Home Builds 1 : Taipare

Taipare. Source: Wellington Museum of City and Sea

Wellington has a long history of do it yourself design, experimentation and adaption in yachts. Though there were plenty of skilful boatbuilders in the early days, commercial work kept them busy, and there was not enough local business to concentrate on racing vessels over an extended period. With a few notable exceptions, local boatbuilders' involvement with racing yachts was in the realms of repair and adapting existing boats for clients. To own a yacht with the latest in go-fast technology, you either had to buy one from Auckland, or design and build it yourself.  Taipare was a successful early example of the latter.

Source: Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club archive

Launched in October 1897, Taipare has the distinction of being the first spoon-bowed yacht built in Wellington. She was designed in 1896 by Jack Moffat, who had also designed, built and raced the 18-footer Irex (1893); which raced with the Arawa Sailing Club. He had owned various other small racers, including the half rater Arawa. Taipare was his own design, based on the latest ideas as published in the English journal "The Yachtsman".

She was designed for Bob Stead, a previous owner of the Red Jacket, and later some small third class not very good yachts. Moffat challenged Stead that he should have a proper yacht for a change, and that he was just the man to design her. This was the mid 1890s, and the fleet in Wellington was a strong one, which boasted three class fleets of keel yachts, 14 and 18 foot centreboarders, and half raters. Taipare was designed to be a third class racer.

Source: NZ Yachtsman, 15 November 1913

Taipare was built in Walter St by the brothers Robert (Bob), Thomas and Richard Stead over one year during their spare time.  She was built of kauri, of 1" carvel planking over a 1/4" diagonal skin. Her interior panels sported oil paintings of coastal scenes painted by students at the local art college - altogether a smart little racer of a nudge over 25 feet in length.

Taipare first raced in the two races for third class yachts in the 1898 Wellington anniversary regatta. She was helmed by Jack Highet, of whom it was said that if he had a hand in the tiller, whatever the boat, that boat would find itself "placed in the finish, and usually first". Jack had designed and raced successful centreboarders and continued to do so with the Arawa Sailing Club, only to be eclipsed by his talented younger sibling, Harry, who would go on to dominate the boats of the seemingly invincible Ted Bailey in the Te Aro Sailing Club in the years running up to WWI, and would later design the famous P-class. Taipare and her crew of three won both races, in winds that increased to gale force as the day progressed.

Taipare made a cruise to the Marlborough Sounds in 1898. She only just survived the return journey. A short account can be read here.

Source: Wellington Museum of City and Sea

The Stead Brothers from then on stuck to racing with Arawa Sailing Club. In 1900 they decided to experiment with her a little. There was talk in 1899 of Wellington entering one or two boats for a national championship for One-raters in Auckland. Bob removed Taipare's deadwood and keel, and converted her to a bronze fin and lead bulb configuration, in an effort to make a fast one-rater of her.  The experiment was a failure. Thomas and Richard moved overseas the same year and Taipare was sold for 20 pounds.

Taipare passed through several hands until 1903 when she was purchased by a syndicate led by William Highet. He converted her back to a proper yacht with deadwood and external lead ballast. The first race Taipare entered with her new owners was a sweepstake race of thirteen yachts organised by Oscar Freyberg, which she won.

The keel yacht fleet by this time had diminished rather quickly as sheltered moorings at Thorndon and Te Aro were lost to land reclamation from around 1900. Boats were continually slipping their anchors and fetching up among the rocks around the Northern coast of the harbour, and the survivors were quickly being sold off. It was not until Clyde Quay was opened in about 1906/07 that the fleet once again slowly began to build.

Lizzie (foreground) and Taipare. Source: Terry Ward

It was due to this that the PNYC ran only two racing fleets, both of which were somewhat a mish-mash, and Taipare found herself racing against bigger and fleeter yachts. Nevertheless, under the Highet guidance, she dominated the second class until the little 22-footer Lizzie, built by Ted Bailey for C. J. Ward was launched in 1909.

Bill Highet sold his share the same year, but despite Lizzie's dominance over the next few years, Taipare could still on occasion steal her thunder. When Lizzie was sold to Charlie Neal in 1912, he slightly altered her mast position. Although she was a little easier to handle, she lost her racing edge. Taipare once again became the scratch boat for the division until WWI.




