Category Archives: Yachts

Vanora

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VANORA
I was recently contacted by Doug Howard concerning the vessel – Vanora. Doug came across the above photo (ex MA Jenny) recently of Vanora, it was taken in Nelson probably earlier 1900’s.
Searching on-line, Doug discovered on WW a mention of Vanora in a Harold Kidd Rudder Cup Regatta 1908 article, it stated “The big Vanora was sold by Lindsay Cooke to Maurice O’Connor of the Thistle Hotel in 1912. He fitted a 30hp Auckland-built Twigg engine and sold her to the Government in late 1913. We do not know her subsequent fate.” 
Doug was wondering if anything has been found since – anyone able to help?
Harold Kidd input –  Logan Bros built HURIA in 1899 for Capt Mercer of Nelson. She was 45ft x 10ft x 4ft6in, schooner rigged and fitted with a 2 cylinder Daimler petrol engine. Mercer used her for passenger and freight service in the Sounds. M A Jenny bought her in Nelson in 1905, changed her name to VANORA and had her extensively refitted as a motor-yacht, fitting a 3 cylinder 30hp Gardner petrol engine in Wellington. This is the form she is shown in the image above.
Jenny sold her to Lindsay Cooke in 1906 and she came to Auckland. Cooke entered her in that famous Rudder Cup Ocean Race around Sail Rock in 1908. In 1909 he sold her to Maurice O’Connor of the Thistle Hotel who fitted a 3 cylinder Twigg engine.
O’Connnor sold her to the Government in late 1913 and she was used to transport goods during the 1913 waterfront strike. In 1914 she was overhauled by Bailey & Lowe and used to do works on outlying islands, based at Tauranga, skippered by Capt. Nordlinger.
VANORA then disappears.
But did she morph into Tim’s NAOMI? Jenny had several NAOMIs built by Bailey, the last one, a 38 footer, going from Wellington to Tauranga in 1927 where Mowlem used her for game-fishing but there’s no connection I know of between the boats apart from the name and the Jenny connection.
In my view HURIA = VANORA = Tim’s NAOMI. In that case Tim should enter his boat in the upcoming Rudder Cup race as the Logan VANORA, repeating her entry of 110 years ago.

Restoration of the 1936 X-Class dinghy Huia – X22

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Restoration of the 1936 X-Class dinghy Huia – X22

 
I have been contacted by Charles Pope who has begun work on the restoration of Huia. Charles is aiming to have the boat on the water in January at the Mahurangi regatta.
Huia has impeccable pedigree having won the Sanders Cup in 1939.
I have reproduced what Charles knows below. Charles is hoping to fill in the missing information between her Sanders Cup success in 1939 and the recent history I got from her previous owner, Rex, who sailed her at Mahurangi around 1998.That’s nearly 60 years missing
 

The photos above show her on the water in Torbay after Charles tightened up her planks and gave her a paint job. 

 
Any woodys able to help Charles out? I’m a little concerned use of the words – epoxy & glass fibre……………….
 
“Last year I spotted an old 1936 classic wooden boat for sale. Her name was Huia and she was one of the original X-Class dinghies that were sailed by very competitive teams vying for the Sanders Cup in the 1930’s. Huia and her Canterbury crew won the cup in 1939. 
 
Now she was on a rotting and rusting trailer, not under cover, damage from rain water and rotting leaves and badly in need of TLC. She needed someone with more passion than sense to save her from the landfill and that’s where I came in. I took her home, fixed her trailer and began the journey to get her back on the water. 
 
First I had to learn about clinker (or lapstrake) boat construction and I procured copper nails and roves and suitable pieces of kauri timber to match her original construction. After months of working every weekend I was ready to launch her on the local beach. It only took a couple of hours sailing her for me to see that Huia was a beautiful boat. Stable and forgiving, well balanced and stately in appearance – despite sails that had seen better days and gushing leaks between the planks that kept the bailing bucket busy, she was worth spending more time and money on to get her into top shape for a new life. 

