A push-of-war in progress
TUGS LEAD THE ANNIVERSARY REGATTA
Not to be outdone, the WC Daldy is in amongst the best
The Bondi Belle, the oldest in the fleet
BY SANDRA GORTER A
flotilla of 17 tugs led the fleet of boats out racing in the 172nd Auckland Anniversary Regatta on January 31. There was some spectacular racing as the old steam- driven tug William C Daldy led the blue-liveried Ports of
Auckland's Daldy, Wakakume, Waipapa and Tamaki, and Thomson Marine's dashing Manukau and Mahia, for part of the race. The big boats may have dominated the spectator's view of the race, but smaller boats like the Olga, built by Ted Ashby, led at times. There were a number of unofficial entrants in the race. One, a former tow boat converted into a pleasure craft looked almost out of place with her sparkling green paint as the tugboat division powered from the start line off North Head down the harbour to the salt works buoy on the first leg. After the race, the two Ports of Auckland tugs Wakakume
and Waipapa entertained the crowd gathered at the end of Princes wharf with a display of dancing as they showed off their manoeuvring skills.
Not to be outdone, the two Thomson boats performed their own variation of a ballet on the water in a knuckle-up pushing war off Bastion Point, giving the public a lighthearted view of boats that are normally only noticed for their working abilities.
58 Professional Skipper March/April 2012
There almost seemed to be two classes within the division. The oldest boat in the fleet, the1903 Bondi Belle, a diesel (originally steam) tow boat, was also one of the smallest, along with the Curlew, Sierra and, although she may not even have been in the race, the tiny Little Toot. Who would have thought one man, let alone two, could fit in her tiny wheelhouse! The Curlew won line honours and the 1909 ex-Bay of Islands towboat Sterling won the tugboat division on handicap. All the divisions made their own contribution to this day of spectacle on the water, with the ocean-going waka Te Aurere and the sailing ship Spirit of New Zealand adding a sense of historic context to the day's sailing.
In many ways, though, it was the day for the classics, with the newly re-launched Rawhiti joining her old sparring partners Rainbow, Thelma, Waitangi, Little Jim and nearly 20 others. Keeping with a tradition that has ruled Auckland's yacht racing scene since she was launched in 1938, the Ranger led the A division by a country mile. Her racing career almost had an untimely end, as she was heading down the harbour on the first leg as her race line cut a path in front of the William C Daldy. A few breaths were held for quite a long time as an anchored
