Category Archives: 32′>34′

Mahurangi Regatta 2022 – 150+ Classic Wooden Boat Photos

Posted on by
9

MAHURANGI REGATTA 2022 – 150+ CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT PHOTOS

2022 will be remembered as the no frills regatta – no small boats, no beach activity, no beach party (band, bbq’s), no prize giving – but woodys it still rocked. Great turn out of both launches and yachts, and the weather gods delivered a breeze that provided some of the best racing we have seen in a long time.

I was told by someone that should know – that the budget for previous regatta’s is knocking on the door of $50,000 – maybe CV-19 has been a relativity check and maybe – less is more 🙂

I’m told Peter Brookes has Rawhiti in the groove, she is smoking the rest of the fleet – well done skipper and the grey haired crew 😉 for taking out the A division + Little Jim backing up last years Logan Trophy win with another win.

Tomorrow we will have a look at Mondays launch drag race for the quicks – conditions were below average on the inner harbour – correction, bad everywhere, I had the 2nd worst passage back from Kawau yesterday – 4.5 hours of my life I’ll never get back 🙂 . If I ever see the prick in a very large Riviera that went past me at full chat less than 50m away in the Rangi Channel and almost rolled me – he will get a bottle of Thai Fish Sauce in his air-con intake. 

No real story today, just a photo gallery from the weekend – sit back and enjoy. Remember click photos to enlarge. No photos from the Scotts Landing casual gathering – no need for a record ;-).

Special thanks to Murray Deeble and Glen Keeper for sending in photos 🙂

Update 02-02-22 Mahurangi weekend photo gallery below sent in by Graeme Finch

In Case You Are Hiding At Home, Wearing 2 Masks And Wondering What You’re Missing This Weekend – Check Out the 2019 Mahurangi Regatta

Posted on by
10

MAHURANGI REGATTA  2019 – The biggest & best classic wooden boat regatta in NZ – 90+ photos

FRIDAY NIGHT

p1040788

SATURDAY – REGATTA DAY

p1040795

p1040798

p1040803

p1040839

p1040867

p1040869

p1040872

p1040899

p1040916

p1040940

p1040949

p1040965

SATURDAY NIGHT AT SCOTTS LANDING

p1040987

p1040989

p1040990

p1040988

SUNDAY MORNING

p1040994

MAHURANGI REGATTA  2019 – The biggest & best classic wooden boat regatta in NZ – 90+ photos

WoW what a woody weekend – simply stunning on all fronts –  sun > wind > location > people & of course the boats. On my estimate, the biggest turnout of classic wooden craft ever. Record numbers for Saturday mornings launch parade.
I’ll go out on a limb & repeat a comment made to me on the deck of Lidgard House, Kawau Island on Sunday night by one of our most prominent & influential classic wooden boat people – “Mahurangi is the real Auckland Anniversary Weekend Regatta” & after cruising back into Auckland today, & not seeing a lot of yachts, I would have to agree.
On Saturday between Jason Prew on My Girl & myself with Raindance we hosted three of the wooden boating world’s superstars – if you read or follow the WoodenBoat magazine, Classic Boat & the hottest property on the block – the vblog, https://www.offcenterharbor.com
then the names Maynard Bray, Benjamin Mendlowitz & Steve Stone will be very familiar to you. These gents were motored around the harbour & very selectively photographed / filmed our beautiful woodys. When I mentioned that I had cancelled my trip to next months Hobart Wooden Boat Festival, one commented “why would you go – it’s all here” & woodys – it was.
I have never attempted to understand the ‘politics’ / issues between the Mahurangi Cruising Club & The Friends of Mahurangi people – but between them they turn on a wonderful day, that equals anything on the world classic wooden boat calendar. As with anything, a few wee niggles e.g. crap PA sound system at the beach prize giving meant most people didn’t know the results – but I can tell you that Tony Blake & the crew on Thelma gave all the other A division skippers as master class in regatta sailing. It was wonderful to see the big 5 Arch Logan yachts – Thelma (1897), Rainbow (1898), Ariki (1904), Rawhiti (1905) & Rawene (1908) all on the same race track together, for the first time ever (I think I’m right – Harold?) The results were:
Thelma, followed by Rawhiti, followed by Ariki, then Rainbow & Rawene.
As a result of playing driver for the overseas crew – I’m a little light on sailing photos, but you can see from the gallery above that it was a special day.
Well done MCC and F. of M. for another magic weekend.
If anyone else had the camera out & captured some goodies, email them to   waitematawoodys@gmail.com
We bailed out of Mahurangi on Sunday morning & headed to Kawau Island for some family R&R – photos below.
Question – what do you do when there is no shotgun to signal sunset & the lowering of the burgee? – well a few lads decided to bang some pots together, then drop the flags at Lidgard House – me thinks there might be a letter in the mail to certain members 🙂
_1050003
A WEE BIT OF PR GOING ON HERE – WW T’s & OFF CENTER HARBOUR CAPS 🙂
THERE ALWAYS HAS TO BE A FOOD SHOT – KAWAU BOATING LUB, DINNER SUNDAY NIGHT.
img_0612

