Category Archives: Yachts

HIGH PERFORMANCE AFFORDABLE CLASSIC SAILING 

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HIGH PERFORMANCE AFFORDABLE CLASSIC SAILING 

Very rarely woodys will you see the above words together, but today they perfectly described the classic 29’ yacht – AOTEAROA.

Let me explain – Affordable # because the asking price is only $14,750 and that includes the trailer, which is probably worth more than the yacht #  no marina fees, keep at home or in low cost out-of-water storage

High Performance – # the Dragon classic yacht is a pure racing thoroughbred with the added bonus of drop dead good looks thanks to her sleek, graceful lines and its generous overhangs. # Her powerful rig delivers supreme on-the-water performance.

Classic Sailing – # built in 1967 AOTEAROA is registered with the NZ Classic Yacht fleet and regularly outperforms many larger classic keelers of a similar era, regardless of their size.

AOTEAROA IS COMPLETE AND READY TO BE SAILING THIS SUMMER HOLIDAYS – Treat yourself or the family this Christmas.  Whist it would be nice to see AOTEAROA back on the Waitemata Harbour she would be a very cool sight on Lake Taupo.

For a copy of the maintenance history, race results and inventory – contact Tim Hooson on 021 623 225 or via email thooson@outlook.co.nz

1930’S CLASSICS HAULED OUT AT JUDGES BAY 

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1930’S CLASSICS HAULED OUT AT JUDGES BAY 

Todays photo pooped up on the time spanner fb and originated from the the Auckland heritage collection.

The caption reads – “Yachts on the shoreline at Judges Bay. Some of the known boats include: Royal Saxton, Royal Falcon, Lady Thelma and Kenya. The rigs have been removed so they could have got under Tamaki Drive to reach Judges Bay”. 1930’s NZ Herald image.

BOAT FIRE ON THE HAURAKI GULF – CAN WE ID THE VESSEL

News reports confirm a launch caught fire near Browns Island yesterday. Both crew on board we rescued.

Can anyone ID the vessel. It appears to be wooden.

CAN WE HELP IDENTIFY THIS RUMPTY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH

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CAN WE HELP IDENTIFY THIS RUMPTY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH

WW was contacted recently by Guilford Bonehill regard todays wooden launch. The vessel is owned by a friend of Guilford’s and has been resting in their yard for 10+ years.

The owner believes it previously came from the Cleveland area, and the Wairoa River.  Although there is no name on the launch, they think it was named PRINCESS ALOHA and built a century ago.

The understatement in Guilford’s note was ‘the condition of the launch is not good’.

Any help in identifying the launch and her past would be most appreciated.

26-11-2025 INPUT EX GUILFORD BONEHILL -Laurie Webster (deceased) had the boat in Pukekohe and for the last 8 years up high n dry near a wool shed in Te Kohanga

CHAD THOMPSON TRIBUTE SPRING RALLY

Yesterday was the start of the CYA – CTT Spring Rally (year 3) Photos below of the start line – entrants were down 50% on last year…………  Reminds me of the Albert Einstein quote: Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results.

CLASSIC WOODEN BOATS IN PICTON HARBOUR

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CLASSIC WOODEN BOATS IN PICTON HARBOUR

Several months ago todays woody photo popped up on Lew Redwoods fb feed and I filed it away and for got about it 😦

Fast forward to yesterday and I was dong a file search on the word PICTON and up popped the image.

Aside from being a rather good b/w photo – the interesting thing tome is the number of smallish classic wooden launches moored.

Its a long shot but anyone able to dare the photo and possibly ID any craft.

And while on the subject to old images, I was reading a copy of the NZ Classic Yacht Association –  Oct 1996 newsletter. Even though it was called ’The New Zealand Classic Yacht Quarterly’ the handle bar moustached sailors back then hadn’t swallowed the Kool-aid and were happy using generic terms like OLD BOAT 🙂

2025 KAWAU ISLAND SPRING SPLASH REGATTA – A WOODY WEEKEND TO REMEMBER – 50+ PHOTOS

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THERE IS A WOODY HIDING IN THERE – SEE BELOW ⬇️
RAINDANCE
KAIKOURA
CENTAURUS
CALLISTO
HGARUNUI
MARIHI
ST CLAIR
TAREE
MEOLA
RONAKI
VOLANTO
KIWARUA
MOANALUA
TUNA

2025 KAWAU ISLAND SPRING SPLASH REGATTA – A WOODY WEEKEND TO REMEMBER – 50+ PHOTOS

Pleased to report that the long weekend’s woody action at Kawau Island was an absolute triumph. Now in its second year, the Spring Splash Regatta — a joint venture between the Kawau Boating Club, Ponsonby Cruising Club, and Waitematawoodys — continues to grow in both size and spirit.

