Tag Archives: Falcon

CLASSIC DES TOWNSON 30’ YACHT – FALCON + Win a copy of the book – DES TOWNSON A Sailing Legacy

Posted on by
2

CLASSIC DES TOWNSON 30’ YACHT – FALCON + Win a copy of the book – DES TOWNSON A Sailing Legacy

As most WW readers will know, Des Townson never designed an unattractive craft, that skill is harder to do as the size of the vessel decreases. I have often said on WW that very few people can get a >30’ craft looking ‘right’.

Mr Townson excelled himself with the design of the 30’ keeler – FALCON (Reg. #873), as seen above.

Falcon was built / launched in 1965 and constructed from double diagonal kauri, and no f/glass ✓.

Her owner Grant Wylie has been the custodian of FALCON for the last 17+ years and contacted WW to say that age and health were against him and could we help locate a new owner.

I asked Grant about headroom and I had to laugh at his reply – “Yes & No”, Des’s design eye always won out over comfort 🙂

FALCON is powered by a Bush 20hp engine and sports a KIWI prop. She is well kitted out for gulf cruising but needs a refresh, which is reflected in Grant’s price expectations.

A great opportunity to acquire for a modest price a classic yacht from the design board of one of New Zealand’s most paramount designers.

Continue to enjoy her as she is or put your sanding / painting skills to use this winter and prepare yourself for the compliments at anchor this coming summer.

Interested parties to contact Grant initially via email – grant.wylie@xtra.co.nz

AND AS AN ADDED BONUS TODAY – ANSWER THE QUESTION BELOW CORRECTLY AND YOU ARE IN THE DRAW TO WIN A COPY OF Brian Peet’s book – ‘DES TOWNSON A SAILING LEGACY’. A 343 page  insight into the man and his designs.

Enty ONLY via email to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Question : HOW MANY INDIVIDUAL DESIGNS DID DES TOWNSON TURN OUT ?. (in the event no one gets the correct number – closest wins)

CLASSIC WOODYS CRUISING THE HAURAKI GULF – SUMMER 2023/24

Posted on by
2

CLASSIC WOODYS CRUISING THE HAURAKI GULF – SUMMER 2023/24

Now todays post is the one you have been waiting on – the classic wooden (mostly) craft that I spotted around the Hauraki Gulf over the Dec 27 > Jan 5th period.

Probably the best turn out of woodys that I have seen – seems it just wasn’t me suffering from cabin fever 🙂

As always some photos are good, some not so good – direction of sun and distance dictates that. Mostly I’m taking photos as a visual account.

Enjoy the gallery – broken into locations – I have endeavoured to list the craft in the tagged section.

AS ALWAYS CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

If you have any good photos, send them in to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

RAKINO ISLAND

KAWAU ISLAND

WAIHEKE ISLAND

OUT & ABOUT – on route

Classic Woody Summer Cruising – A Game Of Two Halves

Posted on by
3

WOODYS AFLOAT

Classic Woody Summer Cruising – A Game Of Two Halves

Happy New Year Woodys – WW is back ‘live’ so no more oops boating photos 🙂

On Saturday when I was reviewing and editing the above photos I struggled to believe that we had a xmas/ny cruise, but as they say the truth is in the photos 🙂

I decided to break todays story into two parts:

1. Raindance related

2. Woodys Out & About 

Mostly from my camera but assisted by Barbara Cooke (Bay of Islands), Mark Edmonds (Waiheke), Russell Ward, Jason Prew (upper harbour) and Alan Gilder (Woody Bay Rakino)

Raindance’s cruise / tiki tour mainly consisted of bouncing between Rakino Island and Waiheke Island. Left on 27 Dec and the weather was just stunning with crystal clear, warm water. On 01 Jan the forecast was starting to look very average and most concerning was all 3 weather platforms that I follow were saying the same thing. So early morning on 02 Jan we made the call to up anchor and head home. Turns out that was a good call because for the next 5+ days if it wasn’t raining it was drizzling non-stop + ugly seas and high winds.

So woodys the second half of our planned cruise was sent at home enjoying good food, wine, movies and watching almost every wooden / classic boating video on YouTube.

Very grateful we had 6 days of great weather before we pulled the pin. As an old salt told me once – when it comes to happy family boating – better to have a handful of fabulous days than an abundance of average days – very sage advise.

Enjoy the gallery.

UPCOMING ON-THE-WATER WOODY EVENTS

Circle the calendar:

28 January – Mahurangi Regatta launch parade – more details closer to the day

25 February – Stillwater Picnic + Dockside Raft-Up – more details closer to the day

Falcon – Gets A Birthday

Posted on by
Reply

Falcon – Gets A Birthday

In the early days of WW the 1930, 38′ Lane Motorboat Co. launch – Falcon was all over the WW site. Her then owner James Mobberley (Moon Engines) hardly ever let the engine cool down.