After the war, Taipare got little use in club activity, and she is hard to track until the mid 1930s, when there was a resurgence in interest in the sport, and more people began purchasing and racing small yachts. She was active in racing, but was never tuned up to her potential. Taipare's fate is unknown. She was sold to new owners in the far North of New Zealand shortly after WWII. I wonder if she survives?

Roydon Thomas

From left, Frank Ballinger, Roydon Thomas, Pete Prendeville on board Shemara. Source: G Pascoe

Ilex leaving Wellington for Sydney1946.
Source: David Thomas

Roydon Thomas was a draughtsman and boat designer based in Evans Bay and Mirimar. He was also well-known personality in the Wellington boating world in the 1950s and 60s. He came from a line of sailors; his father owned the well-known trading schooner Huia.

Thomas was a keen member of the Evans Bay Yacht and Motor Boat Club, and as a kid raced a P-Class there, winning the Wellington Championship 1945/46. In 1946, at the age of thirteen years, he sailed as crewman on board his father's yacht Ilex across the Tasman to compete in the second Sydney to Hobart race. He is arguably the youngest ever to have competed. Ilex was also the first NZ boat to compete in the race. Later on he raced Z class at Worser Bay

As a teenager he and three friends built the Athol Burns-designed (modified by Thomas) Almero. She was launched in 1952 and was a sister to the Christina, built after school and also launched in 1952. Christina sailed to Australia in 1956; at the time, the smallest boat to have done so.

Thomas trained as a draughtsman with the Wellington Harbour Board. His first design for a yacht was drawn up in 1954 - a 23 foot keel boat design. The design was favourably reviewed in Seaspray magazine, which predicted a good future for him.

Shemara in a Cook Strait race 1972. Source: G Pascoe

Two were built - Shemara built by Frank Ballinger at his home on Grafton Road was, and is, a tank. Her deadwood is Jarrah, with inch-thick kauri carvel on birch ribs as 6 inch centres. Her transom is two inches thick. She has a lofty sail plan and you need at least 15 knots to get her going. Unless of course there is zero to two knots of wind, which will be just enough to get her moving, and the momentum of her weight keeps her moving. Shemara was launched in 1958 and raced with the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, and cruised extensively in the Marlborough Sounds. I purchased her from Frank in 2007.

Gazelle. Source: David Thomas

Thomas built for himself a sister to Shemara, the Gazelle, launched later the same year. Gazelle, though built to the same lines, was planked in cedar and carried no motor. She was very much the lighter boat, and in general airs up to 15 knots could sail rings around Shemara. She was painted red, and remained brightly coloured in red or blue through her life. She was renamed Reefer around ten years ago.

Gazelle was the winner of the longest Island Bay race on record at the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. At a late stage of the race, all wind died out, leaving the fleet bobbing around. After some hours, as dinner time came near, each of the boats withdrew, either starting their engines or accepting a tow back to their respective berths; except the Gazelle, which had rum on board. Said rum was drunk, as the crew waited for a breeze which came in the next day. The race committee had to make the trip back to the clubhouse to get her finish time. After that, a new rule for abandoning races was created.

Gazelle and Shemara were neighbours in the Clyde Quay marina. Shemara is still there, one of the longest-term permanent tenants. Gazelle was sold to another Australian owner, who shipped her home about 2002.

Charmaine. Source: RPNYC archive

Thomas' next keelboat design at 28 LOA was a beefed up version of the 23 footer. Again, two were built, the Charmaine and Ondine. Both of these boats have had their adventures. The Charmaine was racing from Wellington to Akaroa one year in a strong Northerly with the spinnaker up. The Northerly built, as did the seas, and it was time to bring the kite in and think about shortening sail. However, no-one had the courage to go forward, so the kite stayed up, and all expected the sail to break apart. It didn't, neither did the rig, and Charmaine ended up with a race record for her class.

The Ondine was built by John MacDermott and Phil Hartley at Hartley's home at Balaena Bay. Ondine was raced regularly, and later sold to make way for Hartley's next build, the Spencer-designed half-tonner Odette. Under new owners, Ondine got caught in a tidal rip and a lee shore on Wellington's Southern Coast and couldn't claw out. It was decided to run her aground in a more-or-less controlled situation. Ondine was run on to a beach in storm conditions, and all hands were saved. Ondine was dragged up the beach by a tractor and taken back to town. It is a testament to the quality of the build that after the ordeal, the only real damage was two sprung planks.

