REELEMIN II – BUILT BY DON NORTON C.1957- AS BUILT
REELEMIN II – 1 YEAR LATER c.1958 – WITH DODGER
CHALLENGER – BUILT BY McGEADY – LAUNCHING DAY c.1962
COMMANDER ONE AS BUILT BY ALAN WILLIAMS c.1962
TEMPEST – BUILT BY McGEADY C.1964
COMMANDER ONE LENGTHENED c.1969-70
THE NORM FAIRLIE WOODEN BOAT FLOTILLA
Todays woody story follows on from yesterdays story on the classic wooden launch TEMPEST, which we identified as being built by McGeady’s for Norm Fairlie.
We learnt that Fairlie commissioned several wooden launches in the 1950’s > 1970’s period. Ken Rickets expanded on them and who built them, then sent in reference photos of the Fairlie boats, as we see above today.
Norm Fairlie would have had to be one of Auckland’s boatbuilding yards best customers.
Nice to see the ‘fleet’ all together for reference.
The 30’ classic wooden launch TEMPEST recently made an appearance of tme, bidding reached $395 and the listing was withdrawn. Hopefully the seller realised its real value and has found a genuine buyer. Would be keen to learn what became of her.
In the meantime some background – built in 1964/5 by McGeady and powered by a Ford 100hp 6 cyl. diesel engine.
She has appeared several time on WW starting back in 2014, looking very salty, then in 2022 looking very sad and again in 2023. WW 2014https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/10/26/9340/
Her recent history is that her owner spent hundreds of hours restoring her and then during Cyclone Gabrielle she was struck and sunk on her mooring by a much larger floating foot path (concrete boat). Her owner also experienced a medical incident and the rebuild is beyond his physical resources and he has made the hard call to find a new custodian.
TEMPEST is #3 of 4 boats that Norm Fairlie had built for him by Mc Geady in the 1950s >1970s period.
She was purpose built in kauri and mahogany for him c.1964/5 by McGeady in his Summer Street, Ponsonby premises , specifically to fish for Tuna in the World Game Fishing Competition held in NZ in March of that year, which he won in her.
TEMPEST’s hull had been started by McGeady to be a boat he had intended for himself but he was persuaded by Fairlie to sell her to him & finish her to Norm’s requirements i
Fairlie owned her simultaneously with his other larger McGeady boat the 38 foot CHALLENGER which McGeady built for him in c.1962. He fished for Tuna in the contest off TEMPEST, & Billfish off CHALLENGER & came second in the overall contest
Fairlie later sold her to his then business partner Mr Bert Grimshaw-Jones, who lived on the banks of the Tamaki River, where he kept her at the bottom of his garden, for a number of years,
DOCKSIDE WITH THE WOODYS – Auckland’s Wooden Boat Festival 2026
(CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
Yesterday’s WW post focused on the undercover displays and the surrounding shore-side activity (scroll down if you missed it). Today’s instalment is a gallery from two days spent wandering the floating docks. Why two days?
The simple answer — there were just too many woody folk to catch up with for a quick chat. Every few metres another familiar face appeared, and before you knew it ten minutes had disappeared talking boats, projects and plans.
On the weather front the forecasters got it spot-on. Sunday turned out to be the pick of the two-and-a-half day festival, with warm sunshine and a welcome cooling breeze.
Between dockside wanderings I managed to sneak into a couple of the speaking seminars. One featured designer supremo John Welsford, the other Paul Stephanus, director of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. Both presentations were knowledgeable, insightful and — most importantly — highly entertaining.
Because Auckland’s greater boating community is spread across a wide geography — marinas, rivers and estuaries scattered from the inner harbour to the outer reaches — the public rarely gets to see our classic wooden boat fleet gathered together in one place. That’s what makes an event like this so special. Seeing so many woodys together is a reminder of just how strong and diverse the fleet really is.
Of course none of it happens without the owners. They put an enormous amount of time — and more than a few dollars — into getting their boats “show ready”. Beyond the camaraderie shared with fellow woody owners, the real reward comes from the reactions of the public. Owners might shrug off the compliments, but the praise, smiles and pats on the back certainly help offset the many hours spent sanding, polishing and crawling around the bilge.
Now, I know it’s not a beauty contest… but if I had to pick a few personal favourites from the docks they would be:
SAIL — RANUI The 1936 ex-workboat designed by Korinius Larsen. Looking at her today, the standard of presentation is closer to a superyacht than a working boat.
MOTOR — REHIA The 1938 Colin Wild designed and built motor launch. Over the last five years she’s been undergoing a rolling restoration, and every time I see her she looks better than the last.
TRAILER BOAT — LADY MAREE A circa-1950 Cresta Craft classic runabout — pure period charm on a trailer.
TRAILER YACHT – I missed the detailers, has the look of a John Welsford design – can someone supply details ✔️ thanks. ‘Mystery’ solved – its a Welsford Navigator ✔️
As mentioned yesterday, events of this size don’t just happen. They require the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, organisers, exhibitors and supporters.
So a big salute to everyone involved in bringing the 2026 Auckland Wooden Boat Festival together. It was an impressive celebration of our classic wooden boating movement.
AUCKLAND’S 2026 WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL – Show Tour Part #1
Currently underway down on Auckland’s waterfront is the 2026 Auckland wooden boat festival. The event kicked off late Friday afternoon and runs through until 5pm Sunday.
I dropped down on Friday hoping to grab a few photos before the predicted weather turned sour. Thankfully we were treated to a few welcome bursts of sunshine, which made for some great viewing and photography. As it turns out, today (Sunday) is shaping up as the best day to get along and soak it all in.
