Category Archives: Launches

Lanai

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LANAI

photos & details from trademe

LANAI was built by Lanes for Frank Pidgeon of the Ace Tyre Company in 1949. Frank was shifted from Christchurch to run their Auckland operation in the late 1920s and had a succession of great launches. Frank owned her until 1953 when Vic Bedford bought her. In 1965 R E Thomas and J S Menzies owned her. She was first registered with the APYMBA with a single 106hp Graymarine and with dimensions 32’6″x 31’6″x10’6″x2’9″.

She originally had 2 x 6 cyl. Graymarine petrol engines, but is now re-powered with 2 x 4 cyl. Leyland diesels.
She is  presently berthed in Tauranga, owned by a Mr Neil, previous owners include Owen Johnson, who had her for many years & kept her at Coromandel & sometimes at Ngatea, where he was a panel beater. Owen Johnson sold her to  Rotorua owner, who sold her to Mr Neil.

In her original form, there was no fly bridge & the coamings were a fairly light coloured varnish. Another great example of the Lane craftsmanship

12-09-2016 – Updated photos

Freelance

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FREELANCE
Photos & details from Nigel Drake (owner)
Freelance was designed and built in 1964 by Owen Woolley for Ken Williams, an Auckland builder (Nigel thinks from Papakura).
She lived on a mooring in the Clevedon river but spent the summers in Tutukaka where she was well known with the game fishing fraternity. In 1978 Ken built Freelance II, a 45 foot Salthouse design (now also in Tauranga) and sold Freelance to Richie Hoban of Tauranga. Richie owned her for 32 years until his death in 2010. During the 32 years the family owned her they spent nearly every summer on the boat in the Mercury Islands and Great Barrier.
In 2010 she was put up for sale and Nigel purchased her in 2011. After a major refit she now continues to live in the Tauranga Marina at Sulphur Point and cruises the northern coast during the summer.

as always click photos to enlarge

Rorqual 4-Sale

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RORQUAL 4-Sale

Rorqual was built c.1960 in Picton by Jack Morgan for the Perano family as a 39’3″ (12m) Tory Channel whaler chaser.  Completely rebuilt / converted in 1988 by then owner Tom Birsdall and boat builder Geoff Bagnall. She was also fitted with a completely rebuilt aluminum 380 HP 671 Detroit engine, that is fitted with a German turbocharger + the standard GM supercharger, all this pushes Rorqual along at a comfortable cruising speed of 14-16 knts. Top speed ? lets just say few CYA launches would beat her in a straight line.

Double diagonal kauri hull and sapele mahogany topsides with glass over ply decks and cabin tops, all recently painted. Hull and decks painted in 2013, cabin tops 2012.
Sleeps 7 but better with 4 🙂
Extensive upgrades & enhancements – check trademe listing for full details. http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/boats-marine/motorboats/auction-706043302.htm

The seller has had another mid-life crisis 🙂 e.g. the toy chain looks like this –   Jetski>Launch>Caravan > Campervan, so now the launch has to go – thence the owner is VERY open to discussions around how you could own a piece of NZ’s maritime history.

email chrism@pix.co.nz
ph 021 961 936

Lady Claire

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2014 West Park Marina
2014 West Park Marina

LADY CLAIRE

photos from Nathan Herbert & Papers Past, details from Harold Kidd & Jason Prew.

Lady Claire the 42′ bridge deck cruising launch was launched on 14th Oct. 1935. Built by Colin Wild at Stanley Bay for W.J. Reid of Herne Bay. Reid was Des Townson’s grandfather.

Lady Claire is currently owned by Bruce Carter. Colour photos at the marina.

 Harold Kidd Update

She was launched with a 160hp Lycoming but Stan Headland replaced that with a 105hp Kermath in 1952. G M Lagan owned her for a while around the 70s and Bruce Carter recently (still?). Lovely craft.
PS Wild used Lycomings around this time. WAIRIKI, the 39ft bridgedecker he built for L E MacQueen in October 1934 also had an 8 cylinder 160hp Lycoming, essentially the same engine as in the straight 8 Auburn car of the time.

