Category Archives: 1920’s

Esme

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Esme

ESME

photo & details ex Ken Ricketts

Esme belonged to Henry Allen in the 1920s & 30s prior to him buying Tiromoana. The above photo was taken in 1924 & was as published in The NZ Aquatic magazine Friday, March 14th 1924. Not sure of her engine at this stage. She was named after his daughter Esme.

H.A. spoke of the boat when ever Ken saw him in the 1940s & 50s. He undoubtedly was very fond of the old boat. Ken never ever saw Esme, always wanted to, & now with this photo his curiosity is answered.

Harold Kidd Update

ESME was built by Joe Slattery for Pop Allen in August 1921. I’ve no info on engine fitted but it must have been fairly potent as she was fast. Allen raised her cabin top and put on a dodger in 1930. She was for sale on TradeMe three years ago in desperate condition. Kevin Hussey had owned her at Half Moon Bay in poor condition for some time before that.

ESME IN AQUATIC MAGAZINE 14.3.24

ESME IN AQUATIC MAGAZINE 14.3.24

Paikea

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PAIKEA

The 1921 Collings & Bell launch. The old press clippings support the b/w photos. Hopefully readable on ww. If not & anyone wants a better copy, email me.

Photos from Heather Rose, whose partner Keith Nicholson owned her in the late 70’s/early 80’s. The couple currently have the Paea, the 1943 ex RNZN harbour defence motor launch.

For more details on Paikea click link below.

https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/08/22/paikea/

Rosemary M

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Rosemary M – March 2013 HDK
Rosemary M – Waiheke, date unknown
Rosemary M – April 2011 AH
Rosemary M – April 2011 AH
Rosemary M Rakino Easter 2013
Rosemary M Rakino Easter 2013
Rosemary M Rakino Easter 2013
Rosemary M Rakino Easter 2013

ROSEMARY M

I could be wrong (Harold??, help me here) but I think she is a 1925 Lane Motor Boat.

Seen here in several disguises – white, blue & now back to white. The most recent photo taken by Harold Kidd in March 2013 on Lipton Cup day.

Harold Kidd Info

I think we went through this launch’s highly complex ancestry on the CYA Forum a while back. It would take a page to go through her changes of name and ownership in detail. There is a pic of her on page 93 of “N Z Vintage Launches” as SPEEDWELL in 1925 She was built as ROTHESAY by Lanes in 1915 and was subsequently, MAUDE T, SPEEDWELL, JEAN, and finally ROSEMARY M.

Luana Keeps Good Company

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Luana Keeps Good Company

The beautiful 1920 MT Lane classic Luana has just been out at the Salthouse yard (classic’s love railway slips) getting some TLC. Of course a vessel of her caliber needs a service vehicle of a certain standard, meet ‘Cloudy’ a new addition to owner Rick’s fleet of classic cars. This one has a provenance to match Luana – NZ new, her first owner was Sir Robert Kerridge (hence the BK plates) the cinema man. Bob Kerridge had great nautical links having owned Pakatoa Island & the legendary hydrofoil Manuwai.

Same bay, same view

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Same bay, same view

Same bay, same view, same cold beer – only difference a few $000’s

Took this ‘selfie’ of Raindance off the northern end of Pakatoa in early 2012, was standing on the beach & thought other than maybe a few more feet on RD, I was pretty happy.

Avalon

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Avalon

AVALON
I do not know anything about the above launch other than she was actively engaged in the game fishing sport.
Any help re more info much appreciated.

photo ex classicgameboatnz

Harold Kidd Update

AVALON was built by Collings & Bell in December 1927 for Peter Williams of Russell for use as a game fishing boat in the Bay of Islands. She was one of Collings’ typical concave-convex square bilge designs, 36′ x 8’6″ x 3’6′. She had a 85-100hp Redwing engine and was designed for 16 knots. She was often chartered by Zane Grey who took her to Queensland in 1936 for game fishing there. Some few years ago she was exported to the US to the Zane Grey Museum, somehow avoiding the then Antiquities Act.

And more

OOPS Zane Grey chartered AVALON to chase sharks at Bermagui, NSW, not Queensland. She came back to NZ after the expedition of course. And I may have made a glib assumption that she was square bilge to his “concave-convex” design like the other Bay of Islands game launches he built like ALMA G and ZANE GREY (later ALMA G II) for the Arlidge brothers etc. I am doubting that somewhat and wonder if anyone can post a hull shot of her?

And more

All’s well. I’ve turned up a pic of AVALON clearly showing that she’s square bilge, like ALMA G, MANAAKI, LORNA DOONE and ZANE GREY also built for the Zane Grey game fishing circus.

Paikea

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PAIKEA

Helped take Trinidad last Sunday to the Sandspit boat shed of Greg Lee Boatbuilder’s last Sunday, spied this classic – Paikea – moored just off the wharf at Sandspit. Can anyone shed some  light on her? Poor photos, facing into the sun.

On the trip north passed 4 different large pods of dolphins, the biggest pod was mooching around the moored boats at Sandspit. Photo (iphone) is of one of the smaller dolphins that kept us company for a while off Tiritir.