Malaguena preparing for her Pacific cruise 1968.
 Source: David Thomas

Thomas continued to design on spec and to commission through the 1960s, mostly work boats from dinghy size through to 47 foot trawlers. He also worked in commercial fishing. In 1967 he designed the 26 foot yacht Malaguena for his brother David, who sailed her over several years around the Pacific. In 1969 he designed and built the Westwind, a 28 foot Chatham dory type for his own use. La Panache, which is currently moored alternately in Clyde Quay and Picton, is a design of Thomas' although Phil Hartley told me she had been considerably altered during her build.

Stories of Roydon Thomas' life are legion. He had a reputation of a hopeless drunk. The "hopeless" aspect though is arguable, as his work maintained a high standard. He was however, a larrikin of the highest order. He is remembered by Phil Hartley's sons as always red-faced and genial. One story in particular can give an idea of the kind of escapade he got himself mixed up in. In 1966 he and several mates accidentally blew up a trawler in Evans Bay. The identity of the culprits was an open secret in the boating world, and his sister-in-law finally spilled the beans to a wider audience in 2007. Read about it here.

Roydon Thomas died by drowning in the Wellington harbour in 1971, aged 39. Special thanks to David Thomas for sharing some photographs and information. A book on Roydon Thomas' designs is in preparation.

Below: Excerpt from Shemara's log December 1962. Crew were Frank Ballinger, Roydon Thomas, Peter Prendeville, Peter Ballinger, P. Breed.

2 1/2 raters: Mawhiti and Kotiri

The creation of one of Wellington's great rivalries of the 1890s and early 1900s began with a bet between two young members of the Arawa Sailing Club in February 1897, Fred Petherick and William (Billy) Moore: they would each build a 2 1/2 rater and see who built the better one. Local boatbuilder and designer Bruce Askew says the bet took place over a beer at the Clyde Quay hotel. Terms were that neither would see the the other's progress, and that the better boat would be proved over a series of three races, with a stake of five pounds.

Both men were active in the Arawa Sailing Club, competing in the 14 foot division, and crewed at various times on the 1/2 raters Miru, Ruru and Vixen.

They were no doubt inspired by the lightning visit of the well-named Logan-built Gloriana which had visited in January 1894, and the intense rivalry of the class then in Auckland. Measuring around an easily handled 35 feet, a fast, light 2 1/2 rater capable of crossing the Cook straight for holidays would have been the next logical step for young men in their early 20s (Petherick was then 21 and Moore about 24 years old).

Kotiri outside the wareshouse she was built in Martin Square

Kotiri was built in a warehouse in Martin Square, off Taranaki Street (recently demolished, local readers might remember it as the 33 1/3rd Gallery) by Petherick, Alf Ballinger, Harry Ballinger and Bill Avery; the Mawhiti by William Moore, M. Beck and Arthur Penty in a shed next door to the Clyde Quay Hotel, across the road from the Clyde Quay Marina.

Mawhiti on the street after removal from her shed.
A vertical cut adjacent to the window reveals her escape route

Getting to the water proved an adventure for both vessels, the draft horses bolting down Tarakanki Street with Kotiri in tow out of control. When her time came in November 1898, Mawhiti wouldn't fit through the door of the hired shed in which she was built. The landlord refused to remove the doors, so an overnigh raid with saws and plenty of tackle saw the wall cut away, the vessel put on the street, and the wall put back before anyone was the wiser!

The Kotiri was first to hit the water in January 1898, The bottle broken on her bow by Nellie Petherick. She just made the Anniversay regatta, but not being tuned up, got nowhere. The mast bent in an alarming manner, and a new (second hand) one was taken from the recently dismantled Isca (and old campaigner wracked beyond repair in a heroic victory against the crack Rona), which was also the source for the majority of sails and hardware for Kotiri. Slightly unusual for the time, Kotiri used lugs and track for the luff of the main, rather than hoops.

From the start, Kotiri fair jumped to weather, but was nigh-on impossible to control downwind, requiring up to three men on the tiller to keep her direction. By the beginning of 1899, she had the heel of the rudder removed, and a lead fin added to the stern post. This had the effect of lengthening the keel by four feet, improved windward performance even more, and made her a behave better off the wind.

