Following on from yesterdays story showcasing the inaugural running of the Moreton Bay Classic – probably the biggest classic one day on-the-water event in Australia, today we get to see the race fleet up close. The last group of photos are from the post race festivities in Horseshoe Bay. If you missed yesterdays story – scroll down to view it or click this link https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/07/04/the-race-social-event-that-stops-the-bay-the-moreton-bay-classic-part-one/
As mention yesterday – the time is long overdue for an event like this on the Waitemata – no drag racers, no show ponies, no big ego’s or bad attitudes and no 24hr marathons – just a good old fashioned woody day out accumulating in a bay for a BBQ. Details soon.
The Race Social Event That Stops The Bay – The Moreton Bay Classic – PART ONE
Todays mega woody story comes to us from Brisbane based woody Andrew Christie, who regularly sends in reports from the woody movement from across the ditch. Todays is a goody, so find a comfy spot and enjoy 🙂 Take it away Andrew –
“For my part I have long looked across the Tasman Sea towards the Waitamata Harbour with envy. The number of classic boats and classic boat events there is the stuff of magic and dreams for a wooden boat tragic.
Here on Moreton Bay in South East Queensland, its own boating paradise, we had nothing to compare until a grudge match between young Jacob Oxlade and Paul Crowther, bubbled to the surface in a throwaway challenge that snowballed in to the largest event for classic wooden boats that Moreton Bay has ever seen last Saturday, 25 June 2022.
Jacob Oxlade, 24 a qualified Master has the good fortune, skill and presence that has seen him become skipper of the South Pacific 11 a 72 foot vessel designed by Eldridge MGuiness and built by the famous Norman R Wright & Son in 1962. Jacob skippers the South Pacific from Far North Queensland to Tasmania and has formerly skippered other known Moreton Bay Classics, Bali Hai, Mohokoi, Lady Brisbane and others. Paul Crowther is a member of a successful business dynasty who has recently become the proud owner of the Mohokoi a 70 foot vessel built by Wayne Tipper in 1995.
Jacob in South Pacific was escorting Paul to Myora on North Stradbroke Island, an anchorage favoured by salty Classic Moreton Bay Cruisers as Paul got to know the ropes. As it happened, Mohokoi was ahead of the South Pacific and Paul slowed to let Jacob enter the anchorage first. As is the nature of such things, an argument then ensued about who was first and who was fastest. The gauntlet was thrown down by Paul and the challenge accepted by Jacob. It was on. The “Race that Stops the Bay” was suddenly being promoted on local classic boating social media but quickly became the “Event that Stops the Bay” to accommodate fears relating to insurance and other regulatory matters that tie down our modern nanny world.
Jacob hoped to attract perhaps eight of the known larger classic vessels and about ten smaller ones for an event he hoped would be reminiscent of old photographs he had seen of the processions of classic boats that escorted the Britannia up the Brisbane River on the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to Queensland in the 1970s.
Jacob regrets that the entry form he published was not designed to accommodate the sheer volume of entrants that he had to process. Thirty-One classic vessels registered to actively participate in a race of 10.9 nautical miles from Green Island near Manly Harbour in Moreton Bay to South West Rocks at Peel Island. Seventy-One classic vessels registered as spectators. Jacob counted One Hundred and Twenty Classics in the post-race anchorage of Horseshoe Bay and more again were present close to shore before the starting gun. Entries continued to pour in after close of registration and even on to the day of the event itself.
Jacob is cognisant that each of these classic wooden boats is unique and special. He inherited his love of them from his father Paul Oxlade who would take him boating from a young age, where Paul Oxlade would point out each of the old Queensland woodies, being able to name their owners, builders, build dates and slip ways, a remarkable skill seemingly only shared by the now Skipper of the Lady Brisbane Mark Nielson. Such was his father’s inspiration that Jacob became a Master in his own right who desires to share his love of these classic vessels with his own younger generation. He believes he has come some way to achieving this goal with what is to become a regular event in what is now known as “The Moreton Bay Classic”.
The race format was kept simple with the primary focus being on a day out and participation which had to be both easy and free as an antidote to our post Covid 19 world. It was not a navigation event or log race. It was simply a race from post to post but with a handicap on each boats’ start times set by William Wright, a third generation boatbuilder and naval architect with the Norman R Wright & Sons dynasty who handicapped them according to their waterline length, horsepower and top speed. First across the finish line was the Coral Sea, followed by Floodtide, Lady Mac, Nyala and Tamara. A best and fairest award of a Garmin watch was won by the Skipper of Mohokoi, the decision being made by John Stewart, Commodore of the Breakfast Creek Boat Club. The watch was donated with thanks to Gordon Triplett from Garmin.