Today’s woody story focuses on the undercover displays and surrounding shore-side areas. Tomorrow we’ll bring you Part #2 — a full dockside walk-through featuring the boats afloat.
The festival is a visually stunning showcase, with around 80+ classic woodencraft on display along the docks. In an era where most marinas are locked away from the public 24/7, events like this provide a rare opportunity to get up close to these beautiful wooden boats and chat with the passionate owners and crews who keep them alive.
Pulling together an event of this scale doesn’t happen by accident. It takes hundreds of volunteers, organisers, exhibitors and supporters working behind the scenes to make it all happen.
Hats off to everyone involved — it’s a fantastic celebration of our wooden boating heritage.
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – MATIRA – A Peek Down Below
The 45’ 1956 Collings & Bell built launch MATIRA has made several appearances on WW but we have never had a good gander down below.
Some info: Designed by Alex J Collings, she has a 11’ beam and draws 3’6”. Built from kauri, single skin, carvel planked. In recent years MATIRA was re-powered with twin Yanmar 110hp engines.
MATIRA is one of those classic woodys that looks perfect from all angles and looks fast even when at anchor.
In the first weekend of March we have one on NZ’s coolest wooden boating events – the NZ Antique & Classic Boatshow, hosted in Kerr Bay, Lake Rotoiti, Nelson Lakes National Park.
Todays coverage of the event is a perfect example of how the WW community works – I get an email from a friend (John Burland) living in Germany informing me a friend of his (Cam Rodgers) is attending the show this year and would I like some photos – short answer – YES.
So thanks to Cam today we get to have a gander at the show. Looks like the weather gods were smiling.
Remember – click to enlarge photos and enjoy the gallery 🙂
NAPIER CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – BETTINA – GETS A SECOND LIFE
Recently Sam Avison acquired a berth in Napier, but there was a slight problem, the berth included a 1950’s kauri built launch. The launch named BETTINA wasn’t / isn’t in good shape, in fact at the time of purchase she was taking on water (sinking). Sam couldn’t bring himself to call in the back-hoe boys so decided to take on the challenge.
First job was to sort out the leak, that’s done and he’s currently getting his head around where to start next.
The primary reason for Sam contacting WW to see how f he can learn more about the vessels past. All he knows is 26’ long, built in Napier and probably had a name change in the 1990’s.
Over the weekend WW was contacted by Paul Knight who was trying to find out more details about his fathers sloop – ANITRA, that he owned in the 1950’s. Other than her name he only knew her ‘class’ and sail number – E 60.Paul supplied the two photos above – a very sporty looking yacht. With my grey matter being very limited when it comes to yachts from this period, I introduced Paul to Robin Elliott. With Robin’s permission I have reproduced his note to Paul. It gives us a good insight into the difficulties in joining the dots. So woodys if after reading this and viewing the photo of ANITRA, you have a light bulb moment, please let us know.
ROBIN ELLIOTT
“We know very little about Anitra. (she looks like a really nice little yacht)
She turns up around 1943 and is entered in the E-Class of the 1944 Auckland anniversary Regatta by E.R. Harold. By the 1944 Regatta she is entered by A.J. Horton who also enters her in the 1946 Victory Regatta.
V.R. Knight is the registered owner from 1948 through to around 1952 or 53 when she disappears from record, possibly renamed.
Her entries in the Regatta programmes are the only record in print that I have seen (apart from the photos you sent to Waitemata Woodys)
It’s possible she was older than 1943 and we know her as something else but so many domestic events went unreported during WW2. Newsprint and space for pleasure pursuits was scarce so yacht races, new yachts, yacht sales and ownership changes went largely reported by word of mouth.”
AND MORE
“You need to find someone who actually laid hands on her. Our own researches are almost entirely reliant on a boat appearing in print media to fix it at a point in time. Word of mouth is frequently unreliable but in the absence of anything else …….. it can be a start.
The best person to talk to is/was probably your father.
Why did he buy it?, what did he know about it when he bought it? why did he sell it?, who did he sell it to? Get a name and begin ploughing through the phone book looking for connections and subsequent owners.
There is no print record of her after your father’s ownership so either she was taken offshore (possible) or was renamed (very possible) and we know her as something else.
Her registration number E-60 was never re-issued so it’s possible she was just cruised and never made into print anywhere. There are many ‘ghost’ boats out there that never raced, never registered and don’t do anything more dangerous than cruising.
In 1969 all sail numbers changed to a nationwide sequence. Anitra’s NZYF number would have been 460 but it was never allocated and stayed vacant, eventually being issued to a Canterbury double-ender, Taikoa in 1976.
Recently Bay of Islands woody Dean Wright had headed up the coast to Whangaroa Harbour and being a professional photographer by trade his camera was never far from hand. So today we get to enjoy more of the B.O.I.’s woody fleet at play.
The ex workboat looking craft has done a few laps, anyone know her name / history.
And of course the magnificent 1920 built LUANA………the best looking boat to come out of the MT Lane shed 🙂
BAY of ISLANDS CLASSIC WOODYS – KERIKERI INLET RAID
Last weekend a few of the B.O.I.’s classic launch skippers gathered for a cruise up the Kerikeri Inlet to raft up at the Stone Store for a catch up. The real reason was a session at the Plough & Feather waterfront pub.
One of the WW cub reporters – Grant Gibbs was aboard KORAWAI to record the event.
I note from the photos that a couple of ‘visitors from Hawkes Bay’ managed to tag along, but we will turn a blind eye to that.
I’ll comment more on the Bay of Islands woody scene in Mondays upcoming story.
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