Check out the video below of Rawhiti – sent in from Benjamin Mendlowitz from Off Center Harbour

http://offcenterharbor.com

Update – due to not all launches completing 2 laps of the launch parade – I missed photographing a few boats – photos below ex Justine Ricketts (edited by myself)

AND MORE – link below to the Off Center Harbour video of the 2017 regatta, featuring Steve Horsley’s stunning 1904 Chas Bailey Jnr – Ngatira

New Zealand’s Mahurangi Regatta – Featuring Chas Bailey’s NGATIRA

UPDATE ex Graeme Finch of the A Class fleet racing Saturday + one of Raindance showing myself & Steve Stone from Off Center Harbour filming / clicking away 🙂

As always – click photos to enlarge 😉

rd @ mr2019

Also from Graeme – one of Bruce Tantrum’s pride & joy – Paramour + Graemes stunning ship – Te Arahi 🙂

dsc_0139

dsc_0034

UPDATE – An early Saturday morning drone fly-by over Sullivans Bay, Mahurangi. Filmed by Neil Lawton, heads up on the movie from Ian Gavin.

30-01-2019 Update – photos of Laughing Lady ex Jason Prew

Update 11-02-2019 photos below ex Angus Rogers.

IMG_0153

IMG_0123

Who Built Lady Sam

Posted on by
Reply

Who Built Lady Sam
Back in September 2015 the 32’ launch – Lady Sam made an appearance on WW, at the time we were not able to shed much light on her past. When on tme once it was stated that she was a 1925 Collings and Bell build, but Harold Kidd pointed out that not under that name and obviously the ‘bridge-deck’ was a newer addition.

The problem with these mid>late 1920’s – early 1930, thirty’ish foot launches, is the almost every boatyard in Auckland was popping them out at a great tempo, my own boat being one of them. HDK told me once, but I have forgotten the numbers but from memory it was over 1,000. They were the Toyota Utes of the Hauraki Gulf.

Fast forward to January 2018 and Marianne Booen commented on WW that she had purchased Lady Sam in Sept 2017 and was intending to commence work on the launch.
Then woodys in August 2021 the launch made a cameo appearance on Romilly Brickell’s fb, commenting that LS was hauled out at the hard stand in Coromandel town.

So the question today is, after 6+ years are we in better shape to confirm the provenance of Lady Sam? Photo below afloat is c.2015
Link below to 2015 WW story https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/09/25/lady-sam/

Arahi – Update

Posted on by
1

ARAHI – Update

The 34’ ex workboat Arahi last appeared on WW back in May 2020, link below. Now thanks to tme we get to have a better look at her. Arahi started life in 1940 as a survey boat for the Auckland Harbour Board,finishes up c.mid 1970’s. We know she spent time at Great Barrier Island. After a refit in Auckland she was transported to the Wanganui River in 2019, where she still resides but is looking for a new owner.