It’s still early days for what’s shaping up to be a great annual tradition, but this year’s event had an unmistakably upbeat, jaunty vibe. Everywhere you looked, people were smiling, swapping yarns, and clearly having a great time afloat and ashore.

I’ll apologise up front for being light on the yacht racing and prize-giving coverage — for reasons I won’t bore you with — but rest assured, the competition and camaraderie were both in full swing.

Sunday’s Woodys Classic Parade was the visual highlight of the weekend, showcasing a handsome flotilla of 17 classic launches for all those anchored in Bon Accord Harbour and watching from waterfront properties. Aside from a brief 10-minute burst of H₂O at the start, the weather came right and the parade looked spectacular.

A big thank you to the classic skippers and crews who took part — your efforts made for a great show.

Helming a boat among moored craft while trying to take photos is a fine line between “challenging” and “slightly reckless,” so I’m especially grateful to Dean Watchlin, Murray Deeble and Richard Bicknell for sharing their superb photos from the weekend.

Enjoy today’s gallery — loosely divided into two parts: the weekend’s happenings and the Sunday Parade. Sorry if the cameras missed your boat – some joined the parade midway and some departed midway. The crew of KAIKOURA below, correctly attired for the occasion 🙂

CAN WE ID THIS1930’s SAILING CRAFT AGROUND AT SULPUR BEACH – The Portland

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CAN WE ID THIS1930’s SAILING CRAFT AGROUND AT SULPUR BEACH – The Portland

Today’s woody photo comes to us from Owen Aspden. All we know for certain is the location — Sulphur Beach, Northcote, Auckland — and the era, circa 1930s.

The yacht appears to be deliberately ‘on the hard’, likely for a bit of maintenance or perhaps loading or unloading stores. But what’s her name — and can anyone identify her?

A short and sweet post today — I’m busy doing a little boat maintenance of my own.

20-10-2025 INPUT ex TOM ROWLING – The vessel is ‘The Portland’. Tom did his boys time in her in 1959. She is now lying derelick in Owaka River South Otago.
The the first picture below is her entering Port Motueka 1959, and the second one is taken at Awanui probably about 1920. In the third photo we see the vessel as of recent times.

WOODEN CLASSICS TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT THE 2025 WHANGAREI MARITIME FESTIVAL – 60+ photos & videos

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WOODEN CLASSICS TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT THE 2025 WHANGAREI MARITIME FESTIVAL

Early Saturday morning I pointed the car north and arrived in Whangārei just in time to catch the soft early light — perfect for photography and well before the dockside crowds arrived.

Whangārei’s Town Basin really is the ideal setting for a maritime festival — easy dock access, great viewing angles, and plenty of nearby cafés and attractions. Add in the buzz of the Saturday markets and you’ve got all the ingredients for a standout event.

Wooden boat numbers were a little down on last year, but a few visiting commercial vessels — including Customs, Pilot boats, fishing craft and a pair of Waka — helped round out the fleet. From a public point of view, it was still an impressive line-up. Given the number of classic boats that have migrated north in recent years, it would be great to see more of the region’s wooden heritage on display next time around.

It was great to catch up with so many familiar faces — clearly the new highway was busy with Aucklanders heading north for the weekend.

All up, a thoroughly enjoyable day. Hopefully today’s photo gallery will inspire a few more of you to make the trip in 2026.

And there is always a few foody pix – hands down the best two seafood fritters ever – one mussel and the star – one whitebait. And a free KOWHAI coffee because she liked my WW t-shirt.

