Lazealon

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Lazealon 57

LAZEALON

Doug Tutill sent in the above photo of the launch Lazealon that was owned by his father Arthur TutillI. Doug is curious to try and find out if Lazealon still exists & what became of her over the years.
Arthur Tutill had a great interest in boats and crewed on Val Masefields Thetis and the Nuns brothers champion H18 mullet boat, Corona.
Arthur was also secretary and commodore of Ponsonby Cruising Club. He bought Lazealon fully equipped in 1936 and sold her to a J.Shaw in Mangere in 1942. In the time he owned her, he cruised and fished the gulf extensively.

20-04-2017 Input from Keith Turner

Arthur Tutill (AJ Tutill Carriers, green trucks, still operating today) purchased Lazealon I think from Colin Wilde who built and launched her in 1936. Arthur used Lazealon until 1942. I don’t know the history between 1942 to 1947’.

1947 saw a new engine, a Morris Navigator, (Morris Cowley block) installed. The name was changed to Lone Star, and had a forward cabin built over the engine.

Easter 1965 Del Whitcombe found Lone Star lying clear of the tide beside Tim Lees shed at Sandspit. Del towed her to Milford and slipped her on the Milford Cruising Club slip where he recaulked her. We purchased Lone Star from the slip. After using her for a season we replaced the Navigator with a 60hp Fordson purchased from Don Tillesly in 1966. We installed the motor from the Inga Rd bridge. I removed the wheelhouse to make Lone Star look more original and fitted a mast. This engine was still in her when we sold her in 1976 to Alan Underwood who owned her for 2 years.

Alan sold her to 2 pilots, who sold her (I think) to Barry Johnson, then (I think) to Max Leech who took her to South Head. Then Lone Star was sold to Merv Brown in Paihia.

Next I heard Lone Star was sold to Vern Tonks around Feb 2006, and moored in Whangaruru where she was rammed by a runabout leaving a hole 1200 x 1200 and sank. She is now being restored in Whangarei by Steve Ekman.

BETTER THAN A BEEHIVE RESTORATION
Sadly a lot of your old wooden boat end up either in a land fill or as firewood (set alight with a box of beehive matches) – the one below morphed into a rather cool cabin/ shed. I missed the listing on trademe, probably just as will because if I had bought it, there would have been trouble on the home front 😉

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6 thoughts on “Lazealon”

  1. Despite her resemblance to LITTLE TASMAN (12ft shorter than LAZEALON) she’s a most unlikely 1936 Colin Wild build. She’s 10years earlier than that. Tutill probably bought her from her Auckland Star ad of January 1937 when she was offered for sale at a sacrifice price, certainly not a new boat then and certainly not an ad by Colin Wild. There were lots of LONE STARs and it’s hard to pick this one out of the mob.
    I would eat my hat if she were built by Wild, or built in 1936, or built as LAZEALON.

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  4. From the grainy image, is that a hard chine? Tumblehome stern looks like Coulthard but can I see near the waterline where it quickly comes back in?

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  5. Well, Ken has left the field pretty wide open!
    I think she was a temporary rename. She was for sale under that bizarre name (probably meant to be LAZE ALONG) in 1937. She was described as “Cruising Launch LAZEALON 38ft x 8ft 6in x 2ft 9in modern fast cruiser full head room …..perfect 6 cyl Red Seal engine…..” That’s a CONTINENTAL Red Seal of course.

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  6. Lovely example of c1930 craftsmanship & design, whilst to me she looks a little like Colljngs & Bell or Baileys, she could have numerous other possible builders, like Slattery or others. — Would love to know.–
    Hopefully someone will be able to tell us more about her provenance, & perhaps original or early engines.

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