Swiftsure – Restoration Project In-Waiting  

I was recently contacted by Harold Kidd in regard to Swiftsure the 1921 centreboarder that needs major restoration and to the right person –  is free for collection.

Harold supplied some history on the yacht below.

SWIFTSURE was built by George McLean of Birkenhead in 1920 a bit under 16ft and a bit over 14ft (about 4 inches) because of the available lengths of timber.

Her first race appears to have been in November 1921 with the Ponsonby Cruising Club in their “14ft handicap class” i.e. not square-bilge and not Jellicoe Class 14s, owned by G. McLean. She was on scratch which indicates a first race. She raced consistently much of her life. She was registered with the 14ft T Class when the AYMBA introduced its alpha-numeric system in 1922. She was allotted T38.

By the 1923 Anniversary Regatta her oversize had apparently been picked up and she was moved to the 16ft S Class as S62. She was then owned by George’s nephew Ted Fitzgerald. After a protest she had the offending bit sawn off her stern and was reregistered as T6 in 1934. Later he put the 4 inches back on and she raced with the 16 footers as S62.

After he retired her from racing as an open boat post WW2 Ted built on a raised foredeck and a bigger cuddy.He took her on an annual cruise to Great Barrier with his two little girls. Amazing!

Swiftsure is now stored under cover at Beachhaven and stabilized but needs a total restoration. The above photo shows her racing as an S Class. Harold commented that it was hard to photograph her under her current shelter (see below bottom). The 1^st group of photos below were taken some years ago before she deteriorated but give a good idea of her final, “cruising” configuration under Ted Fitzgerald’s ownership.

Interested parties can contact Harold via WW  or Grant Firth at gfirth1955@gmail.com

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