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to buy Ariki. He left Ida in fine fettle and still gaff-rigged.
Her next owners were two friends. L. Holden Mirams was
an engineer with British Petroleum and brother of Gordon
Mirams, the film censor, and Roger Mirams of the National
Film Unit. His co-owner was Dr John David McLean Pinkerton
(known as ‘Pinky’) who had had an interesting career.
In WWI he won the MC and a bar on the Somme for rescuing
wounded soldiers under fire in No Man’s Land. After the war
he practised in England but eventually moved to the Persian
Gulf where he was Medical Officer for Anglo-Iranian Oil Co (BP)
during WWII.
After the war he moved to Auckland and no doubt met
Holden Mirams through the BP connection. Both men were
keen on racing but also cruising with their families so the
inevitable conversion to bermudan rig followed with new sails
Pinky brought back with him from a visit to England. They
installed a Ford 10 auxiliary.
Pinky’s family wanted to return to England where one of his
sons became a pioneer of computer science at Oxford, inventing
the concept of the PC. Pinky stayed in Auckland at his practice
in Dominion Road for the New Zealand summers’ yachting but
returned to family in England by ship every winter.
He always dressed immaculately in whites with a yachting
cap and was a great character with his terribly British Army
accent. On one occasion on a rough day, he fell overboard.
Holden’s daughter Pamela Mirams was at the helm and
immediately put about, but he had disappeared.
Suddenly he popped up, still wearing his cap. He let outa most uncharacteristic oath as Holden Mirams pulled him
aboard, simply because his broken nose had bloodied his whites.
BP transferred Holden Mirams to Wellington in 1954. He
sold his half share in Ida to Pinky who continued to sail her
every summer. He died on RMS Rangitata off the Celebes
returning to England in October 1960.
His estate was considerable and sold Ida to R. Price, J. Platt
and O.C. de Bruin in June 1962. That syndicate owned her until
July 1969 when it sold her to Gerry Tenbroeke of the RNZAF
station, Hobsonville.
Ida became less and less competitive on the Waitemata. We
woke up one day to find her on her way to Sydney owners. Her
present owners are Jerry and Catherine Shirley of Sydney who
have cherished her for some years (see sidebar).
Once again, we must marvel at the longevity of Auckland
yachts of the classic period. It is because of a combination of
factors, their incredibly strong monocoque diagonal construction,
kauri timber, excellent initial design and superb craftsmanship.
It is also the fact that most have been cherished and
maintained well in a culture which (at least historically) is
reluctant to throw good things away. As a result, these 120 to
130-year-old yachts are still viable. Will we be saying the same
thing about our composite wonders of today in 120 years? BNZBOATINGNZ.CO.NZTELL YOUR STORY
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