124 Boating New Zealand
ABOVE King George on
a contemporary postage
stamp of Tonga.
LEFT Yachting enthusiast
King George Tupou II of
Tonga.
FAR LEFT Onelua being
towed back by the
launches Gladys and
Matakana after her
dismasting.
BELOW Onelua on the
Waitemata after her
launching.about nine years old. Any man knows that a diagonal
boat gets heavier every year. To sum up the whole matter,
it is reviving the old question of the two yacht-building
frms, and who has ever heard of other than a good yacht
being turned out by Logan Bros?”
Bailey put the mast failure down to the rigging-screws
having been cut too deeply in the threads. It then took
some days to fnd a replacement spar, so it was not until
Monday, 19 May 1913 that she fnally left Auckland
under the same crew that had delivered the Free Church
of Tonga’s Bailey cutter Koe Fetu’u Aho in 1912: the
Swedish-born master mariner, Captain E.A. Stenbeck,
Swinnerton and Charles Mansell.
Tis delivery passage has entered folklore as being an
extremely fast passage. Five days is often quoted; the truth
is somewhat diferent. It was marred by hasty preparation.
Gear was shoved in the fore part of the yacht, giving her a
bow-down attitude which caused her to ship a great deal
of water over the bows; a skylight was poorly covered, so
Onelua took in a considerable amount of water through it
in the initial stages; Bailey had not adequately solved the
rigging problems and gear failure continued.
In addition, Stenbeck, probably pushed by Bailey, who
must have been embarrassed by the delays in delivery,
took of into an adverse weather system which gave them
a pasting for several days, radically reducing their ability
to make good averages.Swinnerton wrote a detailed account in an article
published in the February 1914 issue of the American Rudder
magazine. He sets the scene for the American audience:
“Onelua was built and designed by Chas Bailey, Jr. of
Auckland, 53 feet over all, 11 feet 9 inches breadth, eight
feet draught, with 6½ tons of lead on her keel, and about
1,600 square feet of sail. She was well fnished inside, being
also roomy and comfortable. Built of New Zealand kauri,
all planking running the full length, and fnished on deck