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ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
33 When Ian Fish and Bill Miller were granted permission in May of 1977 to build Stewart 34’s in fibreglass,it was specified that they were to be similar in weight to the existing wood boats. Through equalization, this has more or less been achieved. Most of the fibreglass Stewarts are now more than 20 years old and have held up well. Of the 19 fibreglass Stewarts built, two have ventured across the Tasman to Australia. Of the 17 remaining in New Zealand, 13 form half of the very competitive Monday night Championship fleet racing in Auckland. The older wooden boats making up the other half of the fleet remain competitive with quite a few of them regularly sailing to podium finishes. If fibreglass Stewarts have been successful from a sailing point of view, they have not been a brilliant financial venture. It cost Bill Miller $26,000 to fabricate the moulds in 1977. Royalties of $1500 were meant to be paid for the use of the moulds; however a fewwell-knownyachtsmenwereabletonegotiatelowerroyalties,claimingthattheirownershipof aStewartwouldaddvaluetothe class. In any event, total royalties collected over six years amounted to $26,400. Miller feels that $400 is a rather meagre financial return for the effort. Nonetheless,he reckons that the thirty years he’s enjoyed sailing Pionnier has been absolutely priceless. 5 - The Stewart 34 Owners Association At the onset of the 1963/64 racing season,there were ten Patikis racing under the Squadron banner. Eleven boats were in the water and four more were under construction. The fledgling group of owners decided to form the Patiki Owners Association in order to begin to draft class rules, organise class racing and further the best interests of the class. Jim Davern was selected as Chairman, and Milton Miller, whose own Patiki was under construction at the time, became the first Secretary. Bob Stewart accepted an invitation to act as technical advisor. Among the initial agreements or“Class Rules”made was one limiting the number of sails to be carried, in order to put an end to some of the“wallet-based”competition that was beginning to drift into the class. TheAssociation limited the yachts to four headsails and two spinnakers. Aminimumstandardof constructionwasset. Allboatswererequiredtohaveanengineandfullcomplimentof cruisinggear such as ground tackle, a galley, head and sleeping berths. The Association decided to oppose the building of any more modified Patikis with raised decks or any other significant alterations. They felt that a Patiki should be a Patiki, and if anybody wanted a different boat, then a different design should be used. In August of 1968, the Patiki Owners Association decided that the official name for the boats would be changed to the Stewart 34, in honour of Bob Stewart,and they would now call themselves the Stewart 34 OwnersAssociation. While the text of the initial Class Rules could have fit neatly on the back of a beer mat,over the years it has evolved into a very elaborate anddetaileddocument. AlongwiththeStewart34OwnersAssociationConstitution(SeeAppendixforbothdocuments)theyformthe backbone of what has become a successful class yachting association. In September 1969 Bob Stewart donated the plans for the Stewart 34 to the Association asking them to ensure that“all boats are built to the spirit of the class restrictions.” TheAssociation then made the plans available for $30 a set,the money going towards running the Association and ensuring any new boats meet theAssociation’s criteria. By the end of 1969 at least 24 boats had been built. The original Stewart 34 moulds are stil in existence Roley Stanley