Category Archives: Sailing Sunday

Leisure Hour – Update

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LEISURE HOUR

I have been contacted by Don & Teresa Windley, the new owners of Leisure Hour. Teresa & Don purchased Leisure Hour from master boat restorer John Wright and sailed her from Westpark Marina Hobsonville to her new home at Mahurangi Marinas. Built some 82 years ago she is built strong and has strong standing rigging. Her little Arona diesel engine performed well and didn’t miss a beat on the trip. Don told me that they will continue with the good work John Wright started in keeping this lovely old sail boat in good sailing condition, 1st project being rewiring all the internal electrics. This winter a planned haul out will include masts out which need re-varnishing.

Don thanked WW for publishing Leisure Hours story a little while ago that included some of her history from Harold Kidd. The WW story and the trademe ad helped them to make the decision to purchase a classic they could manage to sail together, as they had been looking for some time. It is always nice to hear that WW is helping people discover the classic wooden boating movement.

You can see/read more about her here https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/12/24/classic-vintage-1936-ketch-leisure-hour/

09-01-2021 Update from Angus Rogers – photos below taken at Gt Barrier Island 2020-21 xmas/ny period

 

As a bonus today –  below is a link to a 30min video of the Melbourne based classic yacht Sayonara, in Sydney for News Eve 2001 , sent to me by Alan Good – enjoy it’s a cool look back at yachting 17 years ago.

 

 

Yachts at Kawau Island – Sailing Sunday – Win A WW T-Shirt

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Yachts at Kawau Island – Sailing Sunday – Win A WW T-Shirt

This Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island photo from the ‘NZ Car, Boats, >>> Utes Pre’75’ FB page shows a great collection of classic yachts (& a few launches).

I’ll put up a WW t-shirt to the woody that can ID the most yachts – given my launch angle – I’ll get a yachty to verify the answers. To stop copy-catting, entries ONLY via email to

waitematawoodys@gmail.com

LIPTON CUP RACE – SATURDAY – MARCH 17th

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The 97th Lipton Cup race is set to take place on the 17th of March. 22 miles of blood, sweat and tears is to be raced by the 22ft L Class ‘mullet boats’ to see who will triumph as the winner of the esteemed Lipton Cup trophy. This is a highlight of the yachting calendar and this year it appears there will be fierce competition with a number of the mullet boats performing exceptionally well in recent racing. With only 3 years to go until the 100th you can expect there to be a lot more competition and boats coming out of the wood work to compete in following years. Previous crew and owners are always welcome to come down and watch with the club open all day with food and refreshments (with a lift for the weathered yachties).

The days events are as follows:

7am – Hot cooked breakfast (Prebooked)

9am – Race briefing

11am – Race commences

3pm approx – Race finishes

6pm approx – Prize giving and after party

Watch Video footage from last years race here https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=LAZotynoqiA

 

Tusitala > Peri C6 SOS

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TUSITALA – PERI C6   SOS

I was recently contacted by Jason Prew in regard to the yacht Tusitala > Peri with an urgent call out for someone to rescue the craft from a potential death at the end of a chainsaw.

Normal story, no idea of a price, no photos……….. but woodys, sometimes we have to step in & help save these old girls, its not the yachts fault that her owner has decided to move on.

A quick call to Harold Kidd & I have the above photos. The owner is of the belief the she is a Logan but Harold commented that the protruding stem post is unlike any other Logan of the period but quite like some Baileys and Le Huquet’s early yachts. Harold also commented that her real claim to fame is that the hero of Chunuk Bair, Cyril Bassett VC 1914-1919, owned her before he bought Ladye Wilma.

The yacht is located in Tauranga & the owner Ken Anderson can be contacted on 027 425 5102.

If we cannot find someone to restore her, can someone with some undercover storage look after her?

Harold Kidd Input – PERI was built by Charles Robinson and her owner George Murphy at St Mary’s Bay in late 1897. The “Logan” attribution is an old wives’ tale. Robinson had built the little keel yacht MAHOE in 1894. Late he was building at Rotorua with Percy McIntosh. He built the 40ft launch ALOHA at St Mary’s Bay in 1926, probably at Sam Ford’s yard.

10-07-2018 Owner Update:

Tusi Tala/ Peri has been stored in my yard for the past 6 or so years.  The lease for the yard has been taken from me so she needs to go to another owner. She is at the stage of her life that a full restoration to her original splendour is needed, which is beyond me.
Should there be any interest by any WW readers they can contact me by phone on 027 425 5102.  Any reasonable offer will secure her.
14-08-2018   FINAL SOS NOTICE
Ken Anderson has advised that he has abandoned Tusi Tala in a yard at Mount Maunganui. Unfortunately he was left with no other choice. The yard is owned by a Hadyn Wall whose lawyer is Ged Fitzgerald, email: ged@fitzlaw.co.nz.
The vessel needs to be moved and is in danger of destruction. She is FREE to a good home, please note that the cradle is not on offer as it is owned by Tauranga Bridge Marina Travel Lift. Please contact Ged Fitzgerald if you or anyone you know are interested in saving her.

