KEY POINTS:
Competition at the first Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta 167 years ago was between skiffs and gigs rowed by the crews of ships in port and canoe events between Maori. For 2007 the emphasis is again on workboats.
January 29 will see vintage workboats and tugboats, all beautifully restored
and the oldest well over 100 years old, parading from the Viaduct Harbour to North Head. They will race over a course of five miles, an event that regatta organisers are confident will become a regular feature of the nation's biggest nautical celebration.
Some of the oldest competitors, Bondi Belle (1896), Romo (1904) and Ferro (1905), will lead a fleet of at least 25 mostly oldsters, including the steam tug William C Daldy, one of the strongest steam tugs afloat today, down the harbour from the Viaduct to the assembly point off North Head. From this great spectator vantage point the fleet will manoeuvre for position awaiting the 10.15am start.
After completing the course the boats will assemble again at North Head before steaming up the harbour in finish order at a sedate five knots to the Auckland Harbour Bridge. From there they will move to the Viaduct Harbour to give the public a chance to see a part of our maritime history.
Baden Pascoe, who writes about workboats old and new in Professional Skipper magazine, probably knows more about the fleet than anyone else on the waterfront. He is picking the former harbour board towing launch Te Hauraki to take line honours, possibly with the Daldy close behind.
Te Hauraki is now the power arm of the Classic Yacht Charitable Trust as watchboat for the trust's fleet of magnificent sailboats. Pascoe says CYCT chairman John Street, who is something of a speed merchant, will be at the helm and making the most of Te Hauraki's 260hp six-cylinder Cummins diesel.
Pascoe's tip for spectators: After the event the boats will be assembling on the seaward side of the Viaduct. This will give people the chance to se the biggest collection of workboats and tugs old and modern ever seen in New Zealand or probably anywhere else in the world.
The little steamer Puke based at the Maritime Museum (launch date unknown) will joins Bondi Belle, Romo and Ferro at the head of the start line on age. The others include Glyn Bird (1908), built in Picton before being brought to Auckland to play a huge role in the development of our tug and barge operations; Phyllis (1913), New Zealand's oldest registered tug; Mananui (1913), built as a pilot boat for Whangarei Harbour Board; Ronokai (1914), built by the AHB for use on the Manukau; Sierra (1917), which was built as a ferry and workboat then joined the Subritzky operation.
The others are: Te Hauraki (1920); William C Daldy (1935), Tuhua (1938), Valda M (1950s), Yorke Syme (1958) and Felicitare (1990). Then are the Thompson towing fleet entries, the green tugs from Total Marine, Herron Construction's pusher tugs, Sea Tow's Koraki and the Port of Auckland big ones, Tamaki, Wakakume and Busby.
The event is sponsored by Simms Diesel and Professional Skipper magazine.