A very sweet wee ship and topped off with a 4 cylinder Gardner (4LW) diesel engine, that sips approx. 4L an hour.
There must be a buyer out there for such a salty classic vessel.

Link to 2020 WW story. https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/05/27/arahi-2/

Heading north today on a delivery – to Russell, hopefully I’ll snap a few photos on-route.

ROGUE – Whats 15 Years When You’re 130 Years Old

Posted on by
4
STEPPING THE MAST

ROGUE – Whats 15 Years When You’re 130 Years Old

Rather a special afternoon yesterday, got to have a sneak peek at Rogue, the 1892 Chas Bailey Jnr. built gaffer. She slipped out of Wayne Olsen’s shed and headed to the Pier 21 yard at Westhaven, with the intention being to step the mast and do a quick waterline sighting before hauling out for the final coats of paint and commissioning. 

As seems to always be the case with woodys – things took a little longer than expected and she missed her launch slot – that will now be today. Rogue was last in the water 15 years ago and is without equal in terms of the total restoration – every object aboard Rogue is 100% fit for purpose and of the highest spec. As an admirer of attention to detail I was blown away. The day was about stepping back and seeing her outside of the shed after all those years, we will be back to showcase the finished project.

Enjoy the gallery – its not often we see pieces of art of this size. As always click on the photos to enlarge.
View and read more on the project here –      https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/09/07/the-restoration-of-rogue/

This link to the yachts blog page will stun you – pour a coffee, find a comfortable chair and click then keep scrolling down  https://rogue1892.com/rogues-restoration/

And just because you’re 130 years old doesn’t mean you can not have a few toys – check out the wind vane below, solar powered, wireless connection to your iPhone 🙂

18-03-2022 UPDATE – On 15-03-22 Rogue was popped back in the water with 750kgs more ballast added. Floating perfectly to her lines – owner very happy. A few last chores and she will be out there chasing down a few of the A-Class fleet 🙂

The Endless Summer

Posted on by
6
Tasman
Tasman & Viveen
Viveen
Waiari
Juanita
Pacific

Peter Loughlin Photos Below

Lady Margaret

The Endless Summer 

I know I’m tempting fate with the headline, but who can remember when it last rained? Todays gallery of woodys comes to us from the camera of Nathan Herbert (Pacific) as he mooched around the Hauraki Gulf last week. The last 5, are from Peter Loughlin (Lady Margaret -CW) doing the same thing.

We see Tasman, Viveen, Pacific, Arihi, Escape, Chandos, Zoe, Motunau, Waiari, Juanita, Pacific, Lady Margaret (CW), Rehia, Ngaro and a few that I can’t put a name to.

A question – did Colin Wild ever design / build an ugly boat? 

It was a pretty wild and woolly weekend in some parts of the north and reviewing the news and photos, Tutukaka took the brunt of it – sad to see the carnage. Angus Rogers sent in the photo below from Russell last night – tagged ‘After the Wind’ showing the Russell ferry and the launch Miss Brett, bottom right closer in.

Olwen – Sailing Sunday

Posted on by
4

OLWEN – Sailing Sunday

The above yacht caught my eye recently on Lew Redwood’s fb. Olwen was designed by Claude Smith and built in 1960 by Smiths Boat Yard in Whangarei. At 33’ there is a lot of usable cabin and cockpit space, very few yacht designers manage to include good sized windows and retain a classic look.In the photo she looks like some TLC is overdue, but with those ‘good bones’ I’m sure Olwen will get the attention she deserves.

Do we know any more about Olwen?

