The Elliott 1350 Tourer will be a familiar design to many, with boats such as Fiction, Flyer and designer  Greg Elliott’s own Fortuna launched over the past decade. Speedwell is the latest addition to their ranks, a performance-oriented pilothouse cruiser for an owner who had a considerable hand in her creation.

One of the advantages of reaching a certain age is that you know what you want and aren’t afraid to ask for it. The owner of this Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 490, having owned a slightly smaller Jeanneau for more than 20 years, knew he’d come back for more when it came time to upgrade.

Frans ordered the 12m yacht two years ago, but due to a few hiccups along the way it wasn’t until November last year that his new baby arrived here in New Zealand. After a bit of Wednesday night racing and a spot of cruising last summer, he is now back out on the water again and starting to race her. In keeping with the X-Yacht naming tradition, she is named eXpatria – also a nod to Frans’ Dutch origins.

She’s already sailed halfway round the world, but for this Lagoon 50 catamaran, the journey’s just beginning.

Auckland’s Peter Cunningham is an affable, easy-going sort of sailor – always ready to share a wry joke over a cold beer. But put him behind the massive wheel of his new J112E – it’s just as well he keeps his blood-pressure pills handy.

Sometimes you just need to go for a sail. It is not a recognised cognitive therapy with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists but it should be and every time you do it you wonder why you don’t do it more often.