Category Archives: Sailing Sunday

Sunquest – Sailing Sunday

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SUNQUEST – Sailing Sunday

Last week I was contacted by Phil Vining re the 2nd Feb WW story ‘Wellington Woodys’ in it the lead photo showed several launches on the hard at Evans Bay, Wellington. In the background was a motorsailer that John “twodogs’ commented was either – Sunquest or another built to that Alden design. Phil confirmed it was indeed Sunquest and dived into the WW archives – and found nothing, so felt maybe it was time there was – I’ll let Phil tell the story 🙂
“Sunquest is a beautiful motorsailer that is much admired in this area. She was built by Wally Steer in Nelson and launched in 1959. I remember our family joining others on a Vining & Scott Christmas outing to Kaiteriteri with Wally during the early 1960’s – probably my first outing on a keeler out on the open sea. In those days she was a real looker with light blue hull and the proud timber rope work around the stern painted in a gold colour…still a great looking motorsailer with lovely Alden lines. A shame there were not more built in NZ to this design as they would have been very popular I think. After Wally sold her she went to Mana .. not sure of the various owners but hopefully someone will fill in the gaps and provide some history on this lovely vessel. 
After checking through the archives in the Vining Marine Office Phil came up with a listing from 2009 when they sold her for Paul Robinson to John Mansell. The 2020 listing is from when John listed her (refer below) .. he went on to sell her and now owns the well known Auckland yacht Trojan Eagle. You will see from the listings that she originally had wheel steering inside & out .. the outer wheel was removed at some stage.”

Phil commented that it would be great if someone can add a photo of Sunquest in her early days with light blue hull and gold scrolling around the stern – evidently she really was a picture.

Phil mentioned that there is probably a good WW story around Wally Steer as well. Phil believes he built Sunquest at his home at Monaco, Nelson. After selling her he built a 60-70’ Herreshoff ketch which he called Sunquest II. This was another magnificent timber yacht and Phil had the pleasure of sailing on her with a subsequent owner. Following Sunquest II he had Malcolm Dickson design and build Sunquest III which Phil saw in Westhaven last year – Wally also put a lot into this build as well. A remarkable man. Fingers crossed Phil is motivated to write the Wally Steer story 😉
The photos above are supplied by the Vinings Office (as always click photos to enlarge)

Can Anyone ID The Designer Of This Kauri Yacht

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DOES ANYONE RECOGNISE THE DESIGN OF THIS KAURI YACHT

WW was recently contacted by Roger Young regarding a yacht he had acquired.
The previous owner and probably the builder is deceased, and Roger is hoping that we may recognize the design.

He found the yacht on a lawn alongside the house of the former owner.
His name is A. E. Tinnock and Roger is reasonably confident that he was the builder.
It has been very well crafted from kauri, strip planked with glass over.

She has a very weighty centre keel with a ballast block of lead. It measures approximately 25cm X  25cm X approx. 2 metres.

Olwen – Sailing Sunday

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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 🙂

Valezina – Ready To Sail Away This Christmas

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VALEZINA – Christmas Afloat For $34,500

The owners of Valezina acquired her as a 2020 post lock-down project and sent 6 mths full time restoring the yacht to a better than new standard.
Valezina is a 1939 Colin Wild design, known as the ‘Val Class’, most of the sister ships sported ‘Val’ names e.g. Valkyrie, Valderon and Valhalla. She was built in 1957 at the Salthouse yard in Bayswater, Auckland.

At 27’ she comfortably fits into the big little category – everything about her – looks, volume, sailing performance says Valezina is a serious classic yacht from one of the best combinations (Wild / Salthouse) we had. And she is built of gold – double skinned kauri, carvel planked.For when the wind is absent, a 10hp Yanmar inboard is there to help out.

Of course she is for sale, you will have worked that out by now 🙂 her owners are now oversea reconnecting with another of their passions. So the instructions are – sell the yacht.

In addition to the shiny stuff (sanding, painting and varnishing) Valezina is the recipient of – new mast & boom etc. / all new standing & running rigging / new tracks, blocks & winches  / new electrical including batteries and lighting / new safety gear / new plumbing including head and holding tank / new galley / new Raymarine auto heim and a lot more.And as an added bonus – her Westhaven marina may be available to rent.


To learn more about Valezina’s  – email waitematawoodys@gmail.com
Below is a selection of photos from her early days + details on the Val Class and some interesting event entry paperwork. Click on the blue link at the bottom to view.

Hobson Bay dinghy lockers 1959
Skipper looking into sun
History Of ValezinaDownload

Schooner Dance Party

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SCHOONER DANCE PARTY

Our friends at Off Center Harbor captured some of the magic of Maine’s incredible schooner fleet as they finish their season with a final gathering to enjoy food, music, and a chance to sail in company. 
Make yourself a cup of something hot, head to your favourite chair and enjoy 5 minutes of Brooklin’s finest eye candy (turn your sound on).

