Tag Archives: Valsan

Menai & Valsan & her Owners.

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Menai 1947/8
Menai 1947/8
Valsan 1948
Menai 2008

Menai & Valsan & her Owners.

details & b/w photos from Ken Ricketts. edited by Alan H 

In the late 1930s, earlier 1940s, Arnold D. Baldwin, a successful business man involved in the paper & printing industries purchased the 1936 (’37?) Sam Ford launch MENAI & used her regularly until 1948, when he bought VALSAN, off Peter Annan, who had renamed her LADY EDITH, which ADB changed back to VALSAN.

ADB sold MENAI to his factory manager, Horry Whimp who loved her, at least as much as ADB & continued to pour money into MENAI, as ADB had before him. HW owned MENAI well in to the 1950s. During this stage of her life MENAI had a flat head Ford V8.

Ken Ricketts met HW’s son, Barry Whimp, as a 3rd former at Auckland Grammar in 1950, they were in the same year & became good friends, & had many happy moments together whilst away on their parents boats, especially at Kawau, at Christmas.

(b/w photos taken by Ken Ricketts show Menai over Christmas 1948 /1949  just after the Whimps had bought her, & taken at Issy Bay & Kawau. The photo of Valsan in Schoolhouse Bay was taken during Christmas 1948 just after ADB had purchased her)

Menai Specs ex Alan H

Sam Ford, Ellerslie, designed and built Menai for Mr W T Reynolds of Whangarei and she was launched at Panmure Basin on 24th of December 1937.She immediately left Auckland on launching and arrived at Whangareri 25.12.1937.

She has a most interesting history, during WWII as a Navy patrol vessel she towed lifeboats from SS Niagara to safety.  She spent many years big game fishing both off Tutukaha and Tauranga and she is fine sea boat. In 1985 new owners did major renovations including the superb varnished interior. In 2007 she was purchased by the late Peter Smith who spent 3 years bringing her back to the wonderful condition she is today.

She is characteristic of the Ford design, a bridgedeck displacement launch, 10.97m (38 ft) length, beam 3.05m and draft 0.97m. Although there have been some substantial upgrades both the exterior lines and interior layout are original.

Construction: Single kauri skin (full length planking) over bolted and riveted frames and floors. The original upper works were built of kauri. In a 1985 major upgrade they were overlaid with 5/8 in teak and varnished.

Power: Lees-Marine 60hp Fordson diesel with 2:1 Lees-Marine hydraulic gearbox.

Harold Kidd Update

A few minor things about the above. MENAI was originally fitted with an 8 cylinder Lycoming engine which was changed to an Osco Ford V8 marine conversion, possibly during her NAPS service. Arnold Baldwin bought MENAI in 1942 when he was skippering her with NAPS and registered her as a British Registered Ship in 1948. According to those records and to the contemporary APYMBA records, Whimp did not own her at all, but that may well have been because he didn’t want to carry on the BR. Certainly, however, the BR records and the RNZYS records show that MENAI was 100% owned by C.B. Menzies from 1950 onwards. How Whimp and Menzies fit together, I have no idea.

Valsan – an ageless classic

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Valsan - an ageless classic

Valsan – an ageless classic

details & photo ex Ken Ricketts, edited by Alan H

One of our really magnificent ageless classics of all time & so wonderfully original & unspoiled. Ken commented that if you look at her you can see Couldrey, Ford & Lidgard all in her, the bridgedeck is classic later Ford, refer Lady Karita, the flair is very Couldrey — refer Tiromoana, the sheer line in the sweep in the deck could be all 3 & there are also resemblances in the shear & flair to Awarua, which of course was part Lidgard along with Ted Cooper.

Ken took the above photo of her Christmas 1948 in Schoolhouse Bay. She was launched as VALSAN, after the original owners two children – Valerie & Sandy. She was later sold to a publican, those surname was Annan & he renamed her Lady Edith, after his wife. When Arnold Baldwin bought her he returned her to her original name.

Her original engines were either Graymarine or Kermath, but Ken’s memory is leaning towards 6 cyl flathead 90 hp Graymarine’s. He remembers the instrument clusters & they had a polished metal backplate with the name in the middle at the top. These were replaced by 2 x Falcon 4.1L marinised petrol car engines in the 1970s.
Her present engines are 4 cyl. (100hp?) Mitsubishi diesels. In Ken’s opinion not becoming to a vessel of her stature. She has deep under hull exhausts now, amidships & bubbles away at the sides, used to be out the tuck just above the waterline, about 10 inches in from each side, when the petrol engines were fitted.

Harold Kidd Update

Ken is right with the engine brand this time (after having a bob each way). (Alan H called James Mobberley at Moon Engines & asked what the motors were) VALSAN was built by Lidgards for Alex Harvey Jr as a 38 footer with twin 90hp Grays. She was lengthened (as were so many of these big bridgedeckers) to 45ft by the time she went into NAPS as Z10 in 1942-3, possibly during the time she was being repaired after going up on the Castor Bay reef in February 1940. Peter Annan bought her when she was demobbed in 1944 and renamed her LADY EDITH. Annan had been the long-term owner of the big Logan cutter THELMA. In 1948 Annan sold her to Arnold Baldwin who changed her name back to VALSAN.

BTW Bill COULDREY’s surname is spelt COULDREY. (fixed. thx)

I think it’s just empty blather to “see  Couldrey, Ford and Lidgard” in her. The greatest influences of all were the styling themes seen in the US yachting magazines of the time, like RUDDER and MOTOR BOAT & YACHTING which influenced all local designers and owners a thousand times more than the Auckland designers and constructors influenced one another.

PS Peter Annan died in 1951 aged 82. He was a Master Mariner but had retired to the hotel trade when he bought VALSAN.

Valsan

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VALSAN

Poped out after the fog cleared yesterday to give Raindance a run. Spotted the 1938 Lidgard built  Valsan leaving Orams yard (Westhaven) on-route to the CYA dock at Heritage Landing. Looking very smart after some enforced surgery due to another wee oops & what appeared to be new paint & varnish. I was impressed to see the CYA burgee flying. In one of the classic wooden boat clubs in the USA if you are not flying the burgee, no photo’s are reproduced of your boat.