CYA Classic Sailing Regatta

CYA Classic Yacht Regatta
If your wanting to catch some classic yachting action, keep an eye out on the harbour this coming Friday, Saturday & Sunday. The NZ Classic Yacht Association is holding its annual 3 day classic sailing regatta, again sponsored by the Trillian Trust.
2016 sees a change in venue for the Race HQ with the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron now hosting the event. The fleet will be berthed in front of the RNZYS & the Viaduct providing a perfect opportunity for people to view the classics pre & post racing.
Info on race start times & courses etc available here http://classicyacht.org.nz/sailing/
All CYA members are invited to partake each day in the post race festivities, again check on-line for venue & times.

Photos from last years regatta view able here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/03/01/11432/

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Mystery Launch 29-02-2018

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Mystery Launch 29-02-2018
photo ex A. Turnball Library / Whites Aviation

Todays photo is dated 29 Jan 1950 & is from the 100th Anniversary Day Regatta. The ferry spectators are watching the 18 footer race.
Who can ID the launch in the forefront?

Classic Woodys Cruise To Riverhead Pub

Classic Woodys Cruise To Riverhead Pub

The NZ Classic Yacht Association (CYA) launch group have amazingly good fortune when it comes to the weather for their events. Saturday was just a day out of the bag – sun, mill pond sea state, cool boats & nice people. The trip was a first for me in that I did not take launch Raindance & instead traveled on Trinidad, Barbara & David Cooke’s magnificent 1965 Salthouse motor launch.

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On the trip up the harbour we passed 2 very cool steam boats – Puke & Zeltic out for a cruise & enjoying the day.

We do this trip 2 or 3 times a year & a few trips ago added a mid trip raft-up meet & greet to the agenda, its a great chance to say hi to everyone before we hit the pub. A little like the American concept of a  ‘rehearsal dinner’ the night before the wedding day 🙂 If you check out the raft-up photos, all the males are enjoying a coffee & the females have a glass of bubbles in hand – how did that happen.

We had 3 creek virgins making the trip for the first time – Florence Dawn, Lady Jane & Skipper CJ.

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Florence Dawn

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Lady Jane

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Skipper CJ

Interesting to witness the speed of the housing development in the Riverhead / upper harbour area – once all we saw was trees & paddocks, now its houses houses houses. Check out the photo of launches anchored Indian file – the land at the top was all pine trees 6>12 months ago.

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From the top – Skipper CJ, Florence Dawn, Arohanui, Lady Margaret, Monterey, Silens

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Arohanui

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Lunch at the hotel was more casual i.e. less organized than on previous visits & that was a good thing – in fact the food got a big tick from everyone.

 

The day was not without a few oops – two people enjoyed an unplanned swim, no damage other than bruised ego’s & a lesson that when on-board always have two points of contact 😉 My lips are sealed on names, photo below of the 1st oops, no photo for the 2nd – I was doing the Piha Rescue.

Publicans Paula & Stephen Pepperell came out to inspect Trinidad, given their history of wooden boat ownership / travels I suspect a classic could be on the shopping list.

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Paula Pepperell, David Cooke, Stephen Pepperell

Spotted this smart bridge-decker (Lady Thelma) anchored off Hobsonville Point.

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Lake Rotoiti Classic and Wooden Boat Parade – 2016 – 150+ photos

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Lake Rotoiti Classic and Wooden Boat Parade Weekend – 2016150+ photos

Get comfortable this ones a biggie, 150+ photos from the 2016 Lake Rotoiti Classic and Wooden Boat Parade weekend.

The inclement conditions (lots of H2O) on Saturday resulted in the parade being moved to Sunday, to most this was a positive as it gave everyone more time to socialize. We took the opportunity to mooch around the lake & visit a few lake-side properties. The transport for the day was rather special – 2 of the regular parade attendees, Cathy & Shawn Vennell and Pam & Tim Aurisch had bought their classic cars – a 1960 Dodge & 1956 Chev Bel Air, very impressive tow cars & a cool mode of transport.

So today’s post is a mix of classics – motorboats, day boats, speedboats, steamboats, yachts & cars – Its a visual attempt to give to you a taste of the weekend & showcase the vessels that make up the parade.
Special thanks to the LRC&WBP committee, especially Commodore Grant Cossey, past Commodore Fraser Wilson and the lass that makes it all happen Rachel Jamieson.

Due to another engagement we could not attend the post parade picnic.

Each boat carries a number, to find out more details on any vessel e.g. name, year, owner – refer to this link to a master listing. 2016ParadeEntrantDetails

Enjoy 🙂

Click photos to enlarge 😉

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Karere III

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KARERE III
details ex Bob Salthouse via Ken Ricketts. photos ex KR

Karere III was designed & built by Bob Salthouse in 1974 of 3 skins of Kauri (one full length & 2 on opposite diagonals) for Logan Colemore-Williams of the very well known  marine products manufacturer of that era, Sonata Laboratories.
Karere III was 53′ long originally & powered by 2 x model 3208  Caterpillar V8 naturally aspirated 210 hp diesels. The same engine was used in single engine installations in many of the Mark One 36′ Corsairs designed by Bob S. & built by Bobs company. Her hull was used as a ‘plug’ for several more boats of the same spec.

