Duckworks Magazine - Where the Winds Blow...

Where the Winds Blow...

by Mark Steele - Auckland, New Zealand

Someday to sea with Sweetie, Bogie’s Santana,
and a man and his mullet boats.

Netherlander Wim Moonen's clipper Drommen barrels through heavy seas.

An absolutely wonderful photograph (above) by Hans Staal of the Netherlands to lead into this months column. The low angle from which it has been taken makes it a bit difficult to say whether it is the real thing or a model, wouldn’t you say ? Get low, get into the water if you have to …but whatever you do, don’t drop the camera!

I am always fascinated by small sailing boats built with intent to tackle often-rough oceans of the world. Relatively small and certainly `different’ as far as it’s rig is concerned is the 40’ Sweetie designed by the son of Wayne Tedder with whom I shared correspondence with some years ago. The vessel shown above is now being built by father and son as a full-rigged ship to one day be sailed to Hawaii. Wayne and I are in touch again by email and I hope to be still compus mentis and able to update on the voyage when the Sweetie does finally set sail from the US mainland. After that, you never know but someone somewhere may build an RC model.

So inspired by the lines of the Sparkman & Stephens designed Santana once owned and sailed by actor Humphrey Bogart, and by the RC model of her in schooner rig built, owned and sailed by Californian, Don Frakes, Australian Rick Mayes, (builder of the wonderful model of the Sea Cloud seen in an earlier months column) wants to build one and has obtained hull plans from S & S. That is Frakes and his model above, and an earlier shot of him building it.

The regatta put on in the waters beside the Calvert Museum in Maryland last year by the U.S.Vintage Model Yacht Group, the Great Schooner Model Society and the Solomons Island Model Boat Club drew good fleets in the various classes and proved enjoyable to say the least. If the photos taken are any indication, the weather was good and the racing of two sizes of schooners, skipjacks and vintage style Marbleheads was keen and exciting.

Boats on public display

There were losers and winners - Marylander Richard Navickas winning the Skipjack class, Alan Suydam also of Maryland winning the vintage Marblehead class, Joseph Cieri of New Jersey, the small schooner class and George Surgent , the class for large schooners. George’s wife Marla won the Powder Puff class for helping wives sailed with Victoria yachts. As t’is often said `pictures tell a thousand stories,’ so above and below here are a few that show another area of model yachting of which there are so many.

the large schooners racing
skipjack duel	holding and waiting

Not `moody blues’ this one below, since I have chosen to use this photo in black and white it is more aptly titled as `moody greys’. It is Richard Gross of Auckland’s Ancient Mariner windling group’s impressive study of his Bawley Anita taken on a very misty early morn.

The picture is one of peace, calm, flat water still mist-veiled and not yet disturbed by the ducks, and a working boat ghosting by close to shore on the way to the fishing grounds. Moments like these are precious indeed to anyone who has even half a receptive soul with a bit of romance, a feeling for the beauty of nature, and a bit of imagination. Yes? (Hey, mind the wall!)

On day in June this year, eight little rudderless and brightly painted 15” toy boats from Tippecanoe (photograph above) carried to sea in a yacht were set free to roam on the blue waters of the Caribbean. Where will they go,not even Californian, Mark Paulson whose idea it was, and who let them go knows at this stage.

In what is a refreshing new slant to the old `messages in a bottle, he does know that one already ended up on the shores of Sir Richard Branson’s 74 acre Necker island in the British Virgin group. Some of the remaining seven may of course never make landfall, they may be attacked by large fish, become encrusted by barnacles and sink or be destroyed by storms, but since each of the eight carried affixed engraved plates asking finders to make contact with Tippecanoe, the passage of time may tell. I will let you know.

Central Park

Some, perhaps whose eyes may scan this column, will be able to say “I once sailed a model yacht in New York’s Central Park.” Along with the Round Pond in London’s Kensington Gardens, Central Park (seen above) must rank as among the famous venues for sailing model yachts. I have never sailed there myself but walking past it on the day that I did, the water was very busy with lots of model yachts. It was a Sunday and was like Piccadilly Circus with boat traffic! Like the Round Pond and Christchurch, New Zealand’s Victoria Water it goes back a long way indeed. Perhaps given another century or so, our delightful Auckland sailing venue, Onepoto may attain some acclaim. (That’s assuming that some Council doesn’t elect to build houses there. Quite possible really, given the attitude of some council members whose eyes view things only through cash registers!). I won’t be around and somebody else will have to write about it! Oh I don’t know… I might just hang about a bit and grunt my annoyance should it ever happen, better still I might come back as a spook and haunt the Council members!

mullet boat Nomad powers into the wind

Dave Moore of Auckland can be described as a New Zealand mullet boat model enthusiast of the highest order. He has built four of them now, all different and all good performers in terms of sheer `get up and go’ in light winds. Sailing with the Ancient Mariners windling group, Dave’s boats have inspired several others to built mullet boat models also, the type of boat very unique to New Zealand where in the fullsize arena, the most impressive of trophies, the Lipton Cup is competed for each year on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf and is probably the most impressive trophy for yachting anywhere, in my opinion certainly more impressive than that other grotesque goosehead International trophy of renown!

the man and his first two

and the third, the vintage Dream

Famous full sized boats are often ideal for replication in model format and the 1898 gaff cutter Rainbow designed and built by Logan Boatbuilders of Auckland is a good example. Christchurch Model Yacht Club’s Commodore, Hugh Hobden scratchbuilt a beautiful RC sailing model of this crack New Zealand keeler shown on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf in 1899 (below). He is seen with the model in another photo. Hugh increased the draught and rudder area slightly and built the hull and deck out of cedar timber strips, glassed inside and out.

At right, the real one, centre below, the model

Canadian model yacht sailor, Terry Doble tells me that he is now sailing a FANTASY 32” full keel RC boat (seen below) among a growing fleet in Eastern Ontario. With a skeg rudder, the boat is designed by Doug Monro in Ottawa and bare hulls supplied by Frank Scott. Pretty boat that and I can understand its appeal. You into fantasies? (Oh, all the time!)