MYSTERY TIM WINDSOR DESIGNED CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH
Recently the prolific fb poster Lew Redwood has been sniffing around the Maritime Museum photo archives and has discovered ( I use that term because so much of the museums treasures are ‘hidden away’ ) a treasure trove to old b/w boating images from the 1940’s.
Today thanks to Lew we get to see a 26’ classic wooden launch that was designed by Tim Windsor and built at the Shipbuilders yard in Auckland.
The photo is dated 1948 and the photographer is most likely Tim Windsor.
Can we put a name to this classic wooden launch and learn what became of her.
A CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH IS HIDING HERE – CAN YOU FIND IT
There is a lot of craft named RESOLUTE, todays one was designed by Sonny Levi & built by Shipbuilders for Stan Waters in the later 1950s or earlyish 1960s.The photos were sent in by Ken Ricketts who was friends with a later owner – Ray Bailey (1970’s).
Waters replaced RESOLUTE with another slightly larger but similar boat to some degree to another Sonny Levi design, which he called the ILIKAI.
She was originally powered by 2 x 4/53 GM Detroits & were replaced post 2000 with 2 larger engines (Yanmar 6 cyl. I think). She was lengthened & the original coamings seem to have been replaced.
Apologise for the bottom two photos, sourced from KR 8mm movie footage back when Ray Bailey owned her.The top photo was taken on the hardstand at Gulf Harbour while having her new engines fitted. This photo gets auto entry into the ‘Boat That Most Resembles A Block Of Flats Award’ and is currently in the lead by a long margin …………..
MYSTERY AC DCS – SHIPBUILDERS WOODEN LAUNCH + SPRING SLASH REGATTA DETAILS
Well todays woody is only a mystery because (1) the owner didn’t put the vessels name on tme (thanks Ian McDonald) and (2) the phots are out of focus, stopping reading the name board.
All that aside we learnt that the launch was built in 1959 by Shipbuilders, is 36’ in length and powered by a 90hp Ford Dorset engine.
Hull is 3 planks of diagonal kauri so built like the brick out-house.
As for the Sea Nymph transplant canopy on top…………………….. I suppose it would be simple to remove ✓
UPDATE – as advised by John Bullivant the boats named AC DECS and resided on the Tamaki estuary, near the Panmure yacht club. It is shown in the ‘a woody tour of the Tamaki river’ WW story and also featured in a Feb 18 2023 WW story – linked below. https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/02/18/ac-dcs/ Ken Ricketts advised it was named WHIRONUI and has previously commented that she was most likely a Shipbuilders ‘kitset’ boat.
CIRCLE THE CALENDAR – LABOUR WEEKEND SPRING SLASH REGATTA @ KAWAU ISLAND
The place to be on the long holiday weekend of October 24>27th is Kawau Island and the crew at the Kawau Boating Club and Ponsonby Cruising Club are again hosting the world famous (in NZ…) Labour Weekend Spring Splash Regatta. waitematawoodys are chuffed to by involved with organising the classic woody parade on Sunday, details in the flyer below + downloadable PDF file, which includes the entry (free) form for the sailing events. Link below to 2024 eventhttps://waitematawoodys.com/2024/10/29/kawau-island-spring-splash-regatta-review-70-classic-wooden-boating-photos/
ATTENTION YACHT SKIPPERS – If the coastal classic isn’t your scene, put the Kawau Spring Splash Regatta on your radar ✔️
During the week I was visiting the OBC marine centre on Auckland’s Tamaki Drive scoping out an upcoming woody event and spotted the launch – MAJEIKA on a mooring in Whakatakata Bay. A quick WW search popped up that she appeared on WW back in May 2022, link below https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/05/07/majeika/
As sometimes happens way to often at the same time Ian McDonald pointed out that she was also on tme.
So a quick summary of what we know – MAJEIKA is a 28’ Shipbuilders design, most likely a ‘kit’ boat, built c.1960, builder unknown. Triple skin kauri which will make for a very robust woody.
Forward motion is via a 100hp Nissan diesel engine. In the 2022 WW story the engine was said to be a LD28 rated at 88hp, and a top speed of 12 knots. Also the length was 26’ then – so it seems she has been eating a few pies.
With an asking price of $10k, we see another example of it being a buyers market at the moment.
Todays photo popped up recently on one of the social media fb streams and shows the launch MALIBU II coming to the rescue of a submerged run-about just visible in the bottom right corner of the photo.
A gent named Graham Hill commented that MALIBU II was assisting the chopper (owned at the time by Alexander Helicopters) to attach strops from the chopper to the run-about, to left it out of the water. Would have been an ‘interesting’ lift, one would assume they allowed for the dead weight of the water.
There was chat that the photo would have been from the early 1968 > Nov 1971 period, but based on HDK’s comment below it must have been in early 1968.
Back in Sept 2019 we learnt in a previous WW story from Harold Kidd that she was built by Shipbuilders in 1952 for Graham West and shipped down via Dunedin by WAIPIATA in 1955. She operated on Wanaka until December 1968 when she was relocated to Stewart Island. Her dims were 40′ x 12′ x 3′ and she had a Perkins 6 cylinder diesel. 2nd photo above from this story.