I decided to bite the bullet and apply modern technology to give the old girl a new life. West Systems epoxy and glass fibre cloth will seal and protect the old kauri planks and some rigid framing will strengthen the structure so the epoxy won’t crack.”
And as a bonus, below, a mystery yacht, ex Ross Griffin’s post on Historic BOL photos page
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Input from Robin Elliott

“The Canterbury Huia was built by R. Tredennick in 1932, probably off moulds by Fred Dobby. She did little of note until Trdennick sold her around 1936 to R. Hendry and, with Fred Tissiman as skipper she won the 1939 Sander Cup at Bluff.

After 1939 she was sold to Bill Poole of Akaroa and he still owned her in 1947 racing with the Akaroa Sailing Club. My Canterbury contacts seem to recall that she was converted to a runabout.

However …. way up in Northland in 1952 an X-class boat named Huia owned by K. Bradley from Dargaville appeared at Paihia to race in the Northland Sanders Cup Trials. She was quite good and raced in Whangarei and at the northern regional regattas for the next 2-3 years. I have not seen any photos to see if she carried a sail number. Many regional yacht owners bought sails but never bothered registering.
Sea Spray Oct 1953, in mentioning the 1953 Northland trials, made a note that “Huia from Dargaville will be worth watching.”

At the Whangarei Cruising Club the X-class Huia won the Wilkinson Shield in 1953 and 1954.

Interestingly enough. The ex-Auckland yacht Tuoma (built for Bob Greenwell in 1946) in April 1952 was owned by R. Long of Taumarere, was racing at the Northland Inter-Port Yachting regatta up at Paihia.

Her sail number was X-22. She vanished soon after that 1952 regatta.

Perhaps Mr. Bradley of Dargaville got hold of Tuoma’s sails? OR… perhaps he bought Tuoma and renamed her Huia?”

Mansion House Bay – Kawau Island 1950 + Ida is coming home

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Mansion House 1950

Mansion House Bay – Kawau Island 1950 + Ida is coming home
I was sent the above photo by Iain Forsyth who obtained it from an old sailing mate named Ron Thickpenny. Ron restored the Fairmile Seandra, ex Hopper Brothers.
In the photo you can see a HDML along side the wharf.
Can we have a go at ID’ing the fleet in the bay?
IDA To Return To NZ
During the week Harold Kidd reported on WW that John Street and Wayne Olsen have just returned from Sydney, & John has bought IDA, the 1895 C & W Baileys built 65’ yacht & is shipping her back for restoration. She has been based in Sydney for a very long time. Once back in NZ & restored by Wayne Olsen she will give the CYA A-Class fleet a big fright 🙂
The photo was supplied by Kim Watts, who purchased the original 1912 signed Winkelman print 25 years ago.
There are more photos & details on her past owners at the WW link below
To quote Harold – “The man’s (John S) blood is worth bottling!
WW IDA Link    https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/05/15/ida-sailing-sunday-more/
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New John Brooke book – So that’s the Fathers Day present sorted

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FATHERS DAY (Sept 2nd) ALL SORTED FOR YOU

Its not often that I start to read a boating book & then stop a couple of pages in & put the book away. This happened to me during the week, Robert Brooke had just dropped off some copies, hot off the press, of the Brooke families book on their father, John (Jack) Brooke. Its tiled ‘memories – ROADS OF DESTINY – John Brooke’ & woodys its a cracker – full of amusing tales , photos & illustrations from John’s life (sample below).
Way did I stop reading it? Because its just so good, I want to be able to spend a day reading it on the boat, in a bay somewhere with no distractions.
Grad a copy from Boatbooks in Westhaven (they do on-line > postal orders), RRP is $45, a bargain. Be quick it will sell out.
I have a copy to give away – to make it fair to those that do not wake at 3am in the morning – the winner will be decided by a draw from all correct entries received by 6pm Friday 3rd August 2018. Entry via email only to waitematawoodys@gmail.com.