REVOCET – Sailing Sunday

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REVOCET – Sailing Sunday

Another classic from my travels down south & mooching around the Queen Charlotte Sounds,  I spotted Revocet berthed at the Waikawa Bay Marina.

A very smartly presented yacht – can anyone tells as about her ? I’m assuming she is wood 🙂

A Question From Mike Forth Relating to the Photo Below

“I have been emptying my father’s house and in the loft came across my grandfather’s photographic gear 1900- 1920’s, along with a number of glass slides and some framed photos.

One was of a regatta, which I am guessing would have been in the Solent or perhaps the Thames estuary. There was no description on the photo or frame and I would like to add one – for posterity.

I tried to identify the yachts using images online, and the closest I came was some 1925 yachts, however the line of the bow did not match. I would be delighted if your readers could shed some light.”

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Classic Land / Ice Yacht

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Classic Land / Ice Yacht

I was mooching abound facebook & came across a fb post that Nelson boatbuilder Peter Murton had ‘liked’. I just love everything about the photo & would so like to have a go sailing one of these.

The photo is from a fb post by Jeanette Horst, a very talent photographer from the Netherlands that residences in France – check her work out at the links below.

http://www.jeanettehorstphotography.com/portfolio

https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=jeanette+horst+photographer&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZ1anpvdTYAhXKGpQKHaTmBmEQsAQILg&biw=1062&bih=624

And if you need further proof I’m a wee bit of a woody nut, check out the Japanese wooden beer cup below, the beer really does taste better in it. Only downside, if you bought a set of 4 you would need to call the bank manager to arrange an over-draft 🙂  I bought one only.

KOTARE – Sailing Sunday

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KOTARE – Sailing Sunday 

I spotted Kotare (Maori = Kingfisher) last week on the grid at Rocky Bay, Waiheke Island. Her owner Don Fraser, was giving the bottom a scrub & a coat of anti-fouling. 

Don commented that the yacht had spent most of her life at Waiheke, excluding a few stints on the mainland.

 Don knows a little about her past owners e.g. she was owned & kept atRocky Bay in the 1970’s by retired merchant seaman Richard Powell.  However Don is very light on intel re her provenance – any woodys able to help Don out?

 

2015 CYA Classic Yacht Regatta – Sailing Sunday – Revisited

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2015 CYA Classic Yacht Regatta – Sailing Sunday

This weekend we have been enjoying the CYA Classic Yacht Regatta – a weather bomb meant the 2014 event was canceled so as they say ‘it did had been a long time between drinks’.
The event was moved to late Feb to give skippers a break between some of the other classic events & to also link in with the Volvo Round the World race festivities. As they say timing is everything & no one was watching the on-line race track more than Tony Stevenson – an early arrival might have meant we did not get to enjoy the swanky surrounding of the VIP hospitality area as our race HQ.
Friday was Race 1 & the fleet to quote most “experienced 4 seasons in one day” – but there was not a face without a smile on it as the boats returned to dockside.
Friday nights ‘de-brief’ & prize giving was a hoot & most walked away with booty.
Saturday normally sees 2 races held but huey had not got the message & after 4 1/2 hrs of floating around in the sun – the race committee pulled the pin & the crews retired to Race HQ. Just in time to witness some spectacular one day cricket on TV.

Fingers crossed today sees some more puff 🙂 If your at a loose end, get down to the Race HQ later today. Food & drinks available + the legendary prize-giving.

Dockside (post Race 1)

Race HQ

Saturday (Race 2 & 3 – sailing cancelled)

Ngatira – Innismara

Rawene

Ngatira

Jonquil
Corona
Riada
Moana
Gypsy – Dolphin of Leith – Wairiki
Wild Duck
Whistleblower
Aramoana – Rawene
Ranger
Innismara

Dolphin of Leith

No wind but stunning sunsets

Rawhiti – Revisited

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So far there have been over 2,000 classic wooden boat stories featured on waitematawoodys & the viewing numbers (3,300,000) have grown from a dozen people to over 80,000, I have had some loyalists from day one but the big numbers have happened in the last 2 years – so not everyone will have been exposed to all the stories. Over the Christmas / NY period I have decided to take a peek back in time & feature some of the gems from the early days. Enjoy.

