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19thC NZ wooden racing yachts, Maintenance and Restoration


DandV

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Yesterday, was another working bee, to get the remaining halyards threaded up the mast, and mount the gaff, ready for the mainsail, all 1200 sq ft.

The lightest member was dispatched up the mast in a bosuns chair, and I was dispatched down below to rewire the steaming light from the mast.

Pulling the cable through a bulkhead and reconnecting was accomplished without drama, but no light emitted forth.

Once a multimeter was sourced volts were found to be awol at the connection block in an awkward position in a locker.

Dismantling the distribution board determined that the switch no longer switches, hopefully a matching replacement is still available.

The four spars still on deck are left to right, spinnacker pole, two topsail spars, and the gaff ready to be positioned.

In the background is Breeze, the Auckland Maritime Museum brigantine and Te Rehutai  the Team NZ defender readying for a practice run.

Fortunately I got home just in time to see the round robin, race between Britannia and  Luna Rossa . What a race with several lead changes but it seems that Ben Ainslee and Giles Scott were better at observing the wind shifts on the course and squeaked home. Best race of the series so far.  

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A view from above. The long spar on the port side is the spinnaker pole. When running square down hill under spinnaker, Waitangi is over 80ft wide!

The boom is 43ft long! Always a threat to boats passing to windward if we are forced into an involuntary gybe. 

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Yesterday was electrics and mainsail day.

First on, threading the 170ft of mainsheet through the blocks.

Don bought a new switch for the steaming light that almost fitted. the opening in the distribution board required a light filing at one end to fit but of course we did not have a suitable small file on board. A job for another day. Bit at least the mast light shone and the switch had a working indicator lamp.

The others mounted the running light boxes on the shrouds and reconnected the lamps, all worked! Then with some requisitioned extra help we got the mainsail on deck and lashed it in turn to the boom, gaff and mast hoops.

We will miss the Friday evening race 48 nautical miles north to Mahurangi, the Saturday racing in the Mahurangi Regatta, and the return race on Sunday, but we will compete in the Auckland Anniversary Day regatta on Monday.

Because I wont be sailing on Fridays race I have been co opted to help out on the start boat.  

 

attached also is the mud map of the rigging plan. 

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Well Waitangi was not ready for the Mahurangi regatta, started in the early 1830's as racing between whaling crews, whilst they were obtaining new kauri timber spars.

It was held intermittently until it's most recent revival 44 years ago. I was therefore volunteered to assist on the starting boat for the night race up from Auckland on the Friday night.

My wish to get photos was thwarted by the need to raise and lower brightly coloured flags on poles, at precise times, on the minimal stern deck of an anchored launch in lumpy conditions.

Monday was the 181st running of the Auckland Anniversary Regatta, and our first sail since the mast overhaul.

Included in the events were trips out on the 19th C Auckland Maritime steam tender SS Puke built for the kauri logging trade on the Kaipara harbour NW of Auckland.

The old man of the Tug Race was the William C Daldy built on the Clyde in 1935 and in service in Auckland until 1977

Photos of the classic yacht race to follow. 

   

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Well why do all that maintenance, if you can't go racing?

Starts with a crew briefing, then hoisting sails. With no winches getting the main up takes about eight people, four each on the peak and throat halyards.

14 nautical mile course, a nice breeze kicked in just before the start so the first half of the race took about an hour and a half.

Then calm, what wind there was was puffs from all around the compass, as the west, and east coast sea breezes met in the middle, and the volcanic cones created their own variations complicated by strong outgoing tides. 

Never done so many successive involuntary gybes. But a nice final run to the line.

  

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I'm very envious. Partly of the enormous fun you're clearly having, but mainly because your lives are not on hold because of the 'Rona. Such a pity we have failed as a nation where NZ succeeded. 

 

MP.

 

ETA I have been following the (re)build of the sailing Yacht Tally Ho on Youtube with great interest. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-_lYeV8hBnDSay7nmphUA

Edited by MoominPapa
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  • 4 weeks later...

Yesterday was day 1 of the annual classic yacht regatta in Auckland. 

Unfortunately my camera ran out of memory on a new, but incorrectly loaded memory card, so no on board photos to show.

Lovely days racing was though recorded by a boating press photographer. Some stunning photos of beautiful century old  big gaff rigged yachts racing.

https://hummingbird-photography.smugmug.com/Classic-Yacht-Regatta-Day-1-selection/

I can be distinguished by wearing a red life jacket on the big black gaff rigged cutter.

Shame on me for not buying a black life jacket.

Unfortunately the regatta came to an abrupt end at 9pm last night with an emergency alert squarked over all cell phones announcing Auckland was going back into a weeks lockdown at 6am because of some new, at that time unlinked covid cases, that had visited a number of high risk venues since becoming symptomatic. With a near 30000 people expected to participate in the annual harbourside fun run at 9am  the following morning and other big events, the risk of a super spreader events was judged too high.

We have got this far, with relatively little covid damage, using quick decisive actions so now is not the time to relax. 

With the benifit of hindsight, we were probably a little premature coming out of our last brief lockdown.

Vaccination of border, and quarantine facility staff, and then their families is well under way, but our need for these vaccines is no where near as dire as elsewhere in the world.

Edited by DandV
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6 hours ago, DandV said:

Yesterday was day 1 of the annual classic yacht regatta in Auckland. 

Unfortunately my camera ran out of memory on a new, but incorrectly loaded memory card, so no on board photos to show.

Lovely days racing was though recorded by a boating press photographer. Some stunning photos of beautiful century old  big gaff rigged yachts racing.

https://hummingbird-photography.smugmug.com/Classic-Yacht-Regatta-Day-1-selection/

I can be distinguished by wearing a red life jacket on the big black gaff rigged cutter. 

Some of them carry a lot of canvas, I bet it was spectacular to watch and even better taking part.

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Photo From Hummingbird photography 

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9 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Some of them carry a lot of canvas, I bet it was spectacular to watch and even better taking part.

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Photo From Hummingbird photography 

It is a bit like truck racing. Lots and lots of power, but lots and lots of weight. Waitangi and Thelma are over twenty tons.

Both boats mainsails are 1200 sqft and 240 sq ft topsoil above. No winches so the mainsheet is 170 ft long. Hence the large crews.

Because the backstays need changing over each gybe, gybing duels are avoided.150 ft of mainsheet in, tighten leeward backstay, helm over, let go leeward backstay and release 150 of mainsheet.

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Ah, things of beauty. If I could book another lifetime I'd have a go at that classic boat stuff. Mind you I'd have to a) have a very well paid job or b) be very well connected or c) be a very successful criminal.

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The boats are expensive to keep up.

Most of the boats are either owned by charitable trusts, or syndicated ownership.

The costs though of participation on trust owned boats is incredibly modest. Some labour painting and scaping, plus fixing stuff that breaks, like the heads, as well as about £13 a sailing day, preferably paid by subscription. Because they are locally important heritage classics onboard sponser advertising is frowned upon, but commercial suppliers do find ways of supplying at less then fully commercial terms.

The boats are heritage buff magnets, but the skippers are very competent yachties, with ex Olympic, and American Cup veterans amongst them.

Links to the two multi vessel charitable trust websites detailing their vessels and their histories.

http://classicyachtcharitabletrust.org.nz/

https://tinorawatrust.co.nz/home

Edited by DandV
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