Now the question –   what was Jack Brooke awarded an O.B.E. for in 1948?

Sorry for the standard of the images above, taken on my mobile ph not camera & in poor light 😉
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Mystery Devonport Yacht

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1800s Devonport

Mystery Devonport Yacht

The caption on this photo ex Keith Humphreys states its dated c.1800, not sure if that is correct, but I am sure one of the woodys will be able to tell us the name of the yacht.
The location is Devonport, Auckland.
The Story of Tally Ho
On the other side of the world, a truely amazing project is underway by a very young boatbuilder named Leo Sampson Goolden to restore the 1910, Albert Strange built Pilot Cutter, Tally Ho – check out the link below & view the video posts – remember to start at #1. Special thanks to woody Denis O’Callahan (MV Tasman) for the heads up on the story. If you are anything like me you will be lost for several hours 🙂

Teal – Sailing Sunday

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TEAL

My Westpark Marina spotter John Wicks sent in the photos above of Teal, the 1948, 38’ Lidgard Bros yacht on the hard ready for launching.

John commented “she was small and pretty spartan inside, and that, coupled with a very long and large cockpit marks her out as primarily a day sailer. The rudder is almost certainly a modification as from the configuration of her keel the original rudder was hung at the aft end of it in the old way. Even though the stern doesn’t really match with the bow, she’s quite an elegant thing, and with a tall fractional rig, deep draught and fairly narrow beam, I’d bet on her going like the proverbial cut cat”

So I do a little google search & it turns out she is one of Tony Stevenson’s yachts & in the Tino Rawa Trust fleet. The YDL van in the photos suggests Teal may have been promoted from the ‘warehouse’ to the boat yard for the final touches 😉

The photos below (ex TRT > CYA forum) show her at the start of the project back in 2013.

Harold Kidd advised that she was built for William Goodfellow and L.H. Clarke and launched 22/12/1948. Original registration was A5 but later relegated to B6. Her specs are – 38’9″x 30′ x 7’4″ x5’8″. Later owners include Sir Keith Park, Mark Williams, T.L. Elliott.

Looks like the CYA B division could be in for a shake up this coming season 🙂

 

Input from Robin Elliott – 

The 2007 NZYF register had her as a Cox design. today they have hedged their bets and call her a ‘Lidgard/Cox’ design. Not sure where the Cox design info would have come from. I record her designer as “J. Lidgard” but once again, I have no idea where I got that from. She could well be a modified Cox design.

Good old Sir Keith Park, the Hero of the Battle of Britain owned her 1957/58, possibly up to 1959

Devonport Waterfront Woodys

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Devonport Waterfront Woodys

Lurking around the ‘Devonport Locals facebook’ page the other day I came across these stunning b/w photos of Torpedo Bay on the eastern end of the waterfront, beneath North Head.
The top one is captioned 1893 residences of M. Murchie, Tailor, Garrybrook and Jeffery. Keen to ID the yachts hauled out, talk about VIP parking.
The 2nd photo shows a wide view of the bay, possibly 1925. These days a sea wall & numerous breakwaters have returned sand to the foreshore.
Correction – they transported sand from else where, the breakwaters have retained the sand, seem to recall the local tribe getting a little prickly about the sand coming from another area……………..

Input ex Harold Kidd

Malcolm Murchie’s (a tailor) house was “Lochiel” early address just “Beach Road, Devonport” later 59, then 60 King Edward Parade or just King’s Parade. I have been through the Directories looking for yachtsmen who may have parked their boats in front but failed to link any. My (highly tentative) guesses are (from left) Capt Parker’s rowing cutter VOLUNTEER which was used by the Naval Volunteers at Devonport, later with an engine, an early 2.5 rater GLORIANA? ROGUE? and LULU, the double-ender. Robin Elliott should chime in now.

