The Ponsonby Cruising Club turns 100

ROBIN BAILEY cruises back to the beginnings of a grand maritime institution.

The Ponsonby Cruising Club ends its 100th season with a Centenary Golden Oldies Reunion on Saturday, March 31. It is going to be a huge day in the life of a club that has survived some good times and some tough ones.

Marine historians Harold Kidd and Robin Elliott are chronicling the club's evolution. As always, this is another immaculately researched tale of things maritime, with moments of drama and tales of factional struggles that have dogged the Ponce since its formation.

The latest of these was enacted in 1994. Then Rear Commodore Ron Copeland was alerted to a clandestine plan to amalgamate the PCC with Richmond Yacht Club. Swift action followed and Copeland and a team of committed traditionalists took control of the club in mid-season, and Copeland moved up to Commodore, a position he still holds.

The Ponsonby Cruising Club story reflects the life of the raffish Freemans Bay settlement from which it grew. Timber mills, boatbuilders, foundries, timber mills and hotels were based there and many of the residents were seafarers. The crews of Auckland-based coastal traders and fishing boats came from the suburb.

The residents of the area were fiercely proud of their separate identity from the people on the other side of town, those from Parnell in particular and residents of the marine suburbs of Devonport, Northcote and Birkenhead. Freemans Bay was the home of undecked open sailing boats, as distinct from the more substantial decked craft owned by members of the Auckland Yacht Club.

From the late 1870s, Freemans Bay skippers met in local pubs and arranged their own races, many of them match races that drew great public interest and heavy betting. It was a situation that continued through to the turn of the century.

The Ponsonby Cruising Club was formed at a meeting at the Gluepot (Ponsonby Club) Hotel on October 9, 1900. The term "cruising" had a special significance. The aim of the club was to emphasise the fellowship of cruising in company rather than the competitive racing of the usual yacht club. The right stuff for Ponsonby people.

Things happened fast. There were 60 members by the end of the first week and on November 24, 1900, the club's opening day cruise to Howick drew a fleet of 75 yachts. By April 1901 the Herald reported a membership of around 300, much the same as it is today. The club continued to flourish, with a big cruising calendar, but soon developed a conventional harbour racing programme.

At this time the PCC became the venue for the new mullet boat breeds. These first made their presence felt as fishing boats in the late 1870s. They were designed to be fast and able to be handled by two skilled fishermen who could race back to port with the day's catch.

By the mid-1880s amateur sailors had developed the type into racing and cruising craft and some builders came to specialise in their construction. Chas Bailey sen, Robert Logan, Clarence Hewson and James Clare were among the best of them.

In 1904 the club wrote the restrictions governing the scantlings, minimum ballast and the general form of the hull, particularly as to breadth. Sail area was always totally unrestricted. This action saved the type from extinction.

In 1904 the club first made contact with Sir Thomas Lipton, the Glasgow grocery millionaire and America's Cup sailor. Each year the club reported on its affairs to the great man and by 1920 the link had grown so close that the tea magnate commissioned for the PCC the cup that bears his name.

He stipulated that the trophy be for annual competition, and be open as far as possible to New Zealand yachtsmen. There was much argument before the 22ft L Class mullet boat was designated to contest the Lipton Cup.

It gave an enormous boost to the class. Many new boats were commissioned, but the crack pre-war boats continued to be competitive. Arch Logan's 1913 speedster Valeria won the cup six times, the last time in 1936.

The mullet boat is still a cornerstone of the club's existence. But Ron Copeland emphasises that while mulleties still play a vital role, keelboats are the key to the future.

"We have a fleet of 12 Optimists and 12 Splash dinghies and these continue the training role that has always been a club priority," he says. "No doubt the stalwarts will be looking back on Golden Oldies' day. But we must ensure there is a place for those starting out."