Siren

photos & details ex Stuart Johnston

Siren is a 19ft Marlin launched at Onehunga just prior to Labour weekend 1958, it is believed she was one of the first if not the first 19ft version built by Sutton & Mason in Mt Roskill before Tony Mason set up Mason Marine. Siren was powered by 1958 35 HP Johnson and managed about 20MPH light and struggled to plane with a load. She was later repowered with firstly a 1960 40hp Johnson, and later by an early V4 50HP followed lastly by a 75HP Johnson. Stuart says that she was always a pretty vessel and with the bigger motors a joy to pilot, although launching off the beach at Stanmore Bay could be a mission, getting such a vessel through the soft sand, in the days before proper ramps were built.

Photos above show her new – being launched at Onehunga, cruising off Stanmore  Bay and Stuart’s Dad “hooning” at the same location. Stuart is not sure who’s who of the builders beside the boat but his Dad is the guy inside.

The big question – has she survived & if so where is she now?