04-07-2015 New Photo Below

Chris McMullen sent  the photo below in from his files. It was given to Chris by the late Des Townson. On the back is written  Lady Claire. 42ft OA Built by Colin Wild. For WJ Reid  1935. Who we know was Townson’s grandfather.
Chris once saw a photo of the same vessel on the wall of Des’s office. Hopefully someone has it still & a copy might surface on ww – a job for Bruce Tantrum maybe ?
Chris commented that when you look at both Lady Claire & Wirihana – one of the reasons for their good looks is the absence of safety rails forward.  These days health and safety concerns encourage safety rails which need to be one meter high as on commercial vessels to do much good, lower than that they can pitch you over the side. Wiihana is still ‘nude’ of rails but there are lots to hold on to on Wirihana.

Lady Clair (L) & Lady Eileen at Gulf Harbour May’14

Lady Clair (L) & Lady Eileen at Gulf Harbour May'14

Tasman / Little Tasman

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Tasman / Little Tasman (Mystery Launch 01/07)

Time for a little quiz – who can ID this launch.

The answer is Little Tasman

To quote Harold Kidd – it’s the first TASMAN, a 26 footer built by Colin Wild for Albert Spencer in December 1925.
She was later known as “Little Tasman” . In the photo she is honking along in 1927 with her Stearns bellowing.

An update on Little Tasman

CYA member Bruce Pullan (MV Ann Michelle) have sent me a later photo of Little Tasman, Bruce received this from the then owner when she was for sale a few years ago on trademe. She was at Kawau at time and not running. The owner advised that he was going to take it out of the water back at the mainland if it did not sell.
Bruce first came across Little Tasman on the Manukau during the 1970s (late he thinks) she was owned by Don Garner who was the Commodore of the Manukau Cruising Club at the time. The Manukau Cruising Club was still racing launches during the 1970s.

Here she is in Feb 2012 hauled out at Pt Wells. Photo by CYA member Mark Edmonds

Photo below from Ken Ricketts – Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island – Xmas 1948. Showing Little Tasman.

MANSION HOUS BAY CHRISTMAS CIRCA 1948

Romance II

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MAHURANGI 2006
R2 on the left
R2 on the right – March 1925
R2
R2 Rudder Cup Patio Bay Race 2010
R2 Rudder Cup / Passage Rock 2010

ROMANCE II

Romance II was built in 1919 by Bailey & Lowe. She is a rather quick old girl, always has been, as the older photos show. The colour photos were taken by Jason Prew at the 2006 Mahurangi Regatta, prior to her current owner Pauline Kidd purchasing her. Romance II had been on the Kidd’s bucket list for a very long time & has just been transported to Marco Scuderi’s yard (MSN Shipwrights) in Helensville for some extensive work that will see her returned to a style closely matching her ‘as launched’ configuration. It would be hard to find a project manager with a better eye & classic knowledge than Pauline’s husband Harold, so ww will be watching this project with great interest – rest assured there will be no fly bridge, solar panels etc 🙂

Rudder Cup photos (by Chris Miller) added

As always – you can enlarge any photo by clicking on it

28 Nov. 1929 photo added (ex Paperspast) below of Romance II being lowered into the water near Queens Wharf after being reconditioned (their words) at Mt Eden. Now you can see why she is so quick.

R2 relaunch Nov 1929 at Queens Wharf

Zoom Zoom
Walter Bailey designed her for 17 knots which she exceeded with her original 15/21hp (rated) Sterling. That was replaced with the biggest Stearns available, a 35hp (rated), in June 1923. Other, more pedestrian, engines followed including a 4 cylinder Ford diesel post-WW2 and, most recently, a 6 cylinder 150hp Hino marine diesel by Moon Engines, which is a truly superb installation. We can see just under 20 knots on the GPS at 3100 but she’s tricky to handle at that speed because she’s really riding on the prop and “sensitive”, shall I say. We’ve removed most modern junk including the gas bottle and stove and the sink bench but are jibbing at removing the toilet and the deep freeze. Simplicate and add lightness!
Dimensions:
Basically she’s Bailey & Lowe’s standard 35 footer but tweaked in the sections. Beam is 8ft , draught 2ft 6in, displacement 4.2 tons wet.

Update from HDK (24/08/2014) see comments section for previous posts

Progress is good. There have been interesting questions to resolve regarding the new dodger in our efforts to re-create her as she was launched in 1919. When you are dealing with three dimensional and aesthetic issues based on a handful of contemporary images it takes a lot of careful thinking and analysis (not to say compromise). Marco is highly sensitive to these issues, thank goodness, so our weekly brainstorming is fun and productive. We are now down to millimeter issues.
One correction however, the camber of the dodger top IS the same as the camber of the main cabin top. Anything else does look wrong and is not borne out by a careful examination of the early images nor by the fossil evidence in the boat. The shapes of the four forward facing windows gave an illusion of a higher camber, but it is an illusion.
Marco keeps his website up to date with images:
http://www.mcnshipwrights.com/romance-ii.html

 

Is This The Future?

