RESOLUTION (Rio Rita)
1. Want to go cruising on a classic launch this Christmas?
2. Don’t have a spare $1,500,000 for a beach front holiday home.
If the answer was yes to either of the above then the phone call I received last week could make today your lucky day 🙂 Read on
NZ Kauri Carvel construction traditionally built 12.8m launch, from Collings & Bell shipyard in St Mary’s Bay, Auckland. Launched in 1929 and originally named “MV Rio Rita” this Ex survey vessel was tasked for 40 years as a tourist passenger ferry and royal mail vessel in the Marlborough Sounds.
Loads of history associated with this traditional timber launch. See waitematawoodys.com/2014/05/20/a-mystery-boat-200514/ . There’s further discussion regarding “MV Rio Rita” serving in 1942 for a period as a Battery Artificer for a gun crew in the Sounds out from Picton.
Renamed “Resolution” in 1971 when she relocated to Resolution Bay, Marlborough Sounds. For approximately the last 15 years she has been owned and maintained by a former boat builder in Omokoroa, Tauranga. Resolution has spent these long summers engaged in extended cruising up the coast between Tauranga and the Bay of Islands. This owner maintained her well and installed beautiful cabinetry throughout the interior, with materials in keeping with the vessels vintage and pedigree.
“Resolution” was recently acquired from this estate, as part of a “boat & berth” package in Tauranga’s Sulphur Point Marina. As traditional and beautiful as she is – Resolution is now surplus to requirements and seriously on the market following a significant price reduction. While Resolution requires a small degree of ongoing maintenance, nothing is urgent & work can wait until after the coming summer boating season.
Her new owner (boat & berth purchaser) has had a pre-purchase condition survey (dated Nov 2014) completed by Pacific Rim Marine Survey’s Limited, which will be made available to any prospective purchaser. Owner needs to sell her to make space for his existing boat so the price reflects this, I understand offers around $58,000 will buy her. Click the blue link below to view the extensive inventory & read more.
Contact details – Warwick Bray Mob 021 288 6643 – Tel Hm 07 579 4043 Email : w.bray@aucgroup.co.nz
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PS It wasn’t RIO RITA that was “a Battery Artificer” in the Sounds but rather Don Ross. I was in 9th Coast Regiment RNZA stationed at Motutapu and Castor Bay but we didn’t use the term “Artificer” which is Navy, I think. The guns Don talks about were temporarily sited to cover Queen Charlotte. I wonder what they used? We had 3.7″ AA guns at Castor Bay, trained below the horizontal at close range, which were the equivalent of the German 88mm, and Mk I AA Predictors, which could track to 400 mph, so were potentially pretty lethal against shipping. My crew nearly sank the HDML BOMBARDIER on one occasion, but that’s a long story.
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Negative to that. The only other RIO RITA of that period was a Christchurch-based single step hydroplane with a 100hp Scripps owned by C. Parrish which was entered in the Masport Cup at Picton in January 1936 but was scratched. Mind you Rio Rita was a very popular song of the time.
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Are you sure she is the same boat as the older photo – the sheer seems so different. The Tauranga boat is definitely the ex Sounds boat – I spent may hours on her as a child. There is, or was, a sizeable bridgedecker with a large cabin on a mooring in amongst the Okahu Bay moorings and I recall her also being called Rio Rita. Maybe there were two.
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Harold,
Have you been humming the ” Rio Rita” stage play song all day today.?
Now you will be! : )
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Yes.
She has appeared in other posts.
She was very attractive. We could build another? : )
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Murray probably has it right, and some hogging and sagging is inevitable over the years.
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My recollection is that post WWII most of the commercial launches working out of Picton were re-engined with (war surplus?) 71 series “Jimmys”, mostly 3-71s and 4-71s.
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The contemporary sources just say “40hp”, probably rated. It would normally have been a Redwing, coming from Collings & Bell, but Steele might well have ordered something better able to be serviced locally in the Sounds.
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Mm, what happened to that lovely sheer.
Not for us to say though is it.
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Also massively lighter back then I would suggest looking at the freeboard.
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What engine did she have when new? She could obviously scoot along well then.
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I do like the original configuration -look at that fwd cockpit. Just right for a scoot down to Patio Bay on a sunny day for some bubbles and a chat! Not so good coming home in a short Motouihi chop tho!
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I remember her well as “Rio Rita” in Queen Charlotte Sound
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