Restored classic yacht comes home

By ROBIN BAILEY

Tomorrow marks an important milestone in New Zealand's maritime history with the "homecoming" of the classic Robert Logan yacht Waitangi.

The black-hulled beauty will sail into a berth at the New Zealand National Maritime Museum at Hobson Wharf at 2.30pm for a welcome-home ceremony hosted by her new owners, the newly formed Classic Yacht Charitable Trust.

Launched on December 13, 1894, Waitangi was the last major yacht built by Scot Robert Logan who founded the dynasty that for three generations was at the forefront of yacht design and building in this country.

Commissioned by a Wellington syndicate, Waitangi won her first race in the Wellington Anniversary Regatta by 27 minutes and continued to dominate the yacht racing scene for a decade. She stayed in Wellington for the next 25 years, sometimes being rigged as a cutter, sometimes as a yawl as owners tried to cope with the often boisterous sailing conditions of the windy city.

In the early 1950s Waitangi went across the Tasman where she had a series of owners. One built an ugly structure nicknamed the "tram shed" on the deck, shortened the bowsprit and rigged the yacht as a ketch. Another, in an attempt to restore the yacht, had the deckhouse removed and installed a small teak wheelhouse over the cockpit. A later owner had the interior fitted out in laminex.

The yacht was used for tourist work on Sydney Harbour for some years, before languishing on a mooring until 1986 when group of Melbourne enthusiasts put a syndicate together and created a rescue plan for her restoration.

Melbourne architect Doug Shields and sailmaker Col Anderson, both members of the syndicate, were appointed project managers for the rebuild and spent several years researching the history of the yacht so that it could be faithfully brought back to its original state.

Shipwrights John Johnson and Kevin Back were entrusted with the rebuild, with only one proviso. The work had to be completed in 12 months, in time for the boat's 100th anniversary on December 13, 1994.

The yacht remained as a "working museum" until late last year when the syndicate members decided they could no longer commit the time and money necessary to keep Waitangi in mint condition. They put her up for sale.

Aucklanders John Street, Max Carter and Bill McCarthy had for some time been discussing how best to create an organisation to preserve some of this country's marine treasures. The formation of a charitable trust was still in the formative phase in October last year when the 1982 Logan lovely Gloriana became available.

Street had no sooner arranged financing to secure Gloriana than he heard Waitangi was about to go on the market. The three founders of what is now the Classic Yacht Charitable Trust made a quick trip to Melbourne, had a sail on the yacht and found the Aussie syndicate keen to help to ensure Waitangi returned to New Zealand.

A deal was done and the Waitangi is now the flagship of the trust's growing fleet. Initially the yacht will be based at the Maritime Museum, which makes chief executive Larry Robbins wax a bit ecstatic.

"The return of Waitangi to her homeland is a remarkable achievement and we are honoured to be entrusted with her keeping."

At the helm for the homecoming will be Tony Blake, civil engineer and experienced sailor, who is now a marine artist whose work is in galleries and collections all over the world.

Blake: "I am passionate about the grace and beauty of the old gaff-rigged yachts and accurate historical and present-day portrayals of them make up the majority of my paintings. I am thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to organise the crew and sail Waitangi on her journey home and in the future."