Whangateau Traditional Boat Regatta & Yard Open Day
The Whangateau crew of Pam & George once again threw their yard open to lovers of classic wooden boats on Sunday (May 4th 2014). The regatta also served as a welcome to ‘Laughing Lady’ the new motorboat arrival from the USA that will be receiving some WTB love.
The autumn day was perfect – sun,wind & great boats. The food & people were pretty good as well 🙂
The regatta follows a well rehearsed format – boats out on the beach, sailors & crew arrive, boats rigged, wait for the tide (&wind), race begins/ends, lunch, prize giving. Now if that sounds like any old regatta – I can assure you Whangateau is not that. The fun & ‘games’ as people secure a boat, select sails & rudders etc & rig up is hilarious & the old salts on hand prove invaluable, in fact it wouldn’t happen with out them. No problem if something does not fit, its into the workshop & onto to the saw bench for some adjustments. Thanks to Jason Prew & Nathan Herbert for the ride aboard Otira, the 1902 Logan motorboat.
Your own Steve Horsley won the race (again) , chased / followed very closely by launch owner Shane Anderson, who had to draw on his past yachting days to keep Steve honest & win a waitematawoodys t-shirt.
A lot of the crew got into the spirit of the day & dressed as pirates.
I’m not going to attempt to caption all the photos, there are just too many – I post today a selection to give you a gander of what makes the people & the place so special.
Tomorrow I’ll post another selection – there is just too many for one day 😉
click photos to enlarge
Click the blue link below to read Jane High’s post regatta newsletter
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Oops! That shpuld have read; “3-and-a-half METRE clinker dinghy”
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Marvellous! And equally marvellous to see Zeddies under their original rig – takes me back to me yoof.
Nae sae keen on the dressing up. It’s appropriate enough to wear period costume from the period your boat is from, but it’s about time the pirate nonsense ran its course.
For me though, the star of the show just sat more-or-less stage center, though mostly unnoticed..It was that little white 3-and-a-half (about) clinker dinghy. Once upon a time there were literally hundreds of them, towing behind their parent boats, hauled up on beaches in front of baches, and anchored off points to fish. I guess they were the equivalent of today’s ubiquitous “tinnies”, but a much nicer and more seaworthy craft. While they often had a Seagull, Anzani, Atco or some other little noisemaker on their transoms, they could be, and usually were, rowed. They were indeed quite pleasurable to row, something that can’t be said for “tinnies” – or RIBs
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