Vixen > Water Beetle – Akaroa
Another photo ex Lew Redwood’s fb page, this time we have a yacht anchored at Akaroa, the photo is dated 1911. It’s a great photo
Any of the woodys able to ID this gaffer?
07-05-2018 Input from Harold Kidd –
She’s the little half-rater WATER BEETLE designed by Prof Scott and built for Wardrop of Wellington by Robert Logan Sr in 1895 as VIXEN. MASCOTTE (53ft) and YVONNE (42ft) were big gaffers. Scott later bought her, renamed her WATER BEETLE and raced her at Lyttelton. He sold her in 1901.
VIXEN/WATER BEETLE had a lugsail like most of the Wellington half-raters which raced with the Arawa Sailing Club and was 24ft loa. She was owned at the time of this photograph by J.L. Vangioni of Akaroa. Prof Scott had owned YVONNE for many years at this time.
Good Things Take Time
Greg Fenwick sent me the photo below that he took last November on a trip to Oban, Stewart Island. Pretty well sums up wooden boat building 🙂
And a wee bonus today – check out this Facebook movie of dinghy sailing back in 1955, at Plymouth, Devon, UK. Link via Wooden Boat fb – enjoy
That’s a Standing Lug, not a Dipping Lug. A Dipping Lug has no boom, and a significant part of it is forward of the mast. The sail has to be dipped round the mast each time the boat tacks (hence the name. As can be imagined, dipping wasn’t a job for the faint hearted – the rig was mostly a work-boat one, though very powerful and quite weatherly.
The Standing Lug on the pretty little rater above was left alone when tacking in normal use, though the yard and throat could be dipped if you were that keen a racer,
LikeLike
another picture if the Vixen: http://wcyt.org.nz/abode/getProduct.do/_productId__118789/_siteId__708/method__getProduct/_categoryId__4589
LikeLike
thanks Harold. Fooled by the size! Article with pictures of the half raters and their lug rigs here, if anyone is interested: http://wgtnclassicyacht.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/the-arawa-sailing-club-and-half-raters.html
LikeLike
Hi
Sorry but I can not. Its you that actually decide to follow or unfollow the ww site. Whie you have the ww site open, on the bottom of the right hand side of your screen, there should be a button that says ‘follow’ – click this & select ‘un follow’.
Cheers Alan H
LikeLike
Hi,
We are away from NZ this coming Saturday 12 MAy and not returning until 0-5 July. Could you please take us off your database for that time and put us back on after 5 July.
MAny thanks Karen & George Saunders
LikeLike
Input from HDK added . Alan H
LikeLike
A large rater with a dipping lug in that part of the world would suggest Mascotte to me. I think she had a low cabin. Maybe Yvonne if she ever had a cabin? Hard to imagine her having changed back to a flush deck if she did though.
LikeLike