary & Dennis Sutton of Thames.

History

Graciela and I purchased Halo in 2014. She was our first boat and initially the idea was to just go cruising around Wellington Harbour as we built up our confidence and sailing skills, and eventually do some coastal cruising over to the Marlborough Sounds and further afield. It soon became apparent that there would be quite a bit of work to be done on the boat. Fitting her out with a new Nanni engine was the first big job. With my background in electronics and marine radio I’ve enjoyed designing and installing new electronic systems, instrumentation and electrics.

Halo came with a berth at Chaffers Marina in Wellington. Our neighbouring boat was Temptation, a Young 88 skippered by Paul Wavish. Paul raced his boat regularly with the Evans Bay club (EBYMBC) and he invited me on a couple of races. Soon I was hooked. I joined the club and encouraged some mates to come on board as Halo Crew and we started racing with Halo.

Some of the more memorable events we’ve participated in are the Nelson Regatta, Wineworks Cook Strait Race, 24 Hour Endurance Races, Waikawa Women’s Regatta as well as numerous Cook Strait Crossings to the Marlborough Sounds, transiting French Pass to Nelson and sailing to Lyttleton to experience the Christchurch SailGP.

In the early 2000’s Halo was based in Nelson and owned by Richard Borrell. He enjoyed many years of racing Halo with the Tasman Bay Cruising Club and in 2011 he competed in the Round North Island Two Handed Race. See: Nelson Mail report on Halo.

Boat Specs

Whiting 29 masthead sloop. Sail number: 5155
Hull No. 24
First launched: 1984
Round bilge, cruising fin keel
LOA (length overall) : 8.9 m (29’)
LWL (waterline length) : 7.3 m (24′)
BEAM : 3.12 m (10’)
DRAFT : 1.42 m (4’ 7”)
DISPLACEMENT : 3,628 kg (8000 lb)
BALLAST : 1,815 kg (4,000 lb)
HEADROOM : 1.88 m (6′ 2″)
Mahogany wood interior
Berths: 6
Call sign: ZMU7392
MMSI Number: 512005733 (View on Marine Traffic)

EQUIPMENT

Nanni N3.21 Diesel engine (new 2015)
Shaft drive, 2 blade folding prop (2015)
50 Litres fuel tank capacity (20 hours cruising at 3,000 rpm), plus 50 Lts in Jerry cans.
Alloy spinnaker pole
Stainless steel rigging (2010)
Sail Wardrobe – Mainsail (2019), Genoa #1 HW, Genoa #1 LW, Jib #2 (2019), Jib #3 (2019), Storm Jib, Spinnakers x2.
Reefing: slab main
Rigging surveyed 2024.
2 x Harken 40 self-tailing sheet winches, 2 x Harken spinnaker winches (2021), 2 x Harken halyard winches (2021).
Anchors:
– CQR Plough (bow) 12m chain and 120m rope.
– Danforth (stern), 10m chain and 60m rope.
Stern Line – 100m Polypropylene Float Rope Yellow
Electric capstan (anchor winch)
Boat hook
Spinlock Tiller Extension
Jabsco manual flush toilet (2016) with 15L holding tank
MaXtek 2 Burner & Grill stove (2020)
BEP Remote LPG shut-off valve and gas sensor
Grill Chief BBQ (2021)
12v Isotherm 41L Fridge
100 litres fresh water capacity (2 x 50 lts)
Start battery – 780 CCA (2020)
2 x 110 amp-hour house batteries (2024)
BEP Dual Battery Charging Cluster with DVSR
Powertech 100W Solar Panel (2025) and Tracer 10 Amp MPPT Regulator
ProMariner 12 Amp Battery Charger
Bosun’s Chair and harness
2.5 m Inflatable roll-up dinghy
Sun shade/boom tent
Fusion MS-RA205 Marine Stereo with Remote Panel
2KW diesel heater (2023)

INSTRUMENTS & NAVIGATION:

Vesper XB-6000 AIS Transponder
GPS Receiver: TOPGNSS Model GN2000R
NMEA4WIFI Multiplexer and WIFI
Nasa Clipper GPS Repeater
Nasa Clipper Clipper Depth System
Nasa Clipper GPS Log
Nasa Clipper Tactical Wind System
Nasa Clipper Electromagnetic Speed Log
Simrad TP22 Autohelm (2021)
Plastimo Contest 101 Compass (2021)
Windicator 400 Wind Direction wind vane (2022)
NASA Marine NMEA Fluxgate Compass Sensor (2021)
NASA Marine Yacht Repeater MFD mast mounted (2021)
OpenCPN Chartplotter for Windows Laptop

SAFETY EQUIPMENT:

Uniden UM380 VHF radio with DSC
Icom IC-M25 Handheld VHF Radio
EPIRB (2015) KTI SA1G s/n 525005 Batt expiry July 2026
CSM-4C-LII Liferaft 4 person Cat 2 (Serviced Dec 2023)
Emergency tiller
SEAFLO 1100GPH Automatic Bilge Pump (2024)
2 x manual bilge pumps
2 x lifebuoys with lights
Fog horn
Rescue Throw Rope
Grab bag
Flares kit (2024)
First aid kit
2 x Crewfit 180N Pro life-jackets (rearmed Jan 2024)
4 x Hutchwilco automatic inflating life-jackets with crotch straps and lights
Jack lines (2020)
4 x safety harnesses
3 x fire extinguishers (Oct 2022)
Fire blanket
Plastimo Inflatable Danbuoy (2019)
Cat 3 Certificate (2019)
Safety Equipment Layout Diagram (see below):