Vintageview
Volunteer vs Viking
Indeed, Reeks’ Volunteer was named in honour of Edward Burgess’ America’s Cup winner of 1887. Four of Reeks’ designs – Era, Miranda, Iduna and Volunteer – were built to compete for the big prize money on offer at the Intercolonial/international Regatta to be held at Melbourne in November 1888.
As time was short to get the 33-ton Volunteer down the coast to Melbourne, Reeks fitted her with a makeshift rig from the old cutter Magic, which had a new suit of Ratsey & Lapthorn sails but was too short in the hoist to meet her designed rig parameters, even with seven feet added to the leech.
Under this temporary rig she had come in a close second to her 50-ton sister Era at the Double Bay Regatta shortly before both yachts left for Melbourne. But Era was triumphant in Melbourne. Offshore, Volunteer made the passage back to Sydney in better time than Era.
Their next harbour race was in the Sydney Anniversary Regatta on 26th January 1889 when they were the only entrants and collided shortly after the start. Volunteer lost her topmast gear and won the protest. On February 6th she met Era again, in
a hard southerly breeze and, “notwithstanding that her mainsail appeared more like a bag than a racing sail”, defeated Era easily.
Shortly after Volunteer was launched at Drummoyne, Reeks had left on a trip to England and the US to investigate the viability of constructing an Australian challenger for the Cup. As soon as he was back in Sydney after the January race, he made trim modifications to Volunteeer to improve her performance.
Often with Reeks at the helm of Volunteer, the two yachts raced the rest of the season on give and take terms. There was a report in April 1889 that Volunteer was to be sent to San Diego “to race Spreckel’s yacht Lurline, provided £400-500 can be raised among local yachtsmen to cover expenses”, but nothing came of it.
During that winter her owner, W.P. Smairl, installed a new Reeks-designed rig, spars, gear and Ratsey & Lapthorn sails in Volunteer. She was immediately superior to Era which was withdrawn from racing for a while. Volunteer became the Sydney “crack”.
The economic situation in Australia became dire. Smairl put Volunteer up for auction in August 1891, but she was passed in it at £960, less than the value of the lead on her keel. This generation of Australian racing cutters was being sold off as fishing and pearling boats or Pacific Islands’ traders for a song. Eventually, in January 1893, it was announced that Tom Henderson of Auckland had bought her at an undisclosed price.
Tom Henderson was the son of Thomas Henderson, the founder of Henderson and Macfarlane, who ran the Circular Saw line of vessels in the timber and Pacific trades. Tom junior was the Auckland manager for the Union Steam Ship Company. He was well-known for his yacht Rita, a 45ft cutter Charles Bailey St built for him in January 1882.
...the two yachts raced the rest of the season on give and take terms.
Henderson had given Bailey a tight budget for the big boat. She was built to the current Thames or tonnage rule, very roughly finished and of composite construction, unusual for Auckland. Rita had many exciting battles on the Waitemata with the big Robert Logan keelers – Aitken and Kissling’s
Toroa (1881), C.H. Street’s Muritai (1882) and particularly Arawa (1882), owned by J.L.R. Bloomfield. Tom was a very keen cruising man too and put up prodigious mileages every summer in North Auckland waters, usually in company with the Bloomfield brothers in Arawa.
By 1893, Rita was becoming outclassed. In the wind, too, was the prospect of a major race in Auckland. The yacht clubs in Auckland, Wellington and Lyttelton had agreed to a series of “First Class Championships of New Zealand” to be held annually to encourage the major yachts to sail around the coast to each event. This was probably inspired by the many entries in the 1888 Melbourne event where Volunteer had cut her teeth.
The first Championship race was held in conjunction with the Wellington Anniversary Regatta in January 1892. Lyttelton’s Mascotte won, beating the Auckland yacht Maritana and Mima from Wellington. The 1893 event was a sail-over for Mascotte at Lyttelton, with no outside entrants.
Auckland’s turn was slated for its Anniversary Regatta in January 1894. It was in this background that Tom Henderson took the step of buying one of the finest Australian yachts and sailing her to Auckland in preparation.
After a stormy passage of 16 days Volunteer arrived from Sydney under yawl rig in charge of Capt. Delmer on 17th March 1893. Tom Henderson took her straight off for a cruise north. By November she was starting to be worked up for the season ahead. In the week before the regatta she was fitted with her cutter rig and racing sails, impressing all onlookers.
The Bloomfield brothers – Jack, Harry and Ernest – were keen to step up from Arawa and remain competitive with Henderson. Like Rita, Arawa was beginning to be outclassed by a new breed of yachts inspired by Nat Herreshoff’s Gloriana of February 1891 and G.L. Watson’s Britannia of April 1893.
Arawa was eclipsed at the 1893 Auckland Regatta by the Robert Logan-designed 5 rater Rona, built for Wellington. The Bloomfields turned to Charles Bailey Sr for a replacement, the 64ft x 49ft x 12ft x 9ft clipper-bowed, three-skin diagonal-built cutter/yawl Viking, the largest and finest yacht yet constructed in this country. Bailey was then in the process of handing over his business to his sons Charles Jr and Walter who became responsible for this plum job.
Viking had been ordered in August 1893 for completion by Christmas. Despite the fact that a great deal of work had already been carried out, the Bloomfields decided to change construction from single skin to diagonal construction in midseptember. The Bailey brothers still got her in the water on 23rd December. There were some teething problems with ballast disposition, but Viking was in good shape to meet Volunteer for the Championship race on Regatta Day, 29th January 1894.
With a rating of only 23 tons, Viking had a handicap advantage of 10 mins 14 secs on Volunteer on 33 tons over the 46-mile course. In a half gale southwesterly, with eased sheets,