Rawhiti a jewel set to glisten at Anniversary Regatta

The painstaking restoration of historic yacht Rawhiti put its Takapuna owner Greg Lee through the mill, but he says he'll be satisfied once she starts winning races.

The 54ft (16.5m) gaff racing cutter was first launched at Mechanics Bay in 1905 and will be the star of Auckland's Anniversary Day regatta on Monday, appearing with the original style of rigging for the first time in 106 years.

Mr Lee shows off Rawhiti on a perfect day at Bayswater Marina and says the seven-year makeover is one of the most extensive boat renovations undertaken in New Zealand.

"We did go over the top. We gave everything we had... it became a quest."

The Classic Yacht Association has described Rawhiti as the jewel in the crown of the New Zealand classic yacht fleet. Intricate woodwork, etched glass windows and bronze and copper finishings make the yacht stand out from the others at the marina.

Mr Lee, a lawyer, was tired of the grind of the workplace nine years ago when a friend, Dean Cook, noticed that Rawhiti was for sale.

"He'd always loved this era of boat. It's old but fast-looking. It had been taken to a boatshed in Clevedon so we looked at it on a whim. The yacht had been given a good paint job but and not much else, he says.

It had been raced hard and in no way restored. Hardly anything original was left."

Rawhiti won many races during her lifetime and was the champion of Sydney Harbour for 30 years, buthad undergone some unsightly modifications, including a plywood cabin top, deck and interior.

Mr Lee was put off by the asking price but noticed it had dropped two weeks later.

"We ended up buying her for $110,00. The idea was to sail her as she was until we could afford to restore her."

During a Classic Yacht Association workshop in Kumeu Mr Lee met boatbuilder Peter Brookes, working on a yacht called Tawera.

"I was blown away. I thought I'd love to do the same but found out the cost and thought, 'That's the end of that'."

But Mr Brookes agreed to do components of the job on a fixed cost basis and Lee was won over.

"Once I was locked in, It became an obsession," Mr Lee says. "I thought: 'do it properly or don't do it at all I expected to take three years. It took six. Everything was made from scratch ...it took five months just to come up with the patterns."

Mr Lee describes Mr Brookes as a perfectionist "I'm like that as well... it got worse as we went along."

The two spent countless hours taking the boat back to the bone and rebuilding her boat bit by bit. "We went by old photos. Peter did the difficult stuff, he knew every nut and bolt. I did the electrical work, plumbing and cosmetic preparation."

The wooden companion way hatch alone received at least 10 coats of varnish, with sanding for each coat taking a day and a half.

Mr Lee says his wife's business kept them going while he worked on the project. He relished the chance to explore the creative hands-on side of his personality.

Rawhiti was launched in the Waitemata last September and has been for short cruises to Kawau Island and Waiheke. She'll be taking part in the Mahurangi Night Race, leaving Auckland at 6pm tomorrow. She'll compete in a keelboat race on Saturday, race back to Auckland on Sunday and join the regatta.

Mr Lee says it will be a special moment. "It will be the first time she's been back in the race for seven years. She went to Australia as soon as she was launched but when she returned after the war she had modern rigging. Now she'll be racing under the original gaff rigging for the first time ... it will be a historic moment."

Rawhiti will compete in the classic yacht division but he says she could see off some modern boats and their massive rigging. She was the last and largest of four Logan Flush deck yachts built around the same period. In theory she's the fastest, but we don't know yet. It'll take a year to get her up to speed."

* Auckland Anniversary Regatta, 10am, January 30.