PS I suppose the lkeel yacht could be the Jeffrey brothers’ KESTREL, but she wasn’t launched until December 1893 and they lived at Maraetai. However it is likely that she was kept in Torpedo Bay as she came ashore there in a blow in 1897 and Arch Buchanan (who lived a few doors to the left) looked after her. Come to think of it the boat could well have been one of Arch’s Logan-built boats, at this era the 5 rater ARIEL or slightly later the 5 rater YVONNE.

PPS Not ARIEL

The right hand yacht is MERRY DUCHESS and the date is nearer 1900.

 

Looking for a pulpit rail for your classic yacht?
I don’t normally do ‘bits for sale’ –  but the owner of the piece of bronze below – Andy Winter is a good guy & has helped a lot of woody owners out. So here goes – 1x bronze tube pulpit rail off Andy’s old Spencer Salient.  He is open to offers – details below:
Andy Winter c/o The Engine Room (9) 480 2248 or email: andy@theengineroom.co.nz
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The story of Jim Greenaway – A Rather Productive Kiwi Boatbuilder

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The story of Jim Greenaway – A Rather Productive Kiwi Boatbuilder

I was sent the profile of Jim Greenaway by his son Rob, who penned it. I recommend you read it, it’s a great read.
How I came to be sent the story is classic WW,  Rob was mooching around the web & found an old article I had done on the CYA forum (in the days b4 WW) on a launch named Korawai & Rob tracked me down.
Tomorrows WW story is on the launch. There will be some great photos dating back to the mid >late 1970’s, make sure you check it out.

Mystery Woodys at Kawau Island

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Mystery Woodys at Kawau Island

The caption on the above Tudor Collins photo, ex Auckland Museum (via Lew Redwood fb) states that the photo is dated 1936 & possibly / probably Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island.
Interested in ID’ing the closest launch to the shore. At first glance I thought Tasman, then Rehia but the shape & number of portholes is all wrong – what say the Woodys?
The dark hulled vessel behind, could be one of the early pilot boats – Ferro?
And any clever yachties able to ID the small yachts – mullet boats?
Input from Robin Elliott

NOT Mullet boats but 18-foot V-class. See endless posts and publications over the last 20 years (puts hobby horse back in stable)

From what I can make of the name on her transom, the light coloured hull looks to be Vaalele, V-78, built by Charlie Hardman to a Ralph Goodwin design in 1936.She was one of the four Auckland 18-footers that travelled to Sydney for the first World’s 18-footer championship in 1938. Charlie Hardman kept Vaalele until 1939 when he sold her to S.H. Bailey.

The darker boat is a bit later and looks to be quite new. She’s marconi rigged and could possibly be another Charlie Hardman / Ralph Goodwin boat, Vindex, V-35 built in 1939. Marconi rigs were not common in the V-class but by 1939 the more competitive yachtsmen were moving away from gaff.

From other photos I have seen, she was painted a dark colour, either black or royal blue and was marconi rigged. Vindex was laid up in 1940 and In 1944 he sold Vindex to Keith Atkinson who was working at Lidgards with Hardman.

If this is the case then that would date the photo to the summer of 1939/40, with the two Hardman boats cruising in company, and also explain the patriotic display of the Union Jack from the wharf,

15-07-2018 Update from Steve Pople (current owner)

Steve sent me the 2 b/w photos below (ex NZ Herald) of RF as launched – what a stunner, just about perfect from any angle. Steve confirmed Ken Rickets comments re being lengthened (by 6′). RF is currently in the very capable hands of Dave Patterson of Leader Boats in Pakuranga undergoing a total refit. I will updated the restoration story with new photos.

Royal Falcon 1934 Martin boat 1

Royal Falcon 1934 martin boat 2

Mystery Launch 12-07-2018

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Mystery Launch 12-07-2018

Lots of stick & rag in the above photo, ex Lew Redwood fb, its dated Jan. 1948 & the caption reads ‘Trans Tasman Race’.
What interests me today is the name of the launch in the foreground of the photo – looks familiar with that unusual shaped, raised wheel house. Looks slightly automobile in design.
Who can ID her?