Because this year’s event occurred spontaneously and without much notice, a fact belied by the sheer number of participants, it is intended to hold the event once more next year to allow those people who missed out a chance to attend, after which it will become bi-annual, to be held in the winter of each year of the Tasmanian Wooden Boat Festival. The timing is designed to take advantage of the beautiful Winter conditions Moreton Bay experiences and to allow those vessels making their way North for the Winter season both from Tasmania and the South generally to participate. The date has already been set at 24 June 2023 which coincides with the commencement of the Queensland School Holidays and which avoids conflicts with other events listed on the Boating Industry Association’s calendar. In the event of poor weather a contingency plan for celebrations at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron’s Canaipa campus are in place.
It is Jacob’s intention that next year all of the classic vessels will be entered as participants with any moderns to be registered as spectators as he explained there was confusion in the minds of classic owners unfamiliar with the format of the new event this year with the result many were shy, entering only as spectators.
At the conclusion of the race festivities continued with a presentation that occurred on the beach at Horseshoe Bay, where a feast of seafood, a lamb on a spit, and a pig on a spit was provided free of charge to participants.
Jacob focused specific attention on safety and an avoidance of inconveniencing non participants, the course being designed to avoid conflict with bay ferries or creating wake on local beaches. The event was run in consultation with Maritime Safety Queensland and the Water Police who reported no negative occurrences from the event. Congratulations must go to Jacob and Paul for their thoughtfulness in providing both general refuse and recycling bins at the beach function and for organising a clean-up of the beach the following day such that it was left in better condition than before the presentation.
Thanks must also go to Paul Crowther who paid for the spit roasts and a live band out of his own pocket, Bryant Engineering, the Queensland Gardner specialists who provided the seafood and who operated the rotisseries and set up and pulled down the beach facilities the day before and after the event and to Tony from Tony’s Boats and Marine who paid for bread, onions, napkins and the other bibs and bobs that made the barbeque a success.
The event was filmed by Nick Cornish who runs Game Rod Media so expect a quality documentary about it in the near future. A Facebook group for the Moreton Bay Classic features footage of the vessels and the event and provides updated information future events.
With a view to keeping the event free to participate in, Jacob and Paul are looking for sponsors and are floating the idea of providing a cap or pennant to commemorate each future event which will bear sponsor logos.
And so a new event was born, the fruit of a throwaway challenge, but which highlighted the health of classic wooding boating in Moreton Bay. Make sure you support the Moreton Bay Classic and see you on the waters of Moreton Bay on 24 June 2023, and suffer in your jocks on the Waitemata Harbour as it is warm and dry here in Queensland.”
I think waitematawoodys needs to look into pulling a similar event off on the Waitemata – back to you all ASAP with details 🙂 Alan H
The Race – below is just a tease – come back tomorrow for photos from the course 😉
One of the great things about the WW site is its ability to bring together past owners of woody classics with the current owners. Two examples in recent weeks
1. Alan Warren dropped me a note re the launch – Pirate , that was owned by Keith Warren in the period 1989>1994. Alan included the above stunning photo and commented that the photo was mounted near the kauri saloon table. Collectively we were able to get a high res copy of the photo to Pirate’s new owners.
2. Over the last year I have been trying to coordinate with Kennedy Warne for his 90+ year old father Ken Warne, son of Leone Warne who designed and built Pirate, to visit the boat – covid popped it’s head up every time there was a planned meeting – well last weekend the stars aligned and the family got to visit Pirate at Pine Harbour marina . Owners Tracy and Alan were shocked and thrilled when the Warne’s handed over the original line drawing done by Leone Warne for the boat.
UPDATE ex Kennedy Warne
The below photo (of Dad with the Gilders in Pirate’s saloon) was taken when we meet the owners. It was just so good to reunite Dad with a launch that he had seen being built when he was a nine-year-old boy at Russell. We were able to supply Alan and Tracy with a couple more photos from when she was launched, and, as you noted, with the pencil plans, with their edges well chewed by sliverfish. Interestingly the plans showed she was originally planned as a 42-footer. At some point Leon must have decided that wasn’t enough, and she grew.
There is an interesting story of how she was named ‘Pirate’ – it’s recounted in Neil Illingworth’s book ‘Fighting Fins’, refer the relevant pages below.
Tracy & Alan Gilder + Ken Warne
01-10-2022 UPDATE: There was a NZ National Film Unit movie made under the same name ‘Flying Fins’ the youtube link below was sent in by K Ricketts. An interesting insight into the Big Game fishing scene in the far North – but all too cruel for me. As an aside I tracked down a copy of the ‘Fighting Fins’ book mentioned above – stashed away for summer cruising reading.