Always a fast boat, James transplanted a 180hp Hino engine into her and she was probably the fastest in the classic fleet e.g. >18 knots. 

When you have small children a fast narrowish classic woody is not that practical, so sadly James and family moved on to a big white plastic boat – but he will be back, that I’m confident about.

Falcon passed thru several owners and was starting to show her age on a swing mooring in Whangarei Basin.

Then a good thing happened – one of Moon Engines talented engineers bought Falcon and relocated her back to Auckland. The next year was spent giving Falcon a makeover in terms of her running gear, systems and home comforts – the above photos give us a peek into how things should be done on a boat – still a little bit of tidying up, but a perfect opportunity to view the installation work.

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge 😉

WOODYS PAEROA RIVER RAID

One shows us how its done and another how it comes undone 😉

Woodys On Show

Posted on by
Reply

WOODYS ON SHOW

Todays video comes to us from Cecilia Viktoria Rosell and showcases a selection of woodys from the Canadian Classic Yacht Association Fleet berthed in Ladysmith, British Columbia.

As they appear, we have  Loueda > Sannox > Euphemia > Falcon > Bianca.

Cecilia commented that the youngest member wasn’t the 7 month old kitten on Bianca as one might think, but rather the 8 week old baby onboard Loueda.

HAVE YOU RSVP’ed FOR THE WOODYS CLEVEDON OVERNIGHT BBQ CRUISE

CHECK OUT LAST YEARS EVENT https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/08/10/classic-wooden-boat-cruise-72-photos/

RSVP with boat name to waitematawoodys@gmail.com – Numbers will be limited

Falcon Comes Home

Posted on by
Reply
HOME

FALCON COMES HOME
The 1930 Lane Motor Boat Co. designed and built launch Falcon has always been one of the smartest woodys in the classic fleet.I do not have a lot of photos  mainly because she was just so dam quick, always passed me like I was standing still 🙂 Previous owner – James Mobberley (Moon Engines) had shoehorned a beast of an engine (Hino turbo) into Falcon. He did the same transplant on Harold Kidd’s — Romance II and Graham Guthrie’s  – Kailua. Both of these woodys are serious zoom zooms.

Back in 2013, she was sold to a Whangarei owner and later re-sold to another Whangarei owner – the photo below shows Falcon looking a little sad, moored in the Whangarei Town Basin.
In the last few months there has been chat about her returning home to Auckland – well woodys, I can confirm that she has a new owner and is back home on the WaitemataWe look forward to seeing her get the TCL she deserves.We will follow her process closely.


LAST CALL FOR THIS WEEKENDS WOODY WORKSHOP AT MOON ENGINES – WE WILL BE CLOSING THE DOORS TO RSVP’s LATER TODAY – RSVP NOW OR MISS OUT – waitematawoodys@gmail.com

606 Rosebank Road, Avondale

Wooden Boats @ Whangarei Town Basin

Posted on by
6

IMG_4671

IMG_4670

IMG_4681

IMG_4667

IMG_4688

IMG_4689

Wooden Boats @ Whangarei Town Basin

Two weeks ago David Cooke and myself pointed the car north and did a day trip to Whangarei to view a few candidates for listing with the Wooden Boat Bureau. We were blessed with a stunning day, which made the quay side area at the Town Basin very pleasing to the eye. As we mooched around I snapped the above photos. With the boats shed owners taste in decorating you cant miss them 😉
A nice mix of sail and power, with a lot of live aboards.
I was pleased to see James Mobberley’s old classic – Falcon on a pile mooring, one day she will come back to her home – the Waitemata 🙂
WBB0003_Banner-980x160

Falcon ‘old’ / new

Posted on by
Reply

FALCON PONUI CIRCA 1948 P1120385

FALCON. This 1948 photo by Ken Ricketts of her on her moorings in Chamberlain Bay, Ponui Island highlights how original she still is today. This photo was when she was owned by the original owner George Chamberlain. This was when she still had the Scripps petrol engine.
The Chamberlains only really used her for transport to Auckland & around the  island. She is a wonderful example of Lanes craftsmanship & is currently for sale – see link below

One of the most iconic woodies on the waitemata harbour is for sale – Be quick.

Image

Reply

One of the most iconic woodies on the waitemata harbour is for sale - Be quick.

Boats like Falcon do not appear for sale often, this one has the plus of being owned by James Mobberley, Auckland’s foremost classic launch engineer (Moon Engines) for the last 12 years.
Link below

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/boats-marine/motorboats/auction-579016372.htm