FYI – when I’m at an event I point the camera at what catches my eye , sometimes I miss a few boats but I like to think the photos are more like someone strolling the docks rather than someone trying to capture the whole caboodle 🙂

REFLECTIONS ON THE 2025 PORT TOWNSEND WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL – 80+ Photos / Videos

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REFLECTIONS ON THE 2025 PORT TOWNSEND WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL – 80+ Photos / Videos

One of the bucket list classic wooden boating events is the annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival. From all reports the 2025 event was outstanding. While its easy to go on-line and find a link to a professional overview, in my eye there is something special about viewing a festival attendees collection of boats – sure the light or camera angle isn’t alway perfect but you get a raw edge, which appeals.

Today thanks to kiwi John Oates we get to share what appealed to John’s eye.

One of the festival features that sets it apart from a lot of events is the ability to go aboard the boats and talk to the owners. There is something for everyone – food & drink, live music, kids activities, movie screening and lots of opportunities to get on the water.

One of this years ket themes was tagged –  ‘A Gathering of Maritime Legends: Celebrating Shipwrights’. The festival brought together shipwrights from some of the world’s most iconic maritime institutions—craftspeople who keep the art of wooden boatbuilding alive with skill, heart, and tradition.Via  a mix of talks, presentations and hands on gatherings where the public were able to rub up against the legends.

Enjoy the gallery – I did. As always click on photos to enlarge ;-

Ps John has promised another photo report featuring more classic sail boats ✔️

Pps where did that Morris Minor Ute come from ?

TRADITIONAL CLASSIC BOATS MOORED ON THE WAIROA RIVER 

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TRADITIONAL CLASSIC BOATS MOORED ON THE WAIROA RIVER 

Following on from yesterday’s story on the annual Classic Wooden Boat Cruise to the Clevedon Cruising Club, as promised today we share the wooden craft passed moored on the Wairoa River.

Many are semi permanent residents and its interesting to see what (if any) work has been undertaken in the previous 12 months.  All too often these back waters can become parking lots for owners that object to lining the back pockets of the Auckland marina owner fat cats.  So it was nice to see most skippers are keeping up the maintenance on their craft, and pleasing to see a lot of ’new’ arrivals. 

Enjoy the gallery – photo quality varies as the first click was at 6.30am and the light improved as the journey progressed up river. As always click on photos to enlarge.

CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT CLEVEDON SPRING CRUISE HIGHLIGHTS

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Very Early Start Up The River
Follow The Leader
Raffle Prizes

CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT CLEVEDON SPRING CRUISE HIGHLIGHTS

A tad weary writing this story so it will be short and I’ll let the photos tell the story.The weekend just gone saw a fleet of classic wooden craft making the pilgrimage to the CLEVEDON CRUISING CLUB for the annual woodys overnight BBQ.

As always the tide wags the dogs tail so we were looking at a very early trip up the Wairoa River, by early try 6.15am. The smart woody skippers travelled down Friday afternoon and anchored overnight at the river mouth. A great sunset delivered some nice photos.

I took photos of the classic woodys moored on route, it is always interesting to view the deterioration of some craft and the new arrivals. Will do a story on the river trip tomorrow.

Most of Saturday was spent boat hoping and catching up on dockside gossip. Rest assured if you weren’t there you were talked about.Captain Giddens hosted late afternoon drinks on ALLERGY and then we moved onto the clubrooms for the evening.

If you haven’t been to a Woody gig at the CCC its an all-embracing old school night shindig – bbq’s, outdoor fires, karaoke with a professional singer that could make even the worst shower singer sound ok. There are raffles, which I have to report the woodys skippers did very well at – Captain Giddens collecting 4 prizes.
Everything is BYO but the club very generously provide additional food and an impressive dessert table.

Departure home on Sunday was almost as early as Saturday and the forecast wasn’t flash eh N>30 knots. I can’t speak for the others but it wasn’t the very pleasant and if it wasn’t bolted down it ended up on the cabin floor 😦

A big shout out to the classic yachts that joined the flotilla this year, with access to the local knowledge of Barry Abel, the deeper draft yachts had an uneventful  passage on the river . Special thanks to all the woodys that attended by car, your company added to the evening.

Enjoy the photos and start thinking about the Spring Splash At Kawau Island on Labour Weekend.