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ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
129 the market for $8,000. Bill Miller, who was new to the Stewart 34 Class, purchased Pavo and raced her for two seasons,1969/70 and 1970/71, wanting to see what the Stewarts were all about. One of the first races in which he would sail with Pavo was the Squadron Boxing Day Race to the Bay of Islands. In preparation for the longcoastalpassage,hiswifeBettysuggestedthatBillcheckallthesafetygear. OntheSaturdaybeforetheraceMillerwasonboardPavo getting her ready. While inspecting one of the flares,he took one out into the cockpit to familiarize himself with the firing instructions. Do this with your finger and that,exactly as the book said,with the flare in his hand ...WHOOOF!! Of went the flare,straight inside Pavo’s cabin,burning a hole in the cabin roof and dropping burning bits on the floor,burning holes in the carpet. Not having much success with her,he reckoned that it was the fault of the boat. He sold Pavo and had a new Stewart built. She then had a string of short-term owners including;Gordon Peddie of Massey,H.Graham,Leigh Cadman and Murray Carlisle. In 1981 she was sold to the partnership of Keith Pattie,Jason Cunningham and Leigh Cadman. In 1988 she was purchased by the partnership of Chris Barlow,Gerrard Rea & Quentin Reeves who renamed her Pro-Rata. She was later owned by Graeme & Claire Cleaver and then C.L.Henderson of Hamilton. The illustriousAuckland barrister Sean Ellis purchased her and renamed her Pavo in March of 2003. Not one to let the truth get in the way of a good story,Ellis tells us what he knows of Pavo’s history: Pavo is named after a southern constellation in the shape of a peacock’s tail or“turkey”in Spanish as the current owner’s wife constantly reminds him. ShewasbuiltbyMills&Washington,notfromtheusualKauri,butintriple-skintanalizedkahikatea,Pavohadsomevariationfromthe plan which the builders thought would make her more suited to her first race – theAuckland to Noumea. BeforelonganAucklanderlaidhishandsonherintheformof the“Godfather”of Stewartracing,BillMiller. Herecallstheseatrialwhere he was delighted to see her roll a bigger, faster boat. Miller was mightily impressed until he realised it was a set-up, with the other boat deliberately being sailed badly to promote the sale of Pavo. Recently when current owner Sean Ellis had the daft idea of selling her to buy a glass boat,there was a sea trial which took in a rum race. The prospective buyer was very impressed with her performance as Miller helmed her up the harbour, spitting out all other Stewarts while her merits were loudly discussed. Ellis recalls it being a great day until the prospective purchaser, pale and frightened said that at 60, he was surely too old for this. The disappointment only grew as it became apparent that Miller had put the frighteners on other skippers, apparently telling them that the rum tap on Pionnier would dry up for them unless they let Pavo cross the line first. IttookyearsforEllistorealisethatitwasallforthebestandthatpale,frightened60-year-oldswhothoughttheywereelderlyhadnoplace onthefrontlineof Stewartracing.This,tothecomparativeStewart-racingnewcomerillustratedthatwhiletheboatsandownersmayget older,their sandbagging techniques are as bright and shiny now as they were 40 years ago. With Miller at the helm in the early 70s,he recalls placing second on handicap in the Coastal Classic.The story goes that the race had a goodsoutherlybreezeandthatPavo,atonestage,hit18knots.ThehighestspeedMillersayshe’sattainedinaStewart.Anchoredsafelyat Russell,thecallcameovertheradiofromtheraceofficials.Therewasgoodnewsandbadaccordingtotheradio.Thegoodnewswasthat Pavo had taken second place.The bad news was that Pavo had to have a safety gear inspection at 10.30am. The following information has never been verified and could be completely untrue. But rumour has it that Pavo was a bit short of gear. Yes she had two anchors,but one of them was for the dinghy and was very small. She had a fire-extinguisher,but not two.There was a requirement that the dinghy had buoyancy per class rules. The official duly arrived,the smoke and mirrors jury-rigged to deceive him.To assist with the spell,whisky was applied to the official who offered no resistance. The boat, it seemed, was still in a bit of a mess, with her forepeak inaccessible because of the amount of gear and sails strewn around.The dinghy passed muster,the official being impressed with the well-secured fenders lashed beneath its thwarts for buoyancy.