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