Category Archives: Yachts

A Woody Quizz

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A Woody Quizz

Ok woodys who can ID the above photo – looking for location, boat names & approx. date, a little hint – think Jim Young 😉

And of the subject of Jim Young, the man himself will be at The Ponsonby Cruising Club, Logan Lounge, this Friday night November 13th. to meet and chat with people from 6.30 on. Jim will then give a short talk at 8pm.
Jim’s book ‘Jim Young – designer, boatbuilder, sailor’ is a cracker, starting off with his early sailing and boatbuilding career as an apprentice to Roy Lidgard, working on minesweepers during the Second World War and then the challenges and dramas of starting out in business on his own at the age of about 25, building wooden boats in a small shed in Little Shoal Bay in Birkenhead. Signed copies of the book will be available for sale on the night. The perfect xmas present to yourself 🙂

I understand the PCC kitchen will have meals available and of course the bar will be open.

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The Sail ‘v’ Power Relationship

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The Sail ‘v’ Power Relationship

In a ww post back in August 2013, I (tongue in cheek) stated that I had found photographic evidence of the exact day & event when the relationship between power & sail soured– 29 January 1953, Auckland Anniversary Regatta. View photo & story here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/08/01/yachts-versus-motor-boats/

Well folks I got it wrong, it was much earlier than that – it was early December 1930. In the above photo ex Peter Loughlin’s (current owner) facebook page, we see Lady Margaret (1928 Colin Wild), described in the NZ Herald, 11th Dec 1930, article as a fast cruising launch ‘passing’ some of the M-Class sailing fleet. Passing was a rather polite term for ‘going thru at full chat’ 🙂

For the train spotters Maratea is in the lead (& won) followed by Mercer?? & Manu

Thankfully most classic motorboat owners are a wee bit more considerate these days, can not say the say about the average Riviera owner & a remarkable number are flying a RNZYS burgee 😦

Lorna – Sailing Sunday

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LORNA – Sailing Sunday
photo ex Brian Peet, details by Harold Kidd

Brian sent Harold the wonderful photo above of Tom Townson’s yacht Lorna which Tom owned in 1929/30. Brian was seeking confirmation on the location of the photo. Brian commented that he  assumed the photo was probably taken in the mid reaches of Auckland Harbour – probably around where Westhaven is now located.
Harold commented that the big building in the background has to be the Farmers Trading Co. building, later remodelled, but with the right number of windows.
The yacht has to be in the vicinity of Beaumont Street but that he could not figure out the orientation and the position of that reef which, logically, should be the Westhaven Breakwater at a high tide. What was not helping things was that he could not see the Destructor on Fanshawe Street nor the Gasworks and could not figure out which was Beaumont Street which logically should be directly ahead of Lorna.

Lorna was built by Dale Spencer as Alarm in December 1920 for himself. Sadly Dale Spencer drowned with his 8 year old son when the 26ft mullet boat Celox went to the bottom between Motuihe and Waiheke in March 1921, only a few weeks later. The probable  main cause of the sinking was that she was racing under kite which had to be sheeted to weather in those days, a recipe for disaster in a big mullet boat. History on Celox & the sinking here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/02/01/celox-sos/

NEWS FLASH
Further evidence that launches are the new hot item in the classic boating world – the British Classic Yacht Club has voted to allow motorboats at its next annual regatta – Panerai British Classic Week at Cowes, in July 2016

http://www.britishclassicyachtclub.org

Early St Marys Bay

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Early St Marys Bay
photo ex Ron Wattam

The above photo was found in two pieces in a collection of old Collings & Bell photos, Ron joined the pieces up & with a little photoshop work we have today’s image.. Given the source of the photo we could assume that the location is St. Marys Bay / what is now the Westhaven area.

Can anyone confirm the location & any luck ID’ing the vessels?

Input from Barry Davis

This is St Marys Bay before St Marys Bay Road was extended down to the foreshore sometime in the 1930’s? Until then the steps to the right were the public access to the beach. The building to the far left looks like the old Ponsonby Cruising Club headquarters. With the road being extended down to the foreshore the club rooms were moved forward and onto piles with another level added.

Riverhead Hotel Classic Cruise

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Riverhead Hotel Classic Cruise
photos by Alan Houghton & Hamish Ross

Yesterday was a special day – the AB’s did what we all had been hoping they would – won the rugby world cup. After a very early start, up at 4.00am , 1/2hr after the whistle blew we were slipping the lines & heading off on a CYA launch cruise to the Riverhead hotel. A combination of the rugby & the Auckland Marathon (blocking waterfront streets) saw only a small number of classics making the trip up the  river but a good number traveled by car for the brunch gathering.
As always a great trip.

