Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download
ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
11 His daughter Betty recalled “if anyone got too close, boy would words fly!” He knew the rules and how to use them to his advantage. It was often said that“the Lord sails with Bob Stewart”as he was often impossible to beat. Stewart had a few successful yacht designs to his credit, but World War II had left the boatbuilding industry in the doldrums. With a desire to revitalize class racing, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in 1942 organised a design contest for a new class of racer/cruiser. The contest attracted entries from New Zealand as well as from notable overseas designers. Stewart submitted an entry which placed second to that of Arthur Robb,a respected New Zealand naval architect practicing in England. As a result of the contest, the Squadron drew up the rules for what would become known as the“K Class.” Stewart’s wife was also influential in his designs. According to both daughter Helen and boat builder Max Carter, it was Lilias who had the final say on the above-the-water shape. If the bow, stern or sheer didn’t look just right to Lilias, Bob would have to alter the lines to improve the overall aesthetics. In1946StewartimproveduponhisearlierMClassdesignwithMiladyandin1947withMatana. Whilebothboatsenjoyedsome successes, when Stewart took the helm of Milady she was more often than not the gun boat. He was involved in the M Class for many years as was documented in Emmy,an excellent volume covering the history of the M Class written by Robin Elliot. Stewart joined the Royal New ZealandYacht Squadron in 1928 and was a member for his entire life. During much of his sixty year tenure, he was selected to participate in virtually every Squadron committee. His wise but firm judgment in the various committees earned him great respect. He spoke calmly and quietly, often forcing others to shut up to fully absorb his wisdom. He was elected as a life member in 1972. Undiscouraged by his second placing in the Squadron’s design competition, Stewart nonetheless commissioned his friend Colin Wild to build the yacht he had designed. In November 1947 the very first of the K Class yachts,christened Helen after his youngest daughter, was launched. Helen’s appearance and performance left nothing to be desired, and her racing record in both K Class and open competition was outstanding. In her first six years of racing, she missed but one gun, further testimony not only Stewart’s skill as a designer, but also as a helmsman. He subsequently designed the successful K Class yachts Penelope and Katrina. With children and grandchildren of varying interests, Stewart sold Helen and returned to small boat racing. Bob Stewart was never one to be dismayed by those who said“It can’t be done.” At the age of 50 he mounted his own, unassisted challenge against some of the world’s top yachtsmen. Stewart travelled to England a purchased the Dragon Class boat Red Dragon and shipped her home. He spent endless hours tuning and preparing her for competition. In order to reduce compression loads induced by the main halyard when the mainsail was hoisted, he invented what is now generally known as a halyard lock. Stewart continuously experimented with different coatings on the boat’s bottom trying to achieve the fastest possible surface. He evaluated glossy paint, paint rubbed slightly with fine sandpaper, polishing the bottom and even applying a coat of dishwashing liquid. All seemed good, but which was the best? In a brilliantly simple test, Stewart applied all of the coatings to sectors of an LP record album. By putting drops of water in the center, and spinning the album, he was able to determine which option would provide the least resistance to the flow of water over a surface. He then shipped Red Dragon to Melbourne, Australia, and with crew members Edgar Swinnerton and Bert Cuthbertson competed in the 1956 Olympics on Port Phillip Bay. Despite the lack of any previous competition in this class of boat, the trio did well, winning one race in heavy conditions and being protested out of another for allegedly tacking too close. This bemused Stewart. He claimed he had tacked no closer than he did every Saturday on the Waitemata Harbour. Stewart was commissioned in 1958 by his friend Peter Colmore-Williams to design a“fast Helen near Rangitoto Betty Stewart Black collection Red Dragon under spinnaker Betty Stewart Black collection