Tag Archives: Devonport Yacht Club

CLASSIC WOOLLACOTT YACHT JANICE ANNE NEEDS A HELPING HAND

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HAULED OUT @ DYC

THE WORK BEGINS

CLASSIC WOOLLACOTT YACHT JANICE ANNE NEEDS A HELPING HAND

During the week WW was contacted by the Woollacott Association regarding the yacht – JANICE ANNE that had been recently gifted to the association.

The association have a simple objective – save her from the scrape heap. 

Some background – JANICE ANNE has been neglected for a few years and is in a need of antifouling and a bit of paint, along with some other work. 
The Woollacott Association has hauled her out at the Devonport Yacht Club for approx. two weeks, as you’ll see in the photos the first step was to scrap the weed off and give it a good water blast. Then its onto sanding ready for anti-fouling. Then if possible i.e. spare hands and time permitting, it would be great to get the topside’s sanded and painted at the same time, along with working through getting the motor running. 

So woodys I know its a crazy time of the year but if anyone has some spare time, any support and assistance would be most appreciated, or donations would be of great assistance to cover required materials and hauling/mooring fees. Bank Account Details: Account owner name: WOOLLACOTT ASSOCIATION Account Number: 02-0136-0030719-000

 If you can help out with labour – contact Chris Leech  dds@kcbbs.gen.nz

READ / VIEW MORE ABOUT THE WOOLLACOTT ASSOCIATION HERE https://woollacott.org.nz

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LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT – SEABOURNE II

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LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT – SEABOURNE II

Recently Odele Fenton was asking on FB if anyone was aware to the whereabouts of her father’s old 28’ kauri launch named – SEABOURNE II.

All she shared was that once it was moored at Little Shoal Bay, Auckland. 

Not a lot to go on but Chris Leech commented that in the hauled-out photo, the location was the Devonport Yacht Club.

Her hull obviously predates the cabin top/s, so possibly not her original name.

Any one remember the craft and its possible location, condition these days.

LOOKING FOR THE CLASSIC WOOLLACOTT YACHT – FAIRLIGHT

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LOOKING FOR THE CLASSIC WOOLLACOTT YACHT – FAIRLIGHT

Late last year Chris Leech sent in a request re the Woollacott – Nada design yacht FAIRLIGHT. Sorry Chris this one fell between the deck cracks 🙂

At the time Chris supplied the above photo and commented that James Melling , son of Sam Melling who built the yacht at 37 Glen Road, Stanley Point, Devonport. Was looking for details on her where about.  James told Chris :-
“My father was in the crew of the original ‘Nada’ when she was wrecked on the Cow, and is mentioned in the article*. Here is a much copied photo of Fairlight being towed (dragged) down to the Devonport Yacht Club from Stanley Bay for her initial launching. My father  by the truck with cigarette, John Woollacott on the left, and my uncle on right. No wheels, cradle dragged behind “Yorkies” truck. James also said that Sam came back from the war after being a POW in Germany for 4 years after being captured in Crete, and built Fairlight beside the house. Bert Wollacott was a bit of a mentor to him Sam’s mother, Val, said.

” The *article mentioned above is on the yachtsman – Fred Norris and is from the book  ‘Devonport Yacht Club A Centennial History’ penned by Martin Foster. It is a great read so have included below – enjoy.

INPUT ex – IAN FRAME – Bruce Fallaver and i bought Fairlight in Wellington in 1980. We sailed regularly in RPNYC events and cruised extensively throughout the Marlborough Sounds and Tasman Bay. She always felt safe but never fast so we had our fair share of excitement slowly crossing Cook Strait. We had her cutter rigged with both staysil and yankee which worked well. The motor was a 10HP single cylinder Kubota diesel with a large flywheel and crank handle attached – very useful when the battery ran flat. Down wind we used a gennaker, before Team NZ discovered them in the 1990’s. We sold her in about 1986 to a guy from Christchurch and I last saw her moored at Redcliffs in the 1990’s. She was a great boat and much loved.

What happened to the classic wooden yacht – MAHAKI

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What happened to the classic wooden yacht – MAHAKI

WW was recently contacted by Chris Leech who was reaching out to establish the whereabouts of the c.1894 built Logan designed 2 1/2 rater yacht – MAHAKI.

The primary reason for Chris’s interest is that the Devonport Yacht Club have been presented with the NZ Yachtsman Cup that was presented to MAHAKI in 1910.  At the time the yacht was owned by George Sim and the cup remained in the Sims family ownership ever since.

DYC will be adding the cup to its impressive collection of silverware. 

Chris suppled a collection of historical articles on the yacht, attached below as a PDF file for reference for those that want to go done a rabbit hole. The readers digest of (potentially accurate) known, recent intel is – bought by Eric Wing (McMullan &Wing) in the mid 1980’s. Partially restored by Wing and then on his passing in 1994 was purchased by Peter Blunder who finished the project in Clevedon. From there the current location and presentation of the yacht is unknown.

So woodys can we learn what became of MAHAKI

Photo below of the trophy presented to DYC by Gavin Sims.

Mahaki CupDownload

INPUT ex ANDREW LUSTY – Still owned by Peter Blundell and still in Clevedon

INPUT ex MARK NEWCOMB  The article on Mahaki refers to a previous owner, “Russell”. This will be Russell Going, an Auckland architect with a practice in a lovely old restored building on Newton Road. He was my wife’s uncle, and I occasionally sailed on Mahaki, possibly around 1983sh.                                                                                                                                       I had been raised on our family yacht, Tamatea A20, and had spent some years crewing on Ariki A3, and thought I knew all about wet sailboats. Mahaki was another level of wet, but a lovely craft and Russell loved her.

