26 Boating New Zealand
Mrs Bailey sold the boat to a New York stockbroker,
Robert David Lion Gardiner. He owned Gardiners Island,
at the eastern tip of Long Island, and he used Laughing
Lady to commute from his home to Greenport, on Long
Island. From there it was a quick rail trip into midtown
Manhattan. He also used her to ferry guests between his
island and the upmarket Hamptons – where the Who’s
Who of Long Island kept their holiday mansions.
When Gardiner died in 2004 the boat was sold to a
distant relative in California. But the road trip across the
US was catastrophic and she arrived with a broken back
and one of her engines hanging of the transom.
It fell to a San Diego boatyard – Traditional Boat Works- to tackle the forlorn and fallen lady’s mammoth rebuild.
All progressed well for a few years, but the 2008 GFC
put the brakes on the project. he boatyard eventually
acquired the boat in lieu of unpaid bills. And there she lay,
gathering dust, for many years, until she was spotted by
James Dreyer – an avid Kiwi classic boat enthusiast.
Founded in 1908 the Lüders yard specialised in the design and
building of fast commuter launches, Navy patrol boats, tugs and
racing yachts. During WWII it built submarine chasers for the US
Navy and was renowned for its fast, planing hulls. It was also a
pioneer in hot-moulded and marine plywood construction.
In 1958 it built the successful America’s Cup defender, the
12-metre Weatherly, which vanquished Australia’s Gretel in 1962
at Newport, Rhode Island. The company
folded in 1968, unwilling to embrace
fibreglass construction.
Laughing Lady is a rarity – believed to
be one of only three Lüders powerboats
in existence today.LÜDERS BOATYARD