Kotiri showing off her full quarters, rigged as a yawl.
Taken during a ladies's race.
Probably Nellie Petherick at the helm, with another woman in the cockpit.

The clash between Mawhiti and Kotiri, considered, though not, sister ships, was anticipated with excitement, and much speculation was entertained in the newspapers. Kotiri was painted black, and Mawhiti white to help spectators identify them.

Mawhiti crew. Wm. Moore front left

Mawhiti hit the water in somewhat better form than Kotiri had, and the first two races these boats competed in January 1899, Mawhiti crossed the line first. Mawhiti was lightly and carefully rigged, with a spruce mast and new sails. The only real bit of magpie behaviour was in purchasing the lead, which created a somewhat comedic chain. The Evening Post columnist "Neptune" reported on 26 November 1898:
"Several boats changed hands during the winter, and a few have been pulled about a bit to suit the various owners. For instance Messers. Penty and Co. bought Ariel from Messes. Shennan and Co. for the sake of the lead keel. They sold the hull to Mr. Freyberg, while the sails went to someone else. Mr Freyberg must get some lead for the keel, so he in turn purchased the Haeata, dismantled her, and shifted the lead to the Ariel. Haeata has since been sold, and no doubt the new owner is looking for lead for her keel in his turn."

As yet, no record is known of a settling of the bet in a one-on-one series, and it may never have occurred. However the two boats continued to be associated in the minds of the yachting and wider community. They oten went in company on cruises to the Marlborough Sounds. A log of a cruise the Mawhiti made in 1900 was printed and can be read here.

The Fell family purchased Mawhiti in 1902 and removed her to Picton, part of the general exodus of yachts at that time. With the heat leaving racing in the first years of the 20th century, Kotiri underwent the first of many tweaks. She was converted to a yawl, the lead fin removed and the rudder continued to the bottom of the keel. This curbed her speed, but made her more easily handled in cruising. She got her first suit of new sails in 1904.

Berkeley Clarke purchased Mawhiti November1906 and brought her back to Wellington. A rematch of the original challenge of 1897 was revisited. A prize of five pounds was agreed between the owners, to be competed over a series of three races officiated by Paul Freyberg.

Mawhiti on Wellington harbour 1907

The first two races were taken out by Kotiri, making a dead rubber of the third. Pressure was put on by Clarke and Freyberg to extend the series to five races. Kotiri accepted and was soundly beaten in light airs. Acrimony and accusations began to fly about using larger sail areas than agreed (Mawhiti had borrowed sails from Iorangi for the race) and a rather bold challenge from Kotiri  - 100 pounds on a single race with no restrictions to gear, was published in the Evening Post. Nothing further came of this, and the challenge fizzled out.

Berkeley Clarke had other things on his mind, and had perhaps been talked into the challenge by other parties. He was planning a move to Sydney, and obviously thought enough of his purchase to take Mawhiti with him in 1907. (But not to bring her back - upon his return to Wellington he purchased the mighty Marangi, which is still making impressive passages).

Mawhiti in Sydney ca. 1910

Mawhiti, though she rarely beat Kotiri across the line, was nevertheless felt to be the sweeter boat, in both looks and handling. She was obviously a better performer in "Full sail" conditions, which Wellington does not often supply. She had a fine career in Sydney.

In fact both boats were performers well into the 1950s.


After 1907

Information on Mawhiti subsequent to her move to Sydney, and more photos, can be On Malcolm Moore's website here (many of the photos here are from his website).

Kotiri getting a full makeover at Balaena Bay 1937

Kotiri raced with the Cruising clubs until about 1914 when she was laid up and largely forgotten about until the early 1920s, When Tom Petherick and his son raced her with the Port Nicholson Yacht Club until his son's death in1929 . She was again left on the hard until 1937, when the three brothers decided to break her up. They were talked out of it, and she was stripped back refinished, rerigged with bermuda sails, and the use of her given to some young men who appear to have made a great life of it. The images of her below show her in action in 1937 or 38.

She continued to race in the first class after WWII. It is thought she was sold to an American owner and taken overseas some time in the mid 1950s.

on board Kotiri 1937 or 38