JACKPOT – WE FOUND HER – Andrew Lusty was spot on – on a shed in Clevedon

Harold Kidd – ‘Yachts & the Waitemata’ – Part Two

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PART TWO – A
PART TWO -B

Following on from yesterday, today we have PART #2 – Increasing sophistication, 1870 > 1900, Yacht Clubs & Regattas :-

• The first yacht clubs • Competition in the yacht building industry • Use of kauri and diagonal construction • The rise of the mullet boat as a type • Open sail boats • Exports of yachts • Volunteers • The rise of yacht clubs and the proliferation of regattas • Patikis

Recorded ‘live’ last Thursday evening at the Devonport Yacht Club- we have Harold Kidd speaking on the topic – ‘Yachts & the Waitemata, HDK broke the talk into several time periods.The filming was a last minute idea so the quality is a little average and on the night there were a few technical issue with the sound, I have edited the best I can.

NOTE: The slides on screen were always going to be average in terms of reproduction so I focussed on the man (HDK) and his narrative. Turn up your sound and enjoy (approx. 40 minutes)

Make sure you check out WW tomorrow for part #3

MYSTERY YACHT 23-07-23 VECTIS

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MYSTERY YACHT 23-07-23 – VECTIS

Recently woody Simon Smith commented that all the mystery launches were a struggle for the stick & rag brigade that follow WW. Simon sent in the above photo , so today can we ID the yacht and possibly the design.

INPUT ex Jim Lott – Hull looks like an early Bert Woollacott. Could well be Vectis, but only if she was later rerigged. When I had Vectis in 1972-6 she had two sets of spreaders and the boom was a bit shorter.

INPUT ex Robin Elliott – Although the boat is Vectis, that “23/7/23” date is a bit dodgy. Vectis was not launched until 1930.
NZ Herald 15/11/30: Mr. Wollacott’s new cruiser Vectis, which, is ready for launching at Devonport during this week-end was registered in the C class, although her waterline length of 27 feet would qualify her for the B class if length alone was the deciding factor. Vectis is 31ft overall and a wholesome type of cruiser.

I can’t just leave you with one photo of a yacht so check out the short film below of Auckland’s North Shore in the 1920’s. It was filmed an advertisement for the Devonport Ferry Company showcasing what the shore offered.

For the time poor just fast forward to the 4:14 mark – some great footage of the Devonport waterfront and craft hauled out at the Devonport Yacht Club + Bayswater in its heyday , how did we ever let that gem of a location slide into the condition it is today?.

Further on there is some excellent sailing footage and I love the pond yachts. ENJOY (ex Ngatira Tronga Sound & Vision) – CLICK LINK BELOW TO VIEW

https://www.facebook.com/100022491815652/videos/377063966386661/

Mystery Launch Off Devonport Yacht Club – Raumati II > Moeraki

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MYSTERY LAUNCH OFF DEVONPORT YACHT CLUB – Raumati II > Moeraki

Todays mystery launch photo comes to us via Mitchell Hutchings fb from the Parsonson Family collection.

There appears to be a working-bee underway at the Devonport Yacht Club on what must be the western slipway.

The Mason Clipper in the photo must help date the photo.

19-10-2022 INPUT FROM FRANK WARNOCK – I am almost certain that the launch in Mondays report moored off the Devonport Yacht Club was Happy Wanderer owned by John Senior. The working bee was replacing a rail on the Western slipway or cementing an existing one back after a storm. The date would be the 1960s.

30-10-2022 INPUT ex Nathan Herbert – the vessel is Raumati II > Moeraki

2023 TALL SHIPS REGATTA – DETAILS BELOW

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Mystery Launch 03-09-2020

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Mystery Launch 03-09-2020


The above photo of an unknown launch popped up on Mitchell Hutchings fb. Might be the perspective of the camera, but she appears to have a far sized boom relative to the mast.
Can anyone help out ID’ing this woody?


Morning Dog Walks

Hard not to love boating and the sea when your early morning dog walk looks like this – no special effects, straight off the iPhone 🙂 You can just see the Devonport Yacht Club peeping out on the left from under the pohutukawa tree.

RSVP to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Herald – Sailing Sunday

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Herald h

Herald n

HERALD – Sailing Sunday
Recently I was sent the  above gallery of photos of the small yacht – Herald, from kiwi Fred Lomas, who lives/works in Australia. The photos are from an album given to him by his ex (deceased) Omapere (near Opononi, Northland) neighbour – Aubrey Bracey.  Aubrey was a farmer / carpenter who built a couple of small boats, Herald being one of them.
How lucky were these kids to have a boat of their own at their age, these days we are just too PC.
I love the combination of paint colours – a perfect example of the old principle of only using 3 colours max on a boat. Also looks like as the kids got taller, they raised the cabin top 🙂
Devonport Yacht Club – Duder Cup – On The World Stage
Check out the link below to read / view a great story by Rob Peake, editor of the ‘Classic Boat’ magazine in the UK, on this years running of the Duder Cup race.

A Woody Picnic – 1963 & Today

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A Woody Picnic

A collection of photos today recording the Devonport Yacht Club annual picnics, some are dateD March 1963 but there appears to be a mix of two venues – probably Islington Bay and Motuihe Island.

The photos come to us from Mitchell Hutchings fb page.

The challenge today is to Chris Leech to ID some of the craft. Nathan Herbert has already commented that in the 2nd photo above, the launch on the left is Lady Mary, before the addition of her dodger/wheelhouse + flying bridge.

Input from Chris Leech – 1st photo shows Sundowner being bought to the DYC for launching. The 2nd is of her afloat

The 3rd & 4th are of Southern Belle post the fire and as restored
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WAITANGI DAY PICNIC REMINDER TODAY – CYA Picnic at Motuihe Island today,  happening around midday – weather will decide which side. Look out for the big CYA flag on the beach. 
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