Glad you liked it Nerys😊 We used to have a number of 50-70ft keelers racing in the 70s/80s (and way back)-the one with all the crew sitting on the windward rail - Ranger,- 1937,- was one, - she's 60ft and has 5 tons of ballast ). Most have been restored (some sold o/seas, - one went to the US) but are not often seen as they are treasured now and looked after (by people with very deep pockets!) A lot of the big boats are getting close to 100yrs old now (and more). Pic is of Ranger -probably around 1940s,- hauled out at a beach which is now the big Westhaven marina in Auckland.

One of the other yachts racing - Ariki, (1904) has just come out of a major restoration - lots and lots of money! and looking beautiful.

JB

What an interesting video of the history of the Auckland Anniversary Regatta. A great plethora of yachts and boats of all sorts commensurate with the period. I liked the scows and those big gaff schooners carrying sail wherever possible. I loved all the many smaller boats too, a wonderful record of NZ sailing over the years then the rot sets in, in 1935, the Bermudan rig appears and straight away yachts start to loose that extra something that made them so much more photogenic with the gaff rig. I liked the idea of seaplane races too, and tug racing, now that's a good idea. Thank you so much for posting this wonderful series of pictures.

Cheers, Nerys

Here's a vid of the Auckland Anniversary day regatta (if you can call it one now) on Auckland harbour (Monday 1st Feb- almost deserted apart from the tug 'race') which in the past would have been standing room only. Most of the yachts had sailed up north 100 miles on a coastal race to the Bay Of Islands on Saturday (seems to be taking over). Usually every sort of yacht and boat imaginable would have been out there, but things have been slowing down over the years,- people just don't seem to have the time any more,-too busy working to pay off massive mortgages etc.

Bit of a shame, as it was one of the major events of the year, with all the classic yachts racing. There were a few there but just a small fraction of the usual fleets. The blue boat at 1:40:10 is Fleetwing, (1920) which was one of the fastest racing boats in NZ at the time (pic) and has recently been dragged off a farm and been re engined, and had a lot of remedial work done. Goes ok now for 100yrs old! A friend of mine at schools' parents owned it (with another cabin) back in the 60s, and it was moored almost outside our place , then it disappeared (South Island I think for a long time, then found on a farm way inland, (Nth Island,) beside a shed)

For some reason there is a big gap in the vid till 5:29:00 then its showing the Viaduct harbour area.

JB

https://regatta.org.nz/about-auckland-anniversary-regatta/regatta-history/

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Ports of Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta 2021

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