Historic racing yacht to be sold on
A yacht that was the only finisher in a race which became the worst disaster in New Zealand yachting history is to be sold to a trust in Auckland for restoration.
The Tawhiri, a classic 11-metre racing yacht built in 1933, is being sold on by the trust that had planned to restore it.
In a High Court decision released this month, Justice Dale La Hood permitted the sale of the Tawhiri from the Tawhiri Trust to the Historic Wooden Boat Charitable Trust (HWB).
The Tawhiri was raced in Nelson and garnered a degree of attention for winning two races from Wellington to Lyttelton, firstly in a 1940 Centennial race.
But when defending the title in 1951, a severe southerly storm hit, sinking two yachts and killing 10 crew members in the worst disaster in New Zealand yachting history.
The Tawhiri was the only yacht to officially finish the race.
At the time, it was owned by the late Noel Brown, a member of the family that co-founded Nelson’s Anchor Shipping and Foundry Company, according to heritage website The Prow.
By 2006, it was “effectively abandoned” at anchor in Oamaru Harbour.
Nelson businessman Tom Sturgess bought the yacht that year and returned it to Nelson. In 2008, the Tawhiri Trust was founded to fund the restoration of the vessel, with a goal of using it for youth sailing.
Initially, the trust leased the Tawhiri from Sturgess’ company, but it became clear that the trust would need legal title to apply for funding, and it was gifted to the trust in 2012.
However, the organisation struggled to secure funding for the restoration, which came with an estimated cost of $200,000.
According to the decision, despite engaging a professional fundraiser, none of the trust’s funding applications were successful.
A trustee explained that after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, charitable funding became very difficult to obtain.
The Tawhiri was kept in storage at Port Nelson where, despite being under cover, it was deteriorating rapidly. Trustees said that if the Tawhiri were to remain the property of the trust, its “its only future is to fall into total ruin”.
Approached by Josh Markham, whose family at one point owned the Tawhiri, the trust agreed for the yacht to be removed and shipped from the Nelson Marina to covered storage in Auckland.
Restoration costs for the 92-year-old yacht are now estimated to be about $300,000.
The trustees of HWB intend for the yacht to be kept in Auckland to be “properly restored, maintained, and enjoyed”, including in club racing.
Justice La Hood noted that this was a shift away from the trust’s Tawhiri Trust’s focus on the Nelson Tasman region, but the HWB’s objectives aligned closely to the original trust.
Markham said the HWB trust intended to remain connected to the Nelson Yacht Club and the Tasman Bay Cruising Club to make the yacht available annually to youth chosen by the clubs.
By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail
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