Formation of Pigeon Bay Boating Club

by Ray Short (Commodore 1975-1977)

The following is an extract from the Akaroa Mail of Friday January 19th, 1962. The extract begins:

At a well attended meeting held in Pigeon Bay recently, it was decided to form a Club, to be known as the Pigeon Bay Boating Club.

The meeting was presided over by Mr. J.B. Hay who in his opening remarks said that it was evident that there was a great deal of interest being taken in sailing in the Bay, to judge from the keenly-contested series of unofficial yacht races which had been run during the holiday period.

Mr. H. K. Murray read to the meeting correspondence which had passed between him and the Akaroa County Council, whereby the council had offered the proposed club the use of the disused wharf shed as a boatshed at a nominal rental of 10s per year and had offered to provide the materials for a slipway if the club would provide the necessary labour.

The meeting then decided to proceed with the formation of the club and elected officers as follows:- Patron, Sir Bruce Stewart, Bart.; committee, Messrs. HJ. Jones (Commodore), H.K. Murray (Secretary), D.J. Southen (Treasurer), E.J. Crow and B.E. Goodwin.

The committee was empowered to draw up a constitution for the club and the secretary was directed to write to the Akaroa County Council expressing thanks on behalf of the club for the generous assistance offered in connection with the wharf shed and the slipway.

During the holiday period the local fleet of yachts was augmented by a number of holiday makers, and a highly successful series of six races was run by the campers in Holmes Bay in which there were entries of up to twelve yachts, from as far afield as Lake Waitaki and Hawarden and ranging from 36ft keelers down to dinghies and catamarans.

Competitors were fortunate in having the services of Mr. A. Smithson of Christchurch as handicapper. Starts were on the Mark Foy system and some extremely close finishes resulted. The final race of the series was sailed on Sunday January 7th, in a fresh south-easterly breeze which caused some of the smaller entries to retire before the start.

The race was won by Dr. H. R. Donald’s B class keeler Paora (8 min.) by a length from H.K. Mur- ray’s Kitty class catamaran Catriona (scr). Third boat home, half a minute later was Michael Gadd’s Kitty class catamaran Kati-O (2 min), from Lake Waitaki.

End of extract.

At an extraordinary General Meeting held on 29th March 1962, the resignation of Mr. H.J. Jones as Commodore was regretfully accepted as he was leaving the district (He worked for Mr. Jim Hay), and Mr. Bruce Goodwin accepted the appointment as Commodore of the Club. Mr. A. R. Waghorn (Sandy) was appointed to fill the vacancy on the Committee. As an experienced centre-board yachtsman, Mr. Waghorn’s services will be of great value to the club.

Membership Fees were set at Senior 25/-, Junior (under 18) 10/-. Mr. A. R. Smithson was appointed to the Committee as Starter and Handicapper.

The Club became affiliated to the C.Y.A. in July 1963. Bruce Goodwin took delivery of a Javelin in June 1963 and the McKellar girls hoped to acquire a Cherub at this time.

At the Annual Meeting in 1963, Sandy Waghorn was appointed Racing Secretary and Des Hunt was appointed to the committee to replace Eric Crow who left the district. Mr. A.E. Goodwin, T.A. McKellar and D.A. Waghorn were officially appointed starters and timekeepers.

Later a further 9 Moths were added. It is understood many exciting times were had with members learning to sail the sprightly Moths. David Innes learned quickly how to master a complete loop, Graham Waghorn had many a swim, and Dennis Blomquist could hold the record with about 20 capsizes between one mark and the next.

When Des Hunt first launched his boat it was apparently quite an event in Canterbury and the launching was attended by notabilities such as Frank Simpson and Peter Mander.

Don Southen resigned as Treasurer in 1965 and this job was taken over by Dennis Blomquist who remained as treasurer for a period of 10 years.

Register of Yachts as at 30/4/1964

ENTREATY	Keeler	D.C. Gould
TAWANUI	Keeler	D.C. Hay
PAORA	Keeler	Dr H.R. Donald
SUILVEN	Silhouette	H.K. Murray
ASSEGAI	Javelin	B. Goodwin
HAVOC	R	A.R. Waghorn
LYRIC	R	Donald Bros.
ENTERPRISE	Nat. Enterprise	Donald Bros.
MURMUR	Sen. Cherub	Miss C McKellar
TIPPIN	Jnr. Cherub	D. Moore
FANFARE	Flying Fifteen	A.D.F. Neill (Hawarden)
HASTY	Javelin	R. & A. Elworthy
RUNAWAY	Sen. Cherub	David Selby
WILLIE WINKIE	Frostply	John Selby
SONIC	R	J. Dixon
JOLLY ROGER	Z	J. Hennessy (Waimate)
PENNY	P	A. McKellar
VANESSA	Aust Moth	D.R. Hunt
BINTY	Sen. Cherub	Hugh Johnstone (Little River)