WINSOME II
details / words from Harold Kidd. photos ex Ken Ricketts ex Brian Worthington
Winsome II was built by Lane Motor Boat Co in 1924 for David Teed, the Mayor of Newmarket (after whom Teed Street is named) with a 100hp Stearns engine and named Maude T (about the 4th of that name). Teed died in 1925, prematurely, and his estate sold her to Captain Emanuel who renamed her Latex (a very long story there). Emanuel sold her to W S Pratt, the manager of the Northern Roller Mills in 1931 and she was bought for the RNZAF in 1941 for service at Tauranga, a secondary seaplane base. She was sold by the Crown in 1946 to Andrew Donovan who removed the, by now clapped out, Stearns and replaced it with a brand new 1946 Chrysler 8 cylinder marine engine, renaming her Winsome after his daughter but added the “II” when he realised that the Pickmeres still had Winsome in Whangarei.
Andrew kept her for many years. He died in 1989. She went to Whangarei where she was kept in the Town Basin. Then she was sold to Havelock where I saw her recently, still in splendid order.
When Andrew registered her on Lloyds Yacht Register in 1964 he put down that her designer was W. Hand, the famous American yacht and powerboat designer of the twenties and thirties. No mention had ever been made of that before but there is likely to be more than a germ of truth in the claim in that US yachting mags like Rudder and Motorboat and Yachting were avidly followed by New Zealanders, providing more relevant models for our waters than, say, the English mags. Certainly, it is likely that the design for Maude T/Latex/Winsome II was lifted from a Hand design published in such a US mag and that US “look” was faithfully reproduced.
Despite what the Register of British Ships says, Pratt did not own her through to 1941. She was owned in Tauranga by D Cambie from about 1935 onwards and used for gamefishing which is why she was taken over by the RNZAF for Tauranga work in 1941 as a local launch in good nick, I imagine.
Note – Winsome II has been featured before on ww but with poor photos – the above photos warranted an updated post. Alan H
12/03/2015– a recent photo below of her in Picton marina wearing her WW II livery.
22-10-2015 Update
The photo below from the Northern Advocate, Monday, February 12, 1973 was sent in by Judy Donovan, Andrew Donovan’s daughter, it shows Winsome II starting in the first Bay of Islands international billfish tournament. The start was a ‘Grand Prix’ style e.g. a drag race 🙂
27-01-2021 photo below added
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WINSOME II UPDATE; She was bought by Martin Newton of Whangarei in 2000 & he owned her until; 2004. He bought her out of Russell, from a Mr John Denniston-Wood.
She was in a bad state, & Martin N had to renew the shaft log & stem, due to over zincing, he also proceeded to refurbish the top sides & give her a general make over.
He kept her in Whangarei & flew the WWCC flag.
He tells me he & his family had many happy hours with her.
The engine in the Newton era was a 1970s-80s vintage SD33 6cyl naturally aspirated Nissan diesel which is rated at 61 Hp @4000 RPM,
He can’t recall the new owners name as he sold it through a broker, however he owned Huia Wines in Blenheim, before selling her to a DOC camp owner
That owner resided in the upper reaches of Queen Charlotte Sound, & she was, or is, used to ferry patrons to a DOC camp, (Mistle Toe Bay), by Martin’s recall. — KEN R
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Not reeeally a drag race, the fun part is running up the beach to your oars then down to the water and rowing out as fast as possible and THEN flooring the throttle 😀
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New photo added. AH
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Could the current owner of Winsome II please email me at waitematawoodys@gmail.com
Thank you. Alan Houghton
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Hi Harold. Can you text me your number please? I’m keen to discuss Thetis with you. Thanks Luke 021 73 88 92
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A beautiful boat always admired. I recall going aboard with my mate Joe Donaldson who was doing a bit of engineering work for Andy in the 60,s. Andy liked a drink and shouted us a few beers.
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New photo added ex owner of her currently in Picton. AH
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Very Nice and good to see kept to origional design.
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Thanks Jase. I was all fingers and thumbs and could have palmed you off with any old pic. You’ve hit the nail right on the thumb. Oh tedious punner………………..
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They sure are good looking nice running chine launches, or V bottoms as W Hand jnr called them, and economic with small horsepower as I am proving currently.
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and this
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there you go, “55” further away and in front of “MyGirl” RII in the background….
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Do you have an image of SURF handy, Jase? A digital copy would be handy.
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There was a boat very similar to MyGirl built in 1916 called “Surf” i’d put money on it being a Hand design too
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Heehee!
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After looking at Winsome 11 ‘s lines in front of the squadron for years and witnessing Andys antics in the Bay of Islands, I am convinced that she owes a lot to a W Hand design, certainly closer than the other ships mentioned with the exception of the Dunedin boat Thetis. Unfortunately the marine industry is largely bereft of characters of the magnitude of Andy and his one time son in law Ken in these PC days…
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Other NZ launches attributed (rightly or wrongly) to Hand (Sr or Jr) are PALOMA (Colin Wild, 1926) and CACHALOT (1916, clearly C.J. Collings), and there are plenty more lifted from Hand designs published in the US motor boating magazines.
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The first time the “Hand” handle was applied to MAUDE T/ LATEX/WINSOME II (and the only time I can find) is in 1964 when Andy Donovan registered her with Lloyd’s Yacht Register. Now if she had had twin 100hp Stearns, would they have been “handed”?
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Sundstrum’s THETIS was built in August 1929 by Jas. McPherson of Dunedin and trumpeted as a Hand design. She had a 106 hp 309 cu in Chrysler Imperial 6 cylinder marine engine. She was later owned by Sir Bruce Stewart of Pigeon Bay and said to be good for 22 knots. Last reported in Lyttelton in 2002 and attributed to “Halversen”!!
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Thetis
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Arohanui*. Unsure about Winsomes Hand-ness, there was a hand launch Thetis built Dunedin not long after in the same style and is much more Hand in style.
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Looking good!
Not the first boat to be dubiously attributed to William Hand though.
Interesting that it was Donovan who first brought this to light, so it must be true – a yachtbroker would never, ever “gild the lily” to make a boat more saleable, now would he?
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