Tangmere

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TANGMERE

photo ex Nathan Herbert

Nathan snapped the above photos of Tangmere while mooching around up the Whau River (Te Atatu). Her past is unknown to me, but given the rather aggressive sheer, someone must know something about her??

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17 thoughts on “Tangmere”

  1. Sorry Garden wrote boogledy boogledy as being the exhaust noise of a water cooled exhaust on the boats waterline. Tlingit was the boat in question I seem to recall. 60′ skiff.

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  2. “Hubbly bubbly”. Lovely onomatopoeia. William Garden spoke of the boogle de boogle exhaust of an old marine engine. Has anyone called a boat “Hotwaterbottleandabottleofolives”?

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  7. I spoke to Bill Endean, W.J. (Bill) Endean’s son about TANGMERE.
    1. She was indeed named after the RAF station from which W.J. flew Lancasters in WW2.
    2. The hull was built by Shipbuiilders Ltd.
    3. W.J. designed and built the cabin. Aeronautical influences are clear.
    4. W.J. and Tony Mason were contemporary RNZAF officers and shared a common passion for planing hulls.
    5. When W.J. sold TANGMERE to Ken Prangnell he bought a Marlin 19 from Tony Mason and fitted a Ford V8. She was called HUBBLY BUBBLY after the exhaust noise at idle.
    6. After HUBBLY BUBBLY he built an even faster planing hull which rejoiced in the name FARQ2.
    7. Eventually he bought from Christchurch and finished off the 47′ Alden ketch CRUSADER which he sailed to the States.

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  8. Me too, I also forgot that feature — Knew Ken P. well, lovely guy, he was a very popular & well liked commodore — my family were members in his time — he did a good job at RAYC — KEN R

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  9. Thanks for joggling my memory -I’d forgotten that feature! Sensible doubtless, but when you have goldfish a a kid the thought of being similarly constrained at sea in a bowl was amusing!

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  10. Tangmere was owned by Ken Pragnell in the 50’s He had Pragnell Radios in Symonds St. He was also commodore for the RAYC. The boat had a Perspex dome over the main steering station making her very distinctive

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  11. Faireys did build some rare looking ones particularly in yachts, but surely not like her!

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  12. The name is, and always has been TANGMERE, named after the RAF station in Sussex that played a crucial role in the Battle of Britain. My information (from Tony Mason, no less) is that she was built by Shipbuilders Ltd for W.J. (Bill) Endean in 1949. She had a 100hp Osco Mercury V8 conversion originally. Bill owned her until at least 1958. K. A. Prangnell owned her in 1973. I photographed her hauled out at Te Atatu BC in 2009.

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  13. PS Paul’s thought about Fairey Marine could be right on the button with Bill and Tony’s air force experience. Tony Mason gained his planing hull wisdom from RNZAF Catalinas and Sunderlands.

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  14. I have known her from the 50s & seen her around Kawau a lot in the 50s 70s era, in the major holiday times of the year, she has always been very individual & distinctive in styling, & like vintage steamer, have never seen the rear extension to the dodger before. Am almost certain she was extended a little at the back end, way back in the distant past in the 50s, from when I very first saw her, & I always thought from that time on, it made her look a little narrow for her length. Had also always read her name at that time, as “TANGAMERE,” — (used to be on lifebuoys attached to her then varnished coamings, in that era,) — but perhaps my recall is again not clear re her name, or maybe it just seemed to me that logically, as a “suitable,” Maori type word in my mind, it should be TANGAMERE, & I just “wanted” it to be TANGAMERE, so my mind just “saw” it that way, or perhaps someone may have “altered” it a little a long the way. — Perhaps someone may be able to clarify, if they have by chance ever thought she was TANGAMERE. –KEN RICKETTS

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  15. Maybe designed by Fairey Marine, Portsmouth? Maybe locally built, perhaps Lanes? Just a wild guess. Vaguely reminiscent of ISIS, of Taupo, said to have the aforementioned designer and builder.

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  17. I remember her out and about in the ’60s -’70s(?) down the bottom end of Waiheke. She hadn’t sprouted that aft dodger extension at that stage. Yes an aggressive styling exercise. Her hull looks quite old down aft. The name seems to indicate a pommie connection -Tangmere is in Sussex and was an airforce base in WW2.

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