Tag Archives: Tuarangi

CLASSIC YACHT OSLO

Posted on by
1

CLASSIC YACHT OSLO

WW has been contacted by Ulf Uchida who advised that recently friends of his had bought a little wooden keeler named OSLO.  Ulf commented that he had looked at her 12 years ago when she was on the hard on a property Long Beach on Dunedin’s northern coastline. 

The story goes that she is somehow connected with Jack Crooks of Invercargill, the same one who sailed TUARANGI around the world a long time ago now.
Ulf’s friends are enthusiastic beginner sailors and do not know a lot about the yacht but are keen to find out more. They are facing a major repair job but are keen to put in the time and effort required.
The photos above show her hauled out at the OYC recently.

So woodys can we provide anymore backland on OSLO 

16-12-2024 INPUT ex KEN GOA _ I worked on Oslo in the late ’80’s in Auckland as a boatbuilding apprentice. Oslo had broken free of it’s mooring, and holed the starboard side of her hull and topsides. Double diagonal planking and ribs repaired by John Rea Boatbuilders on Archers Rd Glenfield. I have a few hard copy photos of the damage repairs.

A HEADS UP TO THE PETROL HEADS

If you aren’t relaxing at Kawau Island on Sunday / Monday of anniversary weekend – and like to open the throttle up on your woody launch / workboat – the anniversary day regatta drag race (ok, there is handicapping) might be your gig on Monday 27th – dockside chat tells me registering on line is a serious challenge, so if you are considering entering – drop Jason Prew an email and he will talk you thru things. jason@slipway.co.nz

Tuarangi > Silver Fin – Update

Posted on by
2

Screen Shot 2018-03-05 at 11.20.26 am

TUARANGI > SILVER FIN – Update

I was recently sent the above photo of Silver Fin (Tuarangi) by Brian Wagstaff & Bryan was able to supply some background on her below –  from past WW stories we know that Tuarangi was built by Lidgard Bros for a H.S White & launched in 1950. White sold her in 1951 to Bruce Winstone. She was 42’x40’x12’x4’3″ and originally had twin 90hp 6-cylinder Redwing petrol engines. During Whites ownership, she blew up while refueling at Whitianga. You can read the story in detail here   https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/06/13/wairangi-2/

Eric details the post incident recovery, sale & rebuild below. By 1959 she was renamed Silver Fin. I’ll let Eric tell the story.

“My father Eric Wagstaff purchased the boat from the Bruce Winstone. I would assume some insurance company might have been involved . The boat was collected from Whitianga and towed to Tauranga by a boat called “Rainbow” which was old bridge decker owned by Eric. The Rainbow had a marinised Rolls Royce engine and was built for the Mills Bros who I believe were Bay of Plenty farmers. The roof section from Silver Fin was basically upside down and pretty much in place on collection. The boat was beached at Beach Road, Otumoetai.

The boat was lifted onto a transport trailer by Bert Godfrey, the founder of the NZ Lumber Company and moved to Eric’s joinery factory in Judea.  We enjoyed many a trip on the Silver Fin. She was chartered for game fishing for a while in the days of Bob Gray etc. The top was replaced with what you see and Eric consulted with Willy Oliver, who was a friend, on the design of the new cabin. Eric was born in Wellington to a well-known yachting and boat building family and had it not been for the 2nd World War (he was a fighter pilot) and returned to Maunganui at the end of the war were he meet my mother (now 96 and still alive) in Tauranga where he stayed and established a joinery business. The motors were replaced with 60hp Fordson diesels converted by Lees marine, I believe. The boat was sold to Dr. Kennedy the family doctor (who delivered me in 1949). He for some reason painted the boat green which I remember clearly. The rest of it you pretty much have on record. I will try to find some old photos of the rebuild.”

 

 

 

Tuarangi

Posted on by
12

TUARANGI  
photo & details ex Robert Brooke

The above photo is one from the Jack Brooke collection & shows Tuarangi  out at the Barrier in the early 1950’s. The Brooke family in ‘Judith’ was cruising in company with Tuarangi which was owned by Bruce Winstone who was with his wife and three children. Robert Brooke remembers Bruce rowing across one evening to tell Jack that as the weather forecast was good, they would be off to Whitianga first thing in the morning. The next thing they heard was that Tuarangi had blown up while refueling at Whitianga. Luckily the family had gone shopping for provisions, and Bruce was the only person on board. He was quite badly injured and was not well for a long time.

So folks todays questions are:
1. Does anyone know what happened to Tuarangi & where she is today?
2. Who designed & built her?

Update
I had an early morning txt from Nathan Herbert, saying that he thought there had been a oops in the boat name. I placed all the blame on Robert 🙂 ,  who supplied the photo tagged as Wairangi. Given the comments today we can safely assume it is Tuarangi. Post headline has been changed. See details below from Harold Kidd.
TUARANGI was built by Lidgard Bros for H.S. White and launched on 25 November 1950. She was 42’x40’x12’x4’3″ and originally had twin 90hp 6 cylinder Redwing petrol engines. White sold her to Bruce Winstone in 1951.
By 1959 she was renamed SILVER FIN and owned by Dr. R.L. Kennedy at Tauranga. George N. Hale owned her in Auckland in 1964 by when she had been re-engined with twin Ford Lees Marine 4 cylinder 64.8 bhp diesels.
Barbara Cooke had this to add –  Bruce Winstone had a Frostbite which was carried on the cabin top, the name being Wairangi. Both Bruce and his son Jeff were injured in the blast. After re fueling someone lit the stove to boil the kettle causing the explosion. Judy Salthouse (nee Brooke) recalls the event well.