"If you can sail a P, you can sail anything" - the story of the mighty P Class
by Harold Kidd 17 Apr 2020 03:22 PDT
17 April 2020
Sean Kensington - winner of the 2019 Tauranga Cup for P class - Evans Yacht & Motor Boat Club © Kohimaramara YC
Most of the stellar yachting careers of New Zealand’s America’s Cup sailors began in humble seven-foot boats—a class now a century old—designed by a Public Works employee who couldn’t swim, and who was too hard up to build anything larger.
For the rest of this excellent story by noted author and sailing historian Harold Kidd, with beautiful images by Richard Robinson click here
It's an exquisite photo essay on the history of New Zealand's most iconic sailing yacht - the P class, first yacht for many of New Zealand's top America's Cup sailors - Barker, Blake, Burling, Coutts, Dickson and Egnot amongst many others.
There's a couple more stories in the same vein by Harold Kidd on the historic Lipton Cup donated by Sir Thomas Lipton and wrought by Garrard & Co which is contested each year by Auckland's fleet of mullet boats, or L class.
And on Auckland's Anniversary Day Regatta first contested in 1940, and at its peak was one of the largest single day regattas in the world. It is now one of the premier events on the Classic Yacht regatta calendar.
(NB: These articles rely on scroll down to move between the images and text - it can be a little tricky at times - stay with it - the small amount of extra effort is definitely worth while.)