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ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
116 I will however never forget the exciting times we had with Panui which at times was like sailing a big centre board yacht. Well done Bob Stewart for giving so many people so many thrills at sea yet with so many comforts below. Regards, Ross” After Wilf Beckett purchased Panui he reckoned that she needed a bit of tuning. One day while inducing a bit more bend into the Oregon spruce mast, it snapped. The mast was replaced with an aluminium extrusion. Beckett says“My enjoyment in sailing goes back to 1913 when I was born in Herne Bay and had a salt-water baptism (you might say) on my dad’s 22 ft mullet boat Wairangi. Pre-war I raced and cruised in mulleties Wayward and Bluestreak.After six years of naval service in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve I raced and cruised in the K class Waiomo. With Panui I found it exhilarating to compete with yachts of the same restricted design. In 11 years of Squadron racing Panui I managed to collect 3 Bob Stewart championship trophies (in 1967, 68 and 69). The essential ingredient is a keen crew. And mine was top rate with Edgar Swinnerton calling the tacks, Colin Spanhake on the mainsheet and my son Chris and Michael Spanhake on the foredeck.” Beckett recalls one of his more harrowing experiences: “The Te Kouma race around 1970 started in a fresh breeze off Orakei wharf, Panui like all Stewarts, flew her large kite.Approaching Bean Rock a squall hit the fleet and Panui broached. Held down by the force of the wind on the head of the kite she was dragging at a knot or two towards the light house and the rocks below. Just before the terminal moment her lead finally took over and the mast popped up.Wilf Beckett, her rather worried owner and skipper steered for the only place he could go-through the 25 metre gap between Bean Rock and the Doris Rock beacon now known as Panui Passage. Panui passed through the passage, although her kite did not, and by some miracle her mast did not give way. Under the rules of the day,Wilf had a problem, to complete the course he would need to beat back through the passage, and around Doris Rock if he was going to finish the race. Needless to say he lowered his racing pennant and sailed on to another great weekend, like many others in the 11 wonderful years that he owned Panui.” Beckett was involved in the Stewart Association for 11 years and said that those years were the best sailing and racing in all his years with boats. He sold in about 1976 to Chris McMullen who rebuilt the cabin, installed mahogany joinery and added a one-piece aluminium cockpit to keep the weight correct. In June 1981 he sold to Rod & Rhoda Pryce. She was later owned by Lloyd Bicknell who sold on to Mike Higgins. She was also owned at some point by D. Hoskins. Her present owner is Ian Anderson of Waiheke Island. Paprika Sail No. 241 Builder: John Taylor Launched: 14 December 1968 Construction: Cold moulded triple skin Kauri, glassed over Paprika was built by John Taylor, in the basement of his home. He had a party of 20 to pull the hull out from under the house. Because of time restraints and the onset of winter weather, he approached boat builder Max Carter to assist him. Carter prefabricated the coamings and cabin top and was on hand to fit everything together to a“weathered in”stage after the hull had been turned. She was then shoehorned back into Taylor’s basement for completion. When the time came for launching the completed boat, part of the basement wall had to be removed before Paprika could be transported. Taylor was on a holiday in Perth, Western Australia when he first saw the new Tasker aluminium mast. Enamoured with the concept, he purchased one and brought it back to Auckland as personal luggage. How he managed to get the 47-1/2 foot spar on an airplane as Paprika beats comfortably into the southwesterly in 1972 Stewart Association Collection