Still looking stylish more than 50 years later, the Callisto on a recent trip to Kawau Island. Photo / Tobias Forsyth
Still looking stylish more than 50 years later, the Callisto on a recent trip to Kawau Island. Photo / Tobias Forsyth
A classic kauri launch built in Waipu from trees felled in the Brynderwyns is one of the feature boats at this year’s Auckland Wooden Boat Festival.
The festival runs from March 13 to 15 at Auckland’s Jellicoe Harbour and the adjacent Viaduct Event Centre.
It debuted in2024, independently building on the momentum created by New Zealand’s first major maritime festival at Whangārei’s Town Basin the year before.
Organisers say every boat tells a story - from the mighty trees that were felled to make it, the craftsmanship of the builder, the people that sailed it, and the places it has taken them. Callisto is a perfect example.
The vessel was built over three years in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Jack Barrott followed an Alan Orams design influenced by some of the sportfishing craft that captivated Barrott when he travelled to Florida during the mid 1960s.
Built using timber milled at the Barrott family’s Waipu sawmill business, Callisto was one of the first flybridge launches built in New Zealand - a departure from the sedan-top motor yachts popular at the time.
Timber from Barrott’s forests at Langs Beach was supplemented by the timber from the Packwood kauri tree, which the mill was contracted to remove when it became unstable and began hanging precariously over the Brynderwyns road.
The 42ft (12.8m) Callisto has a solid kauri keel; kauri is also used for the floors, planking and deck beams. Non-structural aspects were completed in teak, mahogany and other exotic timbers.
Callisto was launched into the Waipu River in 1972 and kept in a mud berth upriver for many years, until silting blocked access across the entrance.
Until 1987, the launch was used as a family cruiser and transported dive club members from Whangārei to the Poor Knights Islands.
It still runs on its original twin Caterpillar 3160 non-turbo marine diesels - each producing 210hp - giving the vessel a comfortable cruising speed of 8.5–9.5 knots.
Some people are shocked at the vessel’s massive 4000 litre fuel capacity but current co-owner Tobias Forsyth says it has its benefits: “We only fuel up once per year and that lasts us for hundreds of hours of motoring. She also rides a lot better when over half full with the extra weight.”
Originally christened Callisto (Jupiter’s third moon), the launch’s name was changed to Challenger in 1987 by then-owner Bod Doughty, who bought the boat on the spot after seeing it with its hull scraping along a beach in Whangārei.
The Callisto at Jellicoe Wharf during the inaugural Auckland Wooden Boat Festival in 2024. Photo / Supplied
Callisto was built from local native timber, including from the Packwood kauri tree (right) that used to hang precariously over the Brynderwyns road. Photos / Supplied
Later, Calllisto was purchased by Steve Cowie, who extensively refurbished it and changed the name back to Callisto in honour of the boat’s history.
Today, Callisto is owned by the Forsyth brothers - Kent, Rhys and Tobias - and their families, who share the use, costs and maintenance, and above all the enjoyment of time on the water.
The vessel is used extensively around the Hauraki Gulf and makes regular summer voyages to the Bay of Islands. Tobias Forsyth said longer trips are also in the family’s plans, possibly including the Marlborough Sounds and Fiordland.
Tobias said he and his brothers jumped at the chance to purchase Callisto when they saw it pop up on Trade Me about eight years ago because it was so beautifully built and couldn’t be recreated today, given the timber used at the time.
A family with numerous maritime and boatbuilding skills, they maintain Callisto in perfect condition.
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most of which she spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast.
