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ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
147 they wanted a new boat built,he seemed to get his share anyway,but things tightened up a wee bit and he had a bit of a sale. Hehadasurplusof hulls,asmallsurplus,only2or3or4of S-34hullsinstock,andhemadeitknownquietlythattheycould be bought for a pretty reasonable price,in the vicinity of £3000 I think. Minky had a keel mould made and we poured it out at John Lidgard’s yard one exciting day in his front garden,and we got it pretty hot,and got it a bit too hot and I had to rush off and find a plumber with all his oxyacetylene torches etc.to cool it down. It was quite exciting because although Minky was a great boatbuilder he didn’t know everything about pouring lead keels. That was a bit of a specialist job. Anyway we managed to get the thing back over from John Lidgard’s place. We couldn’t afford to have a new aluminium mast made but there was a spare wooden mast Milton Miller of Poseidon had, anditwashangingupintheraftersinthesaillockerof theSquadronrightattheverybottom,andhesaid,‘Justtakeherdown and she’s all yours.’ Later on when we could afford it we put the new stick in,which she’s got in at the moment.“ “Did you and Minky race her?” “Well,IjoinedtheSquadron,becausewehadbuiltaS-34andIhadalotof friendsintheSquadronwhosaidnowIhadone IwouldhavetojointheSquadron. [FromHal’sletterthenextday:atallSquadronracestheskipperhadtobeamember,but on off days like sayAnniversary Day anyone could take the tiller.] We were usually about half way through the fleet - never muchbetterandnevermuchworse. [Fromthesameletter: Wesometimesimprovedonthis,andononeSquadronweekend at Kawau we managed the double -line and handicap.I only mention this because the competition was intense.] I wasn’t the best of skippers, not nearly as good as Minky. Whenever Mink had a chance to sail it was a different story, he was a bit of a genius on the tiller. He sailed Poseidon, owned by a chap called Milton Miller, way back in an early Sydney- Hobart race,and Milton Miller put him on the tiller practically the whole race.It wasn’t so much the navigating, there were no instruments in those days,but he just had that little bit of sailing super-ability. Familycruisingwasitsmainuse.Itwasbrilliantforcruising,andwecruisedincompanywithanumberof otherboats,notso many Patikis but with my friend Geoff Wiles who I mentioned,in Carmen,and others. We didn’t ever go any further in her thanWhangaroa,andthefurthestsouthwouldhavebeenWhitianga,andthatwasafairrange. Andwehadwonderfulcake dayswithfriendsonSundays. JustpicnicsdowntoMotuihe,orIslingtonBay. Wedidn’tgotoofaratallbecauseasyouknow thatbloodysou’-westeralwayscomesinthesummerlateintheafternoon,andif youtakepeopleoutwhoarenotparticularly used to sailing it can be quite a difficult slog home,especially with wind against the tide.” “ThereisphotoofPolarisandPavotakenduringthe1970AnniversaryRegattawhichhasbeenusedmanytimesinnewspaper ads over the years: Must have sold hundredsT.V.sets as the photo was used for some years and it was a most attractive and colourful action shot.” PolariswasownedforatimebyJimKingston,whosoldtoLaurieandBernieKendallin1976. KendallhadmovedtoTorbay and was living next door to Minky Goodman when he was working on Polaris in 1967/68. JohnO’Connell&SharonStannardpurchasedPolarisinOctoberof 1994. TheysoldtoHowardPattersonwhosoldtothe present owners inApril of 2005. Polaris’ present ownership consists of a partnership of three District Court Judges, Phil Gittos, Russel Johnson and Fred McElrea. They haven’t raced her much, and keep her mostly for day trips and cruises. Fred McElrea says“Although she is berthed at Q55 Westhaven, I have a mooring at Mahurangi Harbour where you will usually find Polaris on Auckland Anniversary weekend for the Mahurangi Regatta. She still has the 26 hp Volvo two cylinder diesel engine that I believe O’Connell/Stannard installed,and Howard Patterson reconditioned. She is in very good nick,and much loved. I hope the same will be true in another 40 years.” Polaris’ Missile According to Stewart lore,one of the more interesting events happened in the late 1960’s when Polaris,which was on port gybe while racing from Orakei Wharf to Te Kouma in a brisk nor’westerly,wound up in a terrifying broach. Murphy’s Law combined with the “cascade effect”causing the following nearly catastrophic sequence of events: