In the 1990s lightly built, high-powered fast ferries made a splash in Cook Strait. Compared to the 17–19-knot conventional ferries such as the Arahanga (left), the Incat 050, trading as the Top Cat (right) and looking like an apparition from a sci-fi movie, hit 49.3 knots on trials. The ferry wars saw several ships come and go, but the tortoises beat the hares when wake damage to the coastline led to the imposition of speed restrictions in the Marlborough Sounds. The last fast ferry departed in 2005 and was replaced by a 22,000-ton conventional ferry.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)
Reference: EP/1999/1514/14a; F
by Phil Reid
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.