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Is This The Future?

ESC. KEY

Esc.Key is a new solar electric riverboat recently launched by Denman Marine Australia.

The initial design brief was for a river launch that was similar in concept to the early 20th century Noosa River putt-putt boats which had a hard top to keep the harsh Queensland sun at bay.

The boat is constructed from strip plank western red cedar on celery top pine structural timbers. Fit out is Tasmanian blackwood and Huon pine. Decks and sole are laid teak. The hard top is 25mm core cell foam/western red cedar and celery top pine. She has a beautiful birds eye Huon pine table aft that lowers to form a day bed for those lazy afternoons.

She is powered by a Mastervolt Drive Master ultra 3.5kw 48V AC motor which pushes her along at a nice cruise speed of 4.5kts with max speed 6.5kts. She has a 450Ah 48V AGM battery bank which is fed by 1000 watts of thin film, high output Solbianflex solar panels on the hard top. At full charge, the boat is energy neutral at 4kts.

The engine was small enough to have it completely below the sole and the set allows you to cruise along with no noise/fumes or the smell of diesel, definitely the way of the future.

DESIGN SPECS

LOA (feet): 23′

0″
Beam (feet): 8′

4″
Type/Rig/Power: electric powered river launch
Home Port: Noosa, Queensland , Australia
Designer Name: David Payne/Imagineocean Yacht Design/Denman Marine
Builder Name: Denman Marine
Launching Date: February 18, 2014

 

An Impressive Line Up

Image

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An Impressive Line Up

An Impressive Line Up

the sender of the photo will be disclosed later, might give the game away.

Left to right – who can ID the 4 launches, #4 will be a challenge but if you get the other 3 then the 4th should ‘follow’.
Location is Katherine Bay.

Harold – for you to win you will have to name the dinghy as well 🙂

Seagull

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SEAGULL – a classic 4 Sale

A lot of people say your mad owning a classic boat, if thats true, owning two must make you certifiable.
CYA member Paul Burton is bucking the market trend that normally goes like this – Yacht > Launch > Camper Van > Die. Paul is going from a classic launch back to a classic yacht, well to be 100% correct a motorsailer.
The upside of Paul’s flip/flop is his rather nice 1953 ex Navy Launch ‘Seagull’ is for sale.
As you would expect from a vessel that has been in service, she was very well presented & an ideal classic for someone looking for an affordable (<$50k), easily handed, low maintenance, economical classic for exploring the Hauraki Gulf.
Powered by a 52hp Volvo Seagull runs on the smell of an oily rag e.g. $3-5 an hour.

Now unless you are Tony Stevenson, no one wants to own 2 classic boats so it would be an understatement to say that Paul is a motivated vendor. If you are interested, contact Paul to discuss the many options as to how you could own Seagull.

Viewing is available at Bayswater Marina until July 5th, then on the hard at Devonport Yacht Club.

Paul Burton 021 876 496 E: paulburton@hotmail.co.nz

A twist – the CYA member selling the classic yacht Paul is buying, is buying a classic launch, so its all a merry-go-round. Maybe I should be a broker? in fact I am……. now who do I send the invoice to 🙂

Lady Pat

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LADY PAT

Lady Pat (30’9”  x 9’ x 2’9”) was built by the Lane Motor Boat Company for Mr P Walker of Papatoetoe. She is pictured above undergoing her sea trials, where she achieved a top speed of 11 knots.
Harold Kidd advises that Lady Pat owned for many years in the 1960s and 1970s by H E Goldsboro of Meadowbank  and was powered with a Chrysler Crown. In 1973 she was owned by R. Parr of Church St, Devonport , a member of DYC, the best little yacht club in the world 🙂

Update 30/06/2014 – The 2 photos below were sent to me by Chris Manning & show Lady Pat at Mana Marina  in 2014, in fact I think as of now. Check out the chat in the Comments section – her current owner, Philip Simpson has questioned if the b/w photo is in fact the Lady Pat below – your thoughts – I think it is.

Lady Pat Mana Marina 2014
Lady Pat Mana Marina 2014