I was out west Auckland on Sunday and dropped into the Te Atatu Boating Club yard for a nosy. Sad to see that the rather pretty x1934, Cox & Filmer built launch Robyn Gas is still hauled out and looking for a new owner. Given the 4sale sign points people to the yard office, I would suspect its being sold to re-coup yard fees.
There appears to be some ‘average’ hull work done to her, but at $6k, its a very low entry to a worthwhile project. Surely someone will step up and take her own. Make the TBC an offer, you might be surprised.
For no fault of her own other than bad timings, the boat has been crying out for a passionate woody owner for a number of years – see previous WW stories below.
Yesterday the 30’ 1978 Roy Parris built launch – Waikaro, slipped back into the creek at the Slipway, Milford, looking very smart post a lot of work both in and outside. A Jason Prew paint job and 15+ coats of uroxsys were just the icing on the cake + lots of work on her systems and ‘lets keep the water on the outside’ eg new windows etc.
No sooner had Waikaro vacated the cradle, the 38’ 1937 Sam Ford built launch – Menai (below) was climbing into a warm bed. After a lot of deferred maintenance work, Menai had been ’settling down’ eg taking up on one of the Milford marina berths before getting her final top coats. The new bow-thruster certainly made manoeuvring in the creek easy.
UPDATE 12-07-2022 back in the water after the JPPJ at The Slipway Milford.
Friday was one of those special woody days – I travelled out to Pine Harbour marina to see the re-launch of Pirate, the Leon Warne 1939 built, 46’ launch.
Why was it special? Well back in March the launch Kokoru was ravaged in a dockside fire, just weeks after a total refit / restoration, links below to Kokoru. One of the few salvageable items were the brand new twin Yanmar 75hp engines.
The owners made the tough call and decided to purchase another classic and use Kokoru as a donor. The lucky woody purchased was – Pirate. And she became the recipient of Kokoua’s engines.
For the last 6 weeks the transplant and associated bits – new shafts, props etc and a lot of work to the tankage – size and location, has been happening.
Still a work in progress but back in the water and ready for the next stage of the project. Amazingly Pirate did not take on any water, probably the result of her owners hosing the hull down twice a day while hauled out.
WW will visit again when Pirate is ship-shape and knowing the owners – sparkling 🙂
A big shout out to the owners – it takes special people to (1) restore a woody (2) recover from seeing her destroyed (3) leaping back in and buy another – well done Tracy and Alan. I read somewhere the other day a quote that “beautiful boats attract beautiful people” – seems to fit this story 🙂
( fyi – Kokoru went to a good home and we understand, overtime will be rebuilt, so a happy ending)
We have been contacted by Tony Evans from the Richmond YC in Auckland concerning the 1937 photograph above that the club have been gifted.There was no family connection from the ‘gifter’, so the club are unsure of its history. Tony commented that the picture is likely taken at the original RYC Herne Bay club house, with Chelsea Bay hills in the background.
So woodys are we able to help the club and share some intel on the significance of the photo eg the name of the boat, was it (probably) performing the rule of racing committee boat and any info on the regatta / event. Or given the crowd onboard just she a spectator boat?
Input From Barry John Davis – This is the A. & G. Frankham coaster Coronation, built 1902 as a ketch in NSW, you can just make out the vestiges of a clipper type bow, dimensions 83.7′ x 22.7′ First registered at Auckland the same year. Still trading out of Auckland up to the early 1960’s when sold and went to Gisborne as a motorised lighter
We last saw the Coulthard built launch – Dawn on WW back in June 2019, link below. In summary she was built in 1936 and is approx. 28’ in length, with a very shallow draft of just over 2’, probably to suit the shallow harbours on Aucklands West Coast, where she was built.
A Ford 80hp Lees 4.2L diesel provides the forward motion. Thanks to a tme listing (c/o Ian MacDonald) we get to have a look down below.
Update 05-07-2022 1st coat of the shinny stuff goes on
Classic Woody Yard Mooching
Dropped into The Slipway Milford the other day, very pleased to see the 1937, 38’ Sam Ford built launch – Menai, getting some serious TLC after languishing at the CYA’s Heritage Landing for many years, dockside chat was it was a permanent fixture.
As with most things in life, boat ownership goes in cycles and with new owners she is get the attention she deserves. Always nice to see painting prep well executed i.e. back to bare wood – that kauri looks as good as the day Sam Ford fastened it.
I understand a new engine has been installed so the TCL is serious – we like that 🙂
While there the 1945 K-Class – Jenanne was getting a Jason Prew Paint Job, the photo is coat one of two top coats, already very slick.
