Build Date
1930
Boat Builder
Ronnie Wells
Length
22 Feet
Beam
Unknown
Everything We Know About Bonny
Bonny is perhaps the first boat built by Ronnie Wells built for himself. He would have been 20 at the time and is thought to have completed the build at Wakatahuri. She had a Continental Petrol engine which was capable of 25 knots.
The original design for the boat included a three-inch step built in. This design was not common at the time and Ronnie was advised later that the step made the boat less fuel efficient, so he filled it in. In Boats for a Lifetime, Maurice recalls that this change to the boats design made her less lively and slower.
The Jones family of Popkini in Southeast Bay are believed to have brought Bonny later but after this her fate is unknown.
References
To research Bonny we used the book Boats for a Lifetime by Yvonne Fells.
Related Posts
Majestic – Commercial fishing boat, a World War Two service vessel and is now a pleasure boat.
Silver Dawn – Double skin kahikatea passenger boat built by Maurice and Ronnie Wells.
Lochiel/Lynette – 24ft. last speedboat built by Claude Wells at Wakatahuri with a top speed of 20knots.
Murabel – 22ft. speedboat built by Norman Wells and Wakatahuri’s teacher in 1933.