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ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
12 racer/cruiser” which could eventually be built in the latest material, fibreglass. In this boat he incorporated numerous design elements from designers who had influenced his thinking over the years. At the same time, with this boat, Stewart set out to do something unlike anything he had ever done before. He did not want to design another run-of-the-mill keeler the likes of Helen. Reaching deep, he collected the sum of his experience, as well as skimming the cream from others who had had an influence upon him. Stewart’s ongoing written correspondence with notable overseas designers from England and the United States also enlightened him with some fresh new ideas from other parts of the world. Breakthroughs in construction materials would enable him to create a strong but very light boat, with a“radical”fin keel. In theory it should not only sail fast, but would have enough volume to comfortably accommodate an average family for cruising. Colmore-Williams also wanted a boat that could be easily single-handed if his wife was down below cooking or looking after the kids. Patiki would prove successful on all counts and become the trophy on Bob Stewart’s design mantelpiece. Patiki was built by top Auckland boatbuilder John Lidgard and launched in November of 1959. Her name was taken from the Maori word for flatfish or flounder, due to her very shallow canoe body and large flat sections below the waterline. Stewart’s daughter Helen recalls the day she was launched;“she was absolutely beautiful and she floated perfectly on her lines.” She was an instant success on the race course and proved to be quite suitable for family cruising. Patiki was hailed by many designers after him as a “breakthrough boat.” She was considered to be an “ultra- light” displacement yacht in her day, giving up very little on the waterline to overall length. With a generous sail plan for power and moderately stout beam for stability,she could sail quite well to weather, but still get up on the plane and surf down wind. With a sleek fin keel, her wetted surface (i.e. drag) was greatly reduced compared to her full keel predecessors. While Bob Stewart’s original short, skeg hung rudder design left a bit to be desired, causing some spectacular broaches under spinnaker, she nonetheless dominated the race course, even over much larger yachts. High aspect ratio balanced rudders were subsequently developed and retrofitted to most of the boats, solving most of the handling issues. More Patikis, as the design would come to be known, were built and in 1965 a restricted one design Patiki class was formed, allowing the burgeoning fleet to race in their own division, much to the pleasure of those owners with older, larger and slower yachts. For owners with “foot-itis,” Stewart designed a number of larger versions of the Patikis such as the Carmen series of 42-footers. His flagship Northerner, a beautiful and very fast 50-footer, became the boat to beat on Auckland waters. Stewart also created the Matangi series of 36-foot motor-sailors and the Camelot series of 40 foot cruisers, which were specifically designed for safe, fast and comfortable offshore passage making. As a tribute to the designer, in the late 1960’s the class name was changed from Patiki to Stewart 34. The Stewarts dominated the Auckland racing scene during the 1960’s and 70’s, but are probably best known as the quick and nimble yachts sailed by the world’s top yachtsmen in the highly acclaimed Citizen Watch Match Racing Series from 1979 to 1989. Over the years, Bob Stewart helmed a number of his 34-footers with excellent results, but it wasn’t until 1972 that boatbuilder Brin Wilson, who had a spec Stewart 34 completed to hull and decks, convinced him to buy one for himself. Wilson passed away shortly after, but his sons completed Precedent for Stewart and his son-in-law, Richard Craddock, who was also a keen yachtie, and she was launched in 1973. Stewart continued to race and cruise Precedent till he was past 80 years of age. While Lilias went off to play bridge, Bob went off fishing on his own or with Barney Crompton and mates, sometimes in a dinghy and sometimes on Precedent. His daughter, Helen remembers a trio being seen off by their anxious children, with the old fellows rowing out to the moored Precedent and asking each other in loud voices if they had remembered their heart pills. It Bob and Lilias c. 1980 Betty Stewart Black Collection