Now a tip on how to get marine engineers to come down to your boat – keep your engine room as ship-shape as the 1965 Owen Woolley built launch – Adonis – the man from the Moon didn’t even have to put his overalls on 🙂
Todays story comes to us from John Gander via Dean Wright. John you may recall designed and built the two stunning double-ender 38’ kauri yachts Whisper and Time (sisters) that have appeared on WW. Today John shares with us the story of himself and Frank Derbyshire saving the 1935 Charles Bailey & Sons built fishing vessel – Joan from becoming firewood – I’ll let John tell us the story: (click on photos to enlarge)
“About November 1975 Frank Derbyshire and I arrived at Port Taranaki from Picton having successfully tendered for the fishing vessel ‘Joan’ and her equipment. ‘Joan’ was moored alongside the wharf when struck by the bulbous bow of the phosphate ship “Eastern Saga” as the ship was being manoeuvred in the harbour. Joan suffered extensive damage and was crushed about amidships.
Prior to our arrival the vessel had been lifted onto the breakwater wharf, her wheelhouse had been removed and her 6L3B Gardner engine was on beds in a wharf workshop having been stripped down, cleaned, reassembled and run.
“Joan” is a triple skin vessel of about 35 tonnes, and thanks to Harold Kidd it is confirmed that she was built by Charles Bailey and Sons and launched on 14th October 1935. We weren’t familiar with New Plymouth but soon learned that if you can see the mountain it is going to rain and if you couldn’t see the mountain it was raining, however we did experience some fine weather.
We were advised by a few sceptics to put a match to her, she will never go to sea again, however after a week or so into the repair and it was seen that we knew a bit about wooden boats some of those on local fishing boats and other workers about the wharf became very helpful when it came to advice on where best to procure some items we required during the repair. One person who was especially helpful to us was a retired fisherman Frank Roper. We learned that Frank was held in high regard by the local fishermen and was known to most on the wharf. He approached us saying in his retirement he needed something to do and could he help, and what a help he was.
After lifting the fuel and water tanks out it was Frank who chipped and wire brushed them, and applied a new cement wash to the inside of the water tanks and primed and painted the exterior, and while doing this he also stoked the fire for our steam box, this of course was when it wasn’t a problem to have a fire on the wharf at New Plymouth.
Prior to tendering for the vessel I had flown to New Plymouth for an inspection and made a note of the timber requirements to take to the job. For the inner skins we used Larch that was grown in the upper Awatere Valley Marlborough, and milled at Blenheim. Not such a common timber to use in New Zealand boatbuilding but we had the advice of Peter Jorgensen a Danish boatbuilder who knew Larch, we found it a good timber to work with and it steamed well.
After the initial inspection by the Marine Department wooden boat surveyor Bill Salter we set about clearing away the damaged section, this also entailed removing the freezer compartment and the cork insulation, and cutting scarfs in the stringers and gunwale well forward and aft.
The deck covering board was forced up during the impact but not damaged, we pulled this down into place, repaired the bulwarks, and from memory I think we replaced the outer planking with White Pine ( Kahikatea ) and Australian hardwood for the new belting, Metalex was a good wood preservative we used in those days, and red lead for priming paint.
We did have our share of rain but a bigger problem was salt spray during heavy westerly weather, this was before RCD’s were in vogue and electric tools were mostly metal, when the seas hit the breakwater and the fine salt spray wet the tools, it made one jump around a bit. But looking back on the job now we were lucky imagine asking a Port Company now if you could have a fire for the steam box on the wharf run a few power leads, and spread wheelhouse, tanks, and other ships gear about, and all this without a dozen orange cones and danger notices, yet we survived without mishaps.
With completion of repairs and a new Marine Department survey we left New Plymouth late afternoon bound for the Marlborough Sounds with Frank Roper aboard. Frank had fished the coast south to Cape Egmont and he regaled us with stories of fishing in the days of long lining before depth sounders, when after catching the fish they cleaned and gutted the catch on the way home.”
NEW INPUT FROM Chris Waide – We have owned Joan for 8 years now, has a 4/71 Jimmy, the hull is tight and sound, those guys must have done a great job of repairing her back then. Although the mishap on the West Coast was also on the port side, she was repaired at Guards Ship Yard with kahikatea but sat out in the rain for a few years and went rotten. She was then bought by Doug Valk, (a local boat builder) he put her in a paddock and completely rebuilt and converted to pleasure, refer photos below. The port side damage was repaired using Lawson cypress this time and Doug was helped by Andrew Candler who is a traditional shipwright, and is still a commercial vessel surveyor here in Nelson.Joan’s home these days is Motueka.
03-05-2022 Input from Dean Wright – photos below ex Auckland Museum collection
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