Some stunning photos over here http://buggeritweareoff.com/2015/11/02/classic-boat-day-out-to-riverhead/

Waikato Woodys – Sailing Sunday #1

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P Class yachts, Karapiro Lake, 1949
Easter Regatta, Hamilton Lake, 1949a
Easter Regatta, Hamilton Lake, 1949b
​Idlle Along “Judith” Hamilton Lake c.1949
Idle Along race, Hamilton
Idle Along H2 ‘Judith’ at Huntly?

WAIKATO WOODYS – SAILING SUNDAYS#1
photos & details ex Judith Wallath

Judith has just finished reading Jimmy Gilpin’s book “Winners are Grinners” and was amused to discover that her last year in P Class on Hamilton Lake coincided with his first year (although he was from Tauranga). The Cambridge Boating Club held a Regatta in 1949 to celebrate the completion of Karapiro Dam and the formation of the Lake. The first photo above was taken by Waikato Times/Herald photographer, Mr Fred Louden. Judith is on the right hand end (H11) and Jimmy Gilpin (T23) is at the left end.
Judith says the only remarkable thing she did that day was to break her yacht’s centre board during the capsize race in front of the crowd of spectators. It was her first (and last) attempt at a capsize race 🙂

The 2nd & 3rd photos are from the Hamilton Yacht Club inaugural Easter Regatta in 1949 and Jimmy G was there, well towards the front.  Jimmy and Judith are both in the P Class line-up at the lake edge before the race. Incidentally, the water tower, pictured, had a piece of roofing iron wrapped around it for years.  A memento of the 1949 Frankton tornado.

The 4th, 5th & 6th photos are of the  Idle Along H2 ‘Judith’ that belonged to Judith’s brother Brian. She was built by Brian and their father in the back yard, with encouragement from retired Hamilton builder Harold Martin an enthusiastic yachtsman. Mr Martin towed her to Auckland for the Anniversary Regatta, behind his Model T Ford. On the way back to Hamilton an accident occurred and ‘Judith’ suffered a stoved in side.  Promptly repaired, and back on the lake.

Harold Kidd Input

Harold Martin Sr was briefly in partnership with Chas Collings as “Collings & Martin” from 1907. He and his sons were very important in Waikato and Rotorua sailing in the 30s and 40s with the Idle Alongs IONA (1936), IDA (1939), TAMARA (1940) and WINSOME (1944). They also built and raced the X Class MYSTERY (1922) and the Zeddies TUI (1932) and CUPID (1951) amongst probably several other centre boarders.
Harold Sr lived at Orakei originally and built and/or owned several mullet boats until he left Auckland to live in Hamilton c1920. These included the 22 footer TE ATA and the 26 footer MYSTERY. The name MYSTERY was used by at least three generations of Martins for their yachts from at least 1874.
Similarly the Neilsons of Kawhia, and later of Tauranga, used the name CHARM for a couple of generations including for Jimmy Gilpin’s first Tauranga 7 footer CHARM (to close the circle).
BTW the car towing Briian Wallath’s IA isn’t a Ford T if Judith meant that. It’s a big American tourer of c1924, probably a 6 cylinder Buick. The trailer has 1935 Ford V8 car wheels.

P.S.  – Harold Martin didn’t last long in business with Chas Collings, but then nobody did, neither the Clare brothers, Harold Martin nor Alf Bell. I gather he was “difficult”, but he kept the Bell name in the business long after they parted ways during WW1 when Alf went off to help the Walsh brothers build and maintain their flying boats at Kohimarama.

Updated 03-11-2015 Photo below ex Harold Kidd  of Le Clerc’s IA JUDITH on Hamilton Lake with the 14 footer PERSEUS (Y8) and Frostbite 151, KIRIROA, c1949.

 

 

Tides Out At Collings & Bell

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Tides Out At Collings & Bell
photos & details ex Harold Kidd

When the Collings & Bell boat yard / shed in St Mary’s Bay was vacated due to the Harbour Bridge construction project, a lot of cool items were just left lying around, on a sneaky visit Barry Davis discovered a selection of Chas Collings’ glass photography quarter plates showing St Mary’s Bay during an ultra low tide in the 1930s. The photos show that in the days before dredging most of the launches and yachts are aground.
Even though the plates were cracked & damaged the detail is amazing & they could be blown up to view the boats in detail. To secure these negatives was a great find as most of the plates were tossed into the bay by the apprentices.

In photo #4 Harold’s father’s schooner TAHITIENNE is at right background out in the stream in RottenRow.