Input ex Robin Elliott – Olwen won line honours in her first race, Dec 3 1960 in the Onerahi YC 100 mile Moko Hinau Ocean Race from a fleet of 13. Conditions were tough with a strong SE wind and gusts up to 35 knots, and set a new course record of 15 hours 15 minutes.

A HEADS UP – THE ADMINISTRATOR CONTROLLING THE WHANGTEAU TRADITIONAL BOATING CLUB facebook page HAS DECIDED THAT LINKS TO waitematawoody STORIES ARE NOT SUITABLE CONTENT. SO WW STORIES AND EVEN MYSELF ARE BARRED. This means that if you have linked a WTBC fb post to an existing WW story to provide more details on a vessel, your link has been deleted. Very narrow minded and introverted thinking – and clearly a low understanding of how social media communities co-exist and facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, and interests through virtual networks. I would have thought ‘holding hands’ with a site that has just passed 7,500,000 views would have been a good thing for WTBC. Never mind, we will find new friends to play with 🙂

King Orry

Posted on by
2

KING ORRY

For a plastic boat to appear on WW it has to be a tad special – the f/glass replica Logan33 launch – King Orry falls into that special category. In the past I have featured several of these boats and commented that they we years ahead of the trend and if still made today, there would be a ready market for them. They just tick so many boxes and also cater to the old salts that need to move on from their yacht, but still want a degree of stick and rag in their boating life.

There are a lot of ‘woody’ features on King Orry e.g. bronze fittings, timber bow rail, crafted t&g kauri interior, kauri mast with steadying sail etc. Like most of these launches the forward motion comes from a 40hp Lombardini engine, mounted very far forward, the drive shaft is almost as long as the boat. She has a cruising speed of 6-7 knots and tops out at 9 knots.Big (for her size) tanks (both water and fuel are 250L) give her a serious cruising range, I believe she sips 2L an hour.

A Pot-Pourri Of Woodys

Posted on by
3
Viveen @ Te Komua 
Raira @ Te Kouma
Tamure
Altair
Olive Rose @ Waiheke Island
Alma G @ Russel Wharf 

A Pot-Pourri Of Woodys

Today’s collection of classic launches come to use from a collective of woodys photographers that are cruising the Hauraki Gulf and outer waters – thanks to Angus Rogers, Murray Deeble, Colin Pawson and Lindsay McMorran.

And if you need a reminder of the cleverness of Chris McMullen, check out the link below to the story of his Herreshoff steam launch – just updated with shed photos post her ‘pretend’ (waterline check) launching.  https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/04/26/chris-mcmullens-herreshoff-steam-launch-2/

Pescador – In The Late 1980’s

Posted on by
2

PESCADOR – In The Late 1980’s

At the start of the month, we got a glimpse of the 1968 John Lidgard designed and built launch – Pescador. WW link below to that story. At the time I was contacted by Phil Vining with the promise of more details on the boat.  https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/12/01/pescador-a-southern-woody/ True to his word, Phil contacted me yesterday – I’ll let Phil tell the story:

“The WW story about ‘Pascador’ – A Southern Woody certainly brought back some fond memories for our family. I have also noticed Pascador in the
Motueka Marina looking very smart and well looked after – she is a real credit to her current owner. The last time I visited the area I also took a photo of her to show my father who owned her back in the early 1980’s. I have good memories of taking my very young family out cruising on her in the Sounds at the time. Not long after dad sold her she went to Havelock and was lengthened by the next owner to create a bigger cockpit. At this time I owned Vining Shipbrokers Ltd and we had her listed, probably late 1980’s.
Early this week I visited the Vinings Office and owner Ian Michel has done a great job of keeping the records from back in my early days. He has digitized all the old typed up listings so good to find a listing for Pescador in the system. As you can see, she was a quality design & build by John Lidgard back in 1968 … the good thing is she looks in better shape now than back then.”

TOMORROW ON WW – THE NZ CLASSIC WOODEN BOATING MOVEMENT – WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?