Sailing Sunday – Innismara
This week the classic yachting fleet saw the return of the magnificent ex Bernie Schmidt built, 67′ racer Innismara, aka ‘war canoe’. She has been restored by Blanche & Ian Cooke with the team at YDL.
Innismere sold on trademe in 2011 for just over $3010, but was in very poor shape after being stored in a shed since 2002 & sustaining fire damage to the forward sections. Her keel was missing having no doubt been sold for lead. Refer below Steve Horsley photo at the time of sale & my photo of her in the YDL shed awaiting restoration.
Once again the Cookes have returned one of our classic fleet to better than new condition.
The above photos (click to enlarge) were taken by Tony Stevenson dockside as she was being prepped for the mast being re-stepped. CYA member Steve Horsley commented “that’s a party cockpit if I ever saw one”.
Given that Blanche & Ian already own the 1937, 60′ Ranger, who sails what is going to be very interesting.
Now I’m off to one of my favourite wooden boat haunts today so Mondays post should be a cracker 😉
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Thanks Steve for your reply. Was you father Bernie Schmidt? Did he also own Innismara? Imagine designing it on wallpaper! Wonderful boat
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My Dad designed it on a piece of wallpaper
Steve Schmidt – Sydney, Australia
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Who designed Innismara please.
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Saw her as she was hoisted off the trailer and dropped back into the water up here at “H-ville”.
Long, sleek and shiny – magnificent!!!
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One of our most magnificent of classic racing yachts, — so very unique in her design & so beautiful. It is so wonderful that talented & loving hands have reincarnated her back in to her heyday. I have very fond memories of her lying peacefully at anchor in Smeltinghouse Bay Kawau Island, on many occasions, & thinking. such was her size, that one really needed a bicycle to get from on end to the other, — (well more or less anyway)!! Great to see her name still across the tuck as it was in her youth (it was in a curve in dark coloured raised letters as I recall.
However, I had always believed, she was built by Roy Lidgard as probably the biggest boat that ever came out of his Kawau shed. — Just shows how wrong one can be. — KEN RICKETTS
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