Norma

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1928
1929
1939

NORMA
photos via Nathan Herbert ex Manukau Yacht & Launch Club collection

Three photos today of the 40′ launch Norma. The top one is dated 14-01-1915. The middle one records her in 1929 winning a MY&LC race for launches helmed by ladies. Also featured are the yachts ‘Sea Gnome’ & ‘Sylvis’.
The bottom photo is from 1939 & shows Norma & the 26′ launch ‘Marina’ being off loaded (lorry?) & re-launched into the Waitemata Harbour. I’m sure Harold can enlighten ww followers the reason these launches made the trip from the Manukau.

Can we expand some more on Norma – designer/builder etc?

Harold Kidd Input

There were several NORMAs. This Coulthard NORMA was built at Onehunga for the Jeffs brothers and launched in November 1913. She was a 32ft flushdecker with an anonymous 10hp engine but had a 30hp 4 cylinder Wolseley installed in the winter of 1919. The Jeffs sold her to C. “Shorty” Schnauer in January 1921. In the 1930s she was sold to Whitianga for game fishing. She was owned there by Bill Clark and was in Whitianga until at least 1980.
I don’t know this MARINA under that name. There were many MARINAS, another one game fishing out of Mangawai in the early thirties owned by Franich but it can’t be this one.

SEA GNOME was one of the square bilge 14 footers built by George Honour that formed the basis of the so-called “Sea Class”, 14ft “flatties” most with names starting with “Sea” that latter morphed into the Auckland Y Class. Honour built her in 1921 and she was an immediate champion. Chuck Auger owned her for 14l years and took her to the Manukau in 1927. She raced on both harbours. The Y14 on her sail was her Manukau number.
SYLVIA was a 22ft mullet boat designed by Dick Lang and built by Harvey & Lang in October 1912. She was on the Manukau from 1924 to 1930, mostly owned by C. Paul.

Kiwi – Sailing Sunday

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Kiwi 6
Kiwi 5
Kiwi 4
Kiwi 7
Kiwi 1
Kiwi 2
Kiwi 3
Kiwi 8

KIWI  – Sailing Sunday
photos & details ex Peter Midegly

Following up on last Sundays post on the royal p-class yacht ‘Tui’, Peter Midegly sent in the above collection of photos of the 14’ sailing dinghy ‘Kiwi. She was built at the Devonport Naval Base by his late father, Eric Midgley, a shipwright, with the assistance of an apprentice, both employed at the dockyard. ‘Kiwi’ was built in Auckland for members of the royal family, this being the occasion of the wedding of the then Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip in 1947.

Unlike the ‘Tui’, ‘Kiwi’ was well used, as is outlined in the letter below from G.A. Vince of the Sea Training Establishment at Botley, Southampton. This letter describes the workmanship of the boat as first class and her success in racing with other Naval 14 footers. In 1952 George Vince, Director of the Southampton Sailing Centre, also won first prize racing ‘Kiwi’ during Cowes Week that year.

Peter does not know whether the Royal couple sailed ‘Kiwi’ to any great extent, but from the 1950’s she was used by a number of sailing organisations & Sea Cadet Units .

Some years ago Peter made enquiries as to what had happened to ‘Kiwi’, and eventually located her at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Falmouth. At the time they told him she was in their offsite store in Falmouth.

Peter’s father started his boat building apprenticeship in 1923 with Joe Slattery. He later worked at Percy Vos’s during the building of the ferry Korea and from 1938 to 1950 at H.M. Dockyard, Devonport. His final employment was with the Auckland Harbour Board as a shipwright in Beaumont St. before retiring in the 1960’s.

Elma

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ELMA
photos & details ex Bruce Pullan

In Thursdays post on ww of the Onehunga Basin, Harold Kidd commented on the launch Elma owned by Bruce’s grandfather, Reg Pullan. Bruce was told that his grandfather was not the first owner of Elma & that her original name was Huia. She was 22 foot & the original engine was a single cylinder De Dion. The suggested builder is Bailey & Lowe (looking for confirmation). The photo above is when she was with a later owner, but still on the Manukau.
Below is an invoice from John S. Gibbons of Onehunga for engineering work in 1923 for work on Elma.

Harold Kidd Input

ELMA was probably the HUIA first owned by W Partridge of Onehunga in 1909 although the raised foredeck is early for 1909. Partridge sold her to T. Higham in 1911 and she disappears from the reports after 1918, probably when Reg Pullan bought her and changed her name probably after his wife-to-be Elma Welch.
There were just so many HUIAs that it’s almost impossible to establish who built this one. Bailey & Lowe built at least one, the 40ft steam launch HUIA for the Seagar Bros in 1902, but I can’t match HUIA / ELMA one to any builder.

A Few Photos From The Start of the 2015 Coastal Classic (click on photos to enlarge)