Ailsa: The 1940 Centennial Regatta Flagship
Build Date
1909
Boat Builder
Tom Le Huquet
Length
1909 – LOA 36 ft, LWL 26 ft
2010 – LOA 47 ft, LWL 27ft
Beam
Building Ailsa and Her Early Owners
Ailsa was built in Auckland in 1909 for the Feltham Brothers who owned her until 1911 when the Hamill Brothers took ownership and moved Ailsa to Wellington around 1911/12. They owned her until 1919 when Scott and Jordan of Wellington brought Ailsa.
Scott and Jordan owned Ailsa until 1936 and during their tenure they tried changing her gaff rig to a Bermudan cutter rig in 1921. Some people say this was the first Bermuda rig in NZ but Zephyr in Lyttleton had one in 1886. Either way the Bermuda rig was not a success, and they returned the boat to a gaff cutter for the next racing season.
In 1936 they sold Ailsa to J. Barker of Wellington who owned her until 1939. Barker added an auxiliary motor to Ailsa in 1936. Pickering was the next owner of Ailsa but her ownership is unknown after this. It is known that Ailsa was converted again in the 1930s. This time to a yawl.
The 1940 Centennial Regatta
During the 1940 Centennial Regatta in Wellington Ailsa was used as the flagship which was quite an honour. The regatta involved a Lyttleton to Wellington Ocean Race with twelve keel yachts taking part. Ailsa was not one of them, instead acting as the Wellington flagship.
Sometime around the 1960s Ailsa was moved from Wellington to Lyttleton. Then around the 1970s she was moved all the way to Auckland and Northland. Also, around this time she was converted again, this time to a gaff rigged ketch.
Finally, Ailsa is believed to have travelled to the Marlborough Sounds but where she is now is unknown.
References
To research Ailsa we used the Wellington Classic Yacht Trust website. To see images of Ailsa check out the Classic Yacht Trust’s image gallery.
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