Harold Kidd Update

PAIKEA was built by Collings & Bell for A.H. Court and launched on 26th January 1921. She was fitted with a 120-150hp Model M Van Blerck 6 cylinder petrol engine (not a straight-eight Packard as is often said). PAIKEA had Chas. Collings’ “concave-convex” type of hard chine design which he made famous with his various FLEETWINGS and whale-chasers. Indeed she was a refinement of the FLEETWING whose image appears in the Collings & Bell section of WW.

PAIKEA was good for 20 knots and can still do it with her present big Iveco/Fiat, as I experienced not long ago at Sandspit. She goes like hell and stable with it.

Alf Court sold her to Hec Marler in 1925 and he sold her to R B & S S Wilson  just pre-WW2. She was in NAPS during WW2 as Z17. .

 

Launches & Yacht at Tauranga Regatta

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Launches & Yacht at Tauranga Regatta

Would be interested to hear if anyone has another view but pretty sure these photos are from the Tauranga Regatta that used to follow the Auckland to Tauranga race in the late 1920’s – 1930’s.

The Guthrie family launch Alcestis (now Raiona) can be seen heading towards the bridge between the white hulled yacht & the bigger dark hulled steamer??. What made the ID easy was that Roger & Graham Guthrie’s grandfather (Hugh Douglas Guthrie) always wore either a captains hat or as in the case here – a white Panama hat.

 photos ex Roger Guthrie

1925 Anniversary Regatta “bona fide cruisers over 9 knots” Race.

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1925 Anniversary Regatta “bona fide cruisers over 9 knots” Race.

The 4 boats nearest the camera, from left ROMANCE II (W C Mills….winner by miles), ROSEMARY (Leon Warne), ALL BELL leading (Alf Bell….NO Collings in this one…it’s All BELL….lots of angst between Mr. Collings and Mr. Bell post WW1), and CARMINE (ex-MAUDIE..Bailey & Lowe). At the rear are, on left, CAVALIER (Bell brothers, Alf and his brother whose name I’ve temporarily forgotten but great uncles of Dick Coughlan) at left and KATHRYN R (built by Leon Warne for W J Reid, Des Townson’s grandfather) on the right. Big St Mary’s Bay representation, 2 Warne boats and two Bell boats (and 2 Bailey & Lowe boats)

2nd photo of Romance II ‘at full chat’ crossing a finish line in 1925 (possibly the same race as above)

3rd photo shows Romance II not moving fast at all – high & dry near Coromandel one Easter, she re-floated on the next tide with no damage other than the crews egos, the owner Frank Aspden was in Sydney at the time. The next crew meeting would have been a dozy 🙂

Anniversary details ex Harold Kidd, photos ex ‘Sir George Grey Special Collections (Auckland Libraries)

Harold Kidd Update:

ROMANCE II cheekily entered the next race too, the “Open Speed Race” against the flyers of the day, Chas. Collings’ FLEETWING JR (120hp Hall-Scott), MISS VIRGINIA (220hp Hispano-Suiza), MISS AUCKLAND (ohc Masport), MISS EILEEN (6 cylinder Buick), MISS DEVONPORT (90hp Curtiss), MISS MILFORD (ex-FLEETWING I), and FIREFLY Colin Wild-built, 6 cylinder Studebaker). Some of these hydroplanes were running war surplus aero engines of course. ROMANCE II was given 20mins and won on handicap.

She will see some action this season after Pauline and I have had a sad time in the past 18 months with family matters and my bloody arthritis. She’s out at Gulf Harbour right now for antifouling and a tidy up. She was built for 17 knots and still does that (and quite a bit more if you have the courage to push the Morse to the bulkhead). Basically she’s a standard Bailey & Lowe 35 footer hull, but fined down forward and with a flatter run aft. It may not be your classic planing, but it sure feels like it!

Maritza II

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Maritea II

MARITZA II

The launch Maritza II on her journey to Lake Waikaremoana.

In the days before we had the boys from ‘Boat Haulage’ on the scene 🙂

photo ex classicboatnz

Harold Kidd Update:

The penny has dropped. It’s not MARITEA II but MARITZA. She was built by Peter A Smith, the Alpha marine engine agent in St. Mary’s Bay for himself in 1923. Like W R Twigg, Smith contracted to build launches, his input being the engine which usually cost over half the total price. He contracted out hulls to local builders, usually those handy to his premises in St. Mary’s Bay. This hull was built by Dick Lang before he left for Sydney during the transition of his business to Sam Ford so Sam Ford took some credit in advertising. She was 37ft x 9ft and was fitted with a 25hp Alpha (Danish) engine. Smith named her CYRENA. She was launched around Christmas 1923.

Smith sold her to the Manukau in September 1924. F G “Boy” Bellve of Herne Bay bought her and brought her back to the Waitemata in January 1926 and had her until he commissioned the keel yacht CYRENA from Collings & Bell in late 1938. 

Bellve sold the launch CYRENA to A M White of Ngatapa, Gisborne who renamed her MARITZA (II) and had her trucked over to Lake Waikaremoana on 6-7 October 1938.

PS I’m pretty sure the truck is a Diamond T with a locally-built cab.