Next week we will be telling you about a cool offer from the OCH team, the perfect Xmas treat to yourself or if you’re brave your partner 🙂

WAITEMATAWOODY CREW GEAR – sent a large chunk of yesterday packing up waitematawoodys crew gear orders – so keep an eye on the letterbox this week. Still have some stock, but low on the popular sizes. Order at this link  https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/11/11/58095/

Very Cool Row Boat – I get asked to help re-home a lot of woody items – the 20’ kauri row boat, possibly built in the 1890’s in Nelson (photos below) was one recent item – very pleased to say that the owner has confirmed she is now in safe hands. If I had had the space, it would have been in my hands 🙂 

Two Ends Of The Ownership Cycle

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Two Ends Of The Ownership Cycle

Back in December 2020, B.O.I. woody Dean Wright, sent in a few photos taken when he was mooching around the Te Puna and Kerikeri Inlet area.The top photo is a very salty looking and well cared for yawl rigged yacht, no name. The black cat looks fake – seagull detergent?

The yacht in bottom photo – possibly named – Sinope and shows her home port as Mangonui, has her hand up for some serious TLC. Lets hope her owner used lock-down to bringer back.

SV Britannia

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SV BRITANNIA

Todays woody is the 38’ gaff cutter Britannia, built in 1898 she has been owned by the same family for 110 years. The video is hosted by Anne Davis who talks us thru how she fell for Britannia and become the 4th generation proud owner.Its a great watch – enjoy 🙂

ANYONE KNOW SOMEONE THAT LAYS / FITS BOAT CARPET – I have the carpet and a template of sorts (1st photo below)– so probably need to check measurements > cut & edge trim.The grey ‘carpet’ (top) was what came with the boat 15 yrs ago, fitted perfectly but looked like it should be in a Haines Hunter. I fitted other carpet (2nd photo below) but have never been happy with the job. So help (paid) wanted. Drop me a line  waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Woody Hydroplane

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WOODY HYDROPLANE

Today’s photo is a kosher woody – built from kauri planks, she measures 16’x7’, flat bottomed, and powered by a 4 cyl. Cirrus-Hermes aero petrol engine. She had a top speed of 45mph, consuming 4 gallons per hour. I suspect after one hour you would have been deaf for the rest of the day. And woodys – she was built by one of our boating building royalty – none other than – Percy Vos. (photo ex Andrew Donovan collection)


SEA SPRAY MAGAZINE – Volume 1 – No.1 December 1945

I was ‘flicking’ thru my much treasured copy of the above (thank you Dave Giddens) and my eye stopped on page 23, titled ‘Jottings Of The Month’ which talked about the decommissioning of Auckland’s yachting fleet that had been laid up during WWII.

Page reproduced below – mentioned are – Ariki, Tawera, Little Jim, Rainbow, Tamatea,Ranger, Iorangi, Ngatoa, Prise, Rawene and Aramoana.
Also covered in the article is the sad loss of life of the skipper (W. E. Lawrence) of the 1913, Les Coulthard built 22′ launch – Minx. Lawrence drowned in Patiki Bay, Waiheke Island trying to retrieve Minx’s tender that had come adrift while at anchor. See & read more on Minx here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/06/27/minx/

A Couple Of Woodys Needing ID’ing

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A Couple Of Woodys Needing ID’ing

Now in the photo above we see on the right a launch that one would have to assume is the 1933 Arnold Couldrey designed and built launch – Eileen Patricia. I bounced the photo of Peter Mence, ER’s custodian and he is in agreement. The question of the day – what’s the yacht under tow? Peters guess was the yacht be by Teddy, that wa Slater wrecked off/on Kawau Island.

See WW story below, note there is a mismatch of dates, but we get that with old stories. Enlargements of the two vessels below + a link to Peter and Jennis stunning restoration of Eileen Patricia. (photos ex Andrew Donovan collection)
https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/04/26/the-wreck-of-teddy-sailing-sunday/

https://waitematawoodys.com/2019/05/20/the-launching-of-eileen-patrica-1933-classic-motor-boat-50-photos/

Rahiri L16

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RAHIRI L16

Today’s photos of the Mullet Boat L16 were sent to me by Cheryl Hill who was having a lock-down tidy-up and came across a collection of sailing photos that belonged to her father Ian Hill. Cheryl doesn’t know whether the yacht was a family boat or just one that one of her Dad’s mates owned.

The top photo was tagged – ‘Tiri Passage Easter’ and may have been 1947.

Jason Prew pointed me in the direction of the Ponsonby Cruising Club’s 2000>2001 Year Book, which had a ‘Mullet Boat Register’ at the back and the sail # L16 is alongside the 22′ Mullet Boat named – Rahiri. So we have confirmation Rahiri was still on the scene in the early 2000’s.

Can any of the Muttet Boat crowd enlighten Cheryl as to Rahiri’s past and present where-abouts ?