Do we know what became of MALIBU II – given the lift rafts visible in both photos, safe to assume she was in charter / tourism use.
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – TANTALUS – A Peek Down Below
THE 36’ Classic Wooden Launch- TANTALUS made a cameo appearance on WW back in late Dec 2021. The top photo above I took then, now today thanks to a recent tme appearance and Ian McDonald’s hawk eyes, we get to have a gander down below.
What we know about her is that she was designed by Tim Windsor and built c.1963 by Tim Wilson and Jack Taylor at the Shipbuilders yard. Construction is kauri plank, her beam is 9’ and she draws 3’3”.
These days her forward motion is from a Ford 120hp diesel engine.
THE RESTORATION OF THE CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – TANGMERE – UPDATE
Recently WW was contacted by Megan Ede regarding the 1949 classic wooden launch – TANGMERE, Megan had come across a story on WW about the launch undergoing a restoration. Megan commented that her parents – Allan and Margaret Norwood had owned the boat when she was in her teens. They purchased her in 1982 from the Rogers family and then sold in 1996 to Jim Cardow.
WW was tasked with obtaining an update on the restoration. The hull for TANGMERE was built by the Shipbuilders yard and W.J. Endean, the first owner, designed and built the cabin. A quick email to current owner Bill Endean (son of WJE) and we had the below. In May 2020 Bill gave us a wonderful history of the launch and a peek at the start of the project – link below to that WW story https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/05/11/tangmere-finds-her-way-home/
Progress has been slow but sure, TANGMERE has had all the internal structure removed (including all ribs), new floors and bulkheads, glassed inside and out, new engine beds waiting for engine install, new superstructure (replicating original). Retained the old deck beams, new self draining cockpit arrangement.The photos above show the work done on the inside, stripped out the riveted ribs and replaced with a simpler structure, and then glassed in. The photos of the outside show the glassed hull and replaced superstructure ( dodger yet to be built ). Bill commented that he knows some in the classic world have a dim view of “ glassing”, but he is obviously not one of them. Nor was his father who in 1964 built the 43′ ketch Portobello using strip planked cedar glassed inside and out, following the trend set by his friend Tony Mason with the Clippers… so Bill comfortably believes WJE might approve of this restoration of his first boat.
Photos below give you an indication of how ‘tired ‘TANGMERE’ was before Bill Endean took her back into the families ownership.
07-11-2025 UPDATE ex Bill Endean – coming along…… slowly 🙂
During the week we were contacted by Mike Milne regarding the classic wooden launch – MATAROA. Some background – back in 2020 the launch sold from her then home base of Picton or Havelock (would like to confirm which) and motored off to her new home in Akaroa. MATAROA is a 28’ Shipbuilders design, double diagonal planked – not sure if built by Shipbuilders or a ‘kit boat’. Power is a Ford D Series diesel engine.
Fast forward to 3 September 2023 and she sunk at her mooring, due to a series of events – weather and maintenance issues (lack of no doubt)
In steps Mike who purchased the boat in November 2023 off the insurance company and has taken on the task of refitting her.
Mike’s reason for contacting WW was 2 fold – one to buy a WW burgee ✔️ and to ask if the WW community can supply any more information on MATAROA. Mikes promised to keep us updated on the project. So hopefully we will get to share the action.
At the time her then owner Paul Kerr-Hislop was looking to confirm some of the intel he had been told about the boat i.e. that Manuwai was built in Porirua in 1960 by a Paul Bradey for the Mexted family of Tawa to a Shipbuilders design. We learnt that she was LOA 30’8” with a beam 10’6”. She has a 1 1/4” kauri planked hull which has a hard chine and flat bottom towards the stern presumably to enable semi-planing. A 140hp 135T Perkins diesel engine gave a cruising speed of 9>10 knots and a top speed of around 13 knots.
Now thanks to Ian McDonald pointing out a recent tme listing we get to have a better gander down below.
Todays woody is somewhat of an unknown boat – the only time I have seen her out and about was back in November 2022 at our ‘Woodys Beach Picnic’ at Motuihe Island, the top photo is from that outing. Todays photos come to us for a tme me listing, spotted by Ian McDonald.
What we know about the 34’4” Taiho II is the she was built in 1968 by Shipbuilders using double diagonal kauri. Power is via a 150hp Ford D-Series turbo Diesel engine that gives her a 7>8 knot cruising speed.
Back in 2020 she underwent something of a re-birth and her interior is now very modern in layout and build – but as they say each to their own. Certainly well spec’ed in terms of home comforts.
Personally I’d lose the batwing which doesn’t appear to do anything other than be a mounting spot for the anchor light.
Do we know anything about her early days.
INPUT BELOW (press clipping) ex Nathan Herbert
Heading To The Bay of Islands This Summer – – circle Jan 6th 2024 in the diary for the Tall Ships Regatta , hosted by the Russell Boating Club it is always a dozy of an event.See below – more details at russellboatingclub.org.nz
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