Build Date
Unknown
Boat Builder
Unknown
Length
44ft / 13.5m
Width
9.5ft / 2.9m
All We Know About La Reine
La Reine was brought by Pat Hope in 1965 for 1000 pounds from Lionel Dyer in New Plymouth. Pat quickly had the boat rebuilt and almost completely re-riveted by Alan Westrupp in 1965. It is unknown how much this work cost but it increased the value of La Reine to 9000 pounds.
Pat Hope used La Reine for commercial fishing including cray fishing in Fiordland in the late 1960s. During this time the boat was nicknamed “canoe” or “surfboard” because she was so narrow and was a double-ender. This was an asset though as La Reine could get reach places other larger boats could not. She was also good in a rough sea.
In 1973 Pat sold La Reine in Riverton as he was planning to retire.
It is thought that La Reine was wrecked on the 6th May 1973 on Codfish Island. She is said to have been broken up by the rocks and was not salvaged.
References
To research La Reine we used the book Voices from the Sea; The Stories of some Nelson and Marlborough Fishing Families.
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