Have a great holiday & remember to take the camera / phone with you & snap a photo of any woodys you see. Email them to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

 

Rawhiti – A Once In Your Life Time Opportunity
photos ex Classic Boat, Chris Miller, Alan H & owner

Firstly – a challenge – can anyone dispute that Rawhiti is New Zealand’s finest classic yacht afloat? From all angles she is simply beautiful, a true classic from the drawing board of Arch Logan & built by Logan Bros.
Rawhiti was completely rebuilt by Peter Brookes at Brookes Boatbuilders in 2011. For her owner Greg Lee, it was a pure labour of love, he extensively researched every aspect of the project & worked alongside Peter on a daily basis, the end result being a Logan that is better than launch day in October 1906 & thats pretty bold statement to make about a Logan.

Yachts like Rawhiti only come along once in a life time, to get the chance to buy one is even rarer. That opportunity now exists, to do that – to own this beautiful piece of New Zealand’s maritime heritage, a floating work of art.

So my 2nd challenge today is to all classic boating aficionados – gather your friends or business associates & form a syndicate, sell that bloody ugly Colin McCahn, sell a few shares, sub-divide that section – do what ever you have to do, to put the money together to acquire Rawhiti.

Interested? – read on

Without boring you with details, Rawhiti’s owner is serious about selling her & now via another business transaction has the opportunity to offer Rawhiti for sale to the right owner for a fractional of the restoration cost i.e. in the $400k range.
The time window in which the business transaction is available is short and therefore there is a limit to how long Rawhiti will be marketed in this price range. If you are interested in discussing the sale, please initially, contact the owner Greg Lee on the email address below.
For anyone with an interest in acquiring Rawhiti who is unsure what they might be doing with her in the short term (but wishing to secure the opportunity to acquire her now), her owner has had provisional discussions with Peter Brookes about storing her under cover at his yard at favourable rates.

Owner email contact:       greg-lee@xtra.co.nz

Update 29-09-2019 Below is a  sneak peek at Rawhiti when she was in Australia – the photo appeared in the Sept 1925 edition of the ‘Australian Motor Boating and Yachting Monthly. Sent in by Andrew Christie.

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Classic vintage 1936 ketch – Leisure Hour

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Classic vintage 1936 ketch – Leisure Hour

The above 32’ x 9’ beam ketch is named Leisure Hour & was reportedly built by Jimmy Reid in 1936 in his family yard at Sulphur Beach Road Birkenhead, close to the Auckland Harbour Bridge location.

The Reid family being reputable boat builder of vessels in early 1900 in Mechanics Bay area Auckland, had two sons who produced sail and power vessel for notable New Zealanders of that era.

Leisure Hour has been on the harbour for approx. 81 years and is in need of a tender loving owner to take on as a project vessel to keep Auckland boating history alive.

She has had work completed with a tidy up and new paint. Her engine is a two-cylinder Arona diesel, with mechanical transmission and shaft drive.

The current owner on trademe says he has one too many boats and is motivated to sell – so with an asking price of $19,500 Leisure could a perfect entry into the classic wooden boating world J

 

 

Telstar – Sailing Sunday

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TELSTAR – SAILING SUNDAY

I was recently contacted by Drew Thompson, who is trying to track down details on his grandfathers yacht – Telstar. Telstar was designed and built the grandfather, Ivan Vitali, in 1970 from solid kauri, then glassed over. She was based on an Alan Buchanan bermudan sloop and was 33’ 6” in length.

Ivan registered Telstar with NZ Yachting so he could race and was given the sail number 1263. NZ Yachting told Drew the name was changed to Goldline – Drew tracked that lead but the owner (Murray Smith) said the yacht was never called Goldline, but Kishmul.

The history that Drew is aware of it that she was sold in 1974 when Ivan died to Chris Smith (who owns Moana at Devonport YC) who sailed her around the world before selling her in 1985. Chris believes she ran around in Noumea around 1989, but was recovered and brought back to Westhaven and repaired and that’s where the trail goes cold. Any info, insights that we can give Drew, would be much appreciated

Drew commented that the photos, from the 1970’s are not good. The writing on one picture is from Drew’s 90-year-old uncle, Lolly Vitali – the picture has been on his wall about 40 years 🙂

 

10-10-2023 UPDATE ex Drew Thompson – Telstar is still sailing and still extremely well looked after (photos below) by the now-former Commodore of the Dar es Salaam yacht club, Mark Hart. Mark and I converse regularly – and I’d even planned a trip to sail her on her 50th birthday but Covid stepped in. We caught up via skype on the day – December 16th, 2021 to celebrate. Mark has since mounted a photograph of my grandfather and Telstar designer/builder, Ivan Vitali, below deck. I hope to one get there one day to sail her myself.