She was later lengthened by approximately 6′ to extend her at the stern to around 60′ long. This was done in Picton by Jim Cary, to design work done by & under the direct supervision of Bob Salthouse, whom they flew down to Picton to supervise the project. This is evidenced by the position of the propellers & rudders in photos above of her on the hardstand at Gulf Harbour on 4.2.16.

Bob reports that her speed was increased quite markedly by several knots with the addition of the extra length. Bob also commented that she spent quite a period of time in the Wellington region, but is  now back in Auckland. Kept at Bayswater marina I pass her every time I come & go, in the water she looks even more impressive.

Link to down load the Sea Spray article on her launch Karere III

2016 Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Parade – just back, hundreds of photos to sort thru – be sure to check in Tuesday – a very cool big post coming up.
I particularly like the photo below – two woodys having a chat in the rain. On the left Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Association Commodore Grant Cossey in his 1908  Collings & Bell launch ‘Elva’ & Russell Ward in the 1994 steam boat ‘Romany’.

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Classic Wooden Boating at Lake Rotoiti Today?

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Classic Wooden Boating at Lake Rotoiti Today

This is the view out the window this morning – nice Maserati & a nice wooden speed boat under cover but that’s about all – the event has been postponed till Sunday so looks like we’ll be off to the shops to buy a pack of cards & a few Pinots 🙂

The day improved weather wise & I got to check out a car that in my youth was top of the list – a 1956 Chev Belair 2 door, pillar- less coupe.

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JOCELYN
photos ex Alan Sexton & Alan H, details AS

Both Alan & myself spotted a rather striking launch last weekend at the 2016 Mahurangi Regatta – Jocelyn.
Alan commented that if he recalls correctly she was a Stevenson boat and used to be kept in a Hobson Bay boat shed in the winters, she still has the folding mast. Alan also thinks there was once a Sea Spray magazine feature on her, so woodys dig out the old back issues 😉

From her lines Alan & I would guess she could be a J Hacker (USA) design, built by Lanes & with Cat engines. Alan commented that when she came thru Stockyard Bay last Sunday night she sounded like she may well have been re-engined with a grunty pair.

What do we know about her?

Off to Lake Rotoiti today for the 2016 Classic & Wooden Boat Parade this Saturday (details below) – to use that old Australian saying “I’m as excited as a dog with two dicks” 🙂
http://www.woodenboatparade.co.nz/

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Lake Rotoiti Dinghy Day – Big Boys Toys Part 2

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Lake Rotoiti Dinghy Day – aka Big Boys Toys Part 2

The Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Association are a very active group & run some very cool events for the members. One of the best activities is the annual Dinghy Day which is a mix of serious – Seagull Outboard race & pure fun e.g. the ‘put you motor on something odd class’. There was even an entrant using the  fuel tanks off an old 1950’s airplane as their vessel & grandmothers couch from the 1960’s made an appearance.
Above are a few of the photos from the day, enjoy, they all did 🙂

http://www.woodenboatparade.co.nz/

Big Boys Toys

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Big Boys Toys

Auckland’s Anniversary Day Regatta attracts a huge fleet of vessels from sailing dinghies to tall ships & is one of the biggest one day sailing regattas in the world. One of the most popular events with the spectators is the Tug (work) Boat race. The race sees 20+ tugboats tearing around the  harbour in very close combat. The skippers are some of the best seaman on the harbour & they need to be with the almost ‘bumper-to-bumper’ racing.
This year was no different 🙂 in the photos above we see two of the Classic Yacht Association launch fleet, Ferro & Sterling almost dwarfed by modern day tugboats.

To view more of the tugboat action & more CYA classic boats competing – click this link  http://buggeritweareoff.com/

Now in the last photo above I bet the bloke on the helm of the yacht is asking himself – “what the hell am I doing here?” 🙂

Very Cool Video from the Race

Yesterdays Mahurangi Regatta post on WW broke all the records in terms of visitors & viewing numbers, over 14,000 in the first 24 hours. Thanks should go out to all the boat owners that make the effort to attend the event & spend all the time & effort prepping their pride & joy.

The classic of the regatta in my eyes would be Tasman, the 1927 Colin Wild launch. She is one of those boats that no matter what angle you look at her she is just perfect & a credit to owners D O’Callahan & A Tyler.

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Mahurangi Regatta Weekend 2016 – 130 photos

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Mahurangi Regatta Weekend 2016

There are many magic things about classic boats, one of them is their ability to attract great weather. Classic wooden boaties have  just had another stunning long weekend at Mahurangi. While the number of yachts racing in the regatta maybe by down on previous years, the number of boats in the harbour was amazing -& I would say that in terms of genuine wooden classics there were more motorboats than yachts in the harbour.
The below is not an attempt to capture ever classic there, it’s just a photo essay of the event. If I missed your boat, sorry, but access & time were not my friend. You’ll see lots of woodys, a little FG (pretty ones) & some photos to show you the mojo of the weekend. It has a motorboat slant, but that’s the way I hang 😉 The classic launch parade saw a record turn out of 21 classics.

Lastly, not all are 100% in focus & sometimes the sun was working against me but at the end of the day, its all about the boats.
Enjoy 🙂

ps remember to follow the St Ayles Skiff Raid over the next week – details here  http://nzcoastalrowing.org/

As always – click photos to enlarge

LAUNCH PARADE

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REGATTA

ST AYLES SKIFF RAID

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John Dory & Little Tawera
PRETTY BOATS

 

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R&R

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PRIZE GIVING (aka the Wairiki / Jason Prew show)

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