On May 13, 1995, history was made in the waters off San Diego, when, as Pete Montgomery famously put it, America’s Cup became New Zealand’s Cup. But not just New Zealand’s Cup – in fact, the oldest trophy in sport had now passed into the hands of one of just a few yacht clubs around the world to hold it: the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

The story and fortunes of ‘the Squaddie’, as it is affectionately known, have been tied to the quest for the America’s Cup ever since the first Kiwi tilt at the trophy, off the waters of Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1986–87.

An exclusive group of gents: all were RNZYS commodores during America’s Cup finals. Front (L–R) John Crawford (2007), Peter Hay (1995), Bill Endean (2003). Back (L–R): Steve Burrett (2013), Steve Mair (2017) and Aaron Young (2021).

But the club has a much longer and broader history than that. While it may have celebrated its 150th birthday this year by defending its precious cup on the waters of the Waitematā, it has been the home of many other triumphs and disappointments, hard-fought campaigns, classic yachts, close racing, good times and shenanigans.

Yachting writer Ivor Wilkins, editor of the club’s magazine Breeze, has brought together the century and a half of the club’s history in a book to be released in September, and this month the club will celebrate with a gala black-tie dinner. While some events to mark the milestone had to be postponed or downsized due to Covid restrictions, including some events around this year’s 36th America’s Cup, there has still been plenty of opportunity to celebrate the birthday of this country’s oldest yacht club.

Not all about sailing. RNZYS members assembled for a game of cricket on Waiheke Island (circa late 1800s).

In fact, the RNZYS is one of the oldest clubs in the world: when its predecessor, the Auckland Yacht Club, was first formed in 1851 (the same year the America’s Cup was first sailed), there were only a handful of them around the globe, mostly in Europe, although our cousins across the ditch had got in early with a couple of clubs in Tasmania by then. The call for the young city of Auckland to bring together an ‘aquatic confederacy’ sprang from the success of the first Anniversary Regattas, staged from 1842.

The nascent club went through a few false starts and resurgences of interest until finally, in 1871, a group of possibly drunken sailors decided to get it underway once and for all. Wilkins writes: ‘After the 1871 Anniversary Regatta prizegiving, a group of keen yachtsmen gathered at the Thames Hotel and decided that a one-day regatta every 12 months was not sufficient for their needs. Urged out onto the street at the 11pm closing time, members of the group continued their deliberations under the light of a gas lamp. And thus, the legend goes, the Auckland Yacht Club was born anew.’

Ariki in full cry. She was once the quickest boat on the harbour.


Magic Bus – another standout and innovative design that quickly made an impact.

The new club slowly grew in popularity and professionalism, hand-in-hand with the city’s growing boatbuilding industry. By the 1880s and ’90s the beautiful creations of the Logan and Bailey families were dominating the fleet, yachts like Viking and Waitangi, both of which are still on the squadron’s register, then masterpieces such as Ariki, Thelma, Rainbow and Iorangi.

RNZYS’s original reading room.

Alongside the yachts, there was also a growing fleet of ‘oil launches’. While some small pleasure boats had been powered by steam for some years, it wasn’t until the 1890s that the first diesel-powered launches began to putt their way around the harbour. The development of more efficient and reliable engines, and the ability to add more and more power, inevitably led to launch racing, and in 1903 the squadron organised its first powered-boat race.

These events proved immensely popular with spectators, and in 1909 the first Rudder Cup 100-mile race around the gulf was run. Wilkins writes: ‘The success of events like the Rudder Cup and the obvious appeal of new technology saw launches continue to flourish, to the point where the 1910 RNZYS annual report recorded that launches exceeded yachts on the club’s boat register by 32 to 26.’

The crew of the odds-beating Rainbow II.

The club’s growth and development was set back a little by the two world wars and the economic recession in between, but the inter-war years were notable for the design and launch of one of the great classics of the Waitematā Harbour, the 18m Ranger, which hit the water in 1938. ‘As peacetime life and activity resumed, Ranger, built by Lou Tercel and his dock-worker brothers in their Ponsonby back yard, [Ranger] became a harbour legend. She displaced Ariki as the alpha line-honours machine, ruled the roost for 30 years and repelled repeated assaults from would-be Ranger-beaters.

‘Never content to rest on his laurels, Tercel was a perpetual tinkerer. Ranger’s reign through the dramatic leaps in design and technology that followed the war years owed much to his constant improvements.’ Ranger still races as part of the squadron fleet, following an extensive restoration by former commodore Ian Cook.

     
The media celebrates New Zealand’s One Ton Cup victory in 1971.

The squadron’s boats and sailors really started to come to world attention in the 1960s, when the foundations began to be laid for the campaigns which would eventually lead to the club’s victory in the America’s Cup.

Sailmaker Chris Bouzaid’s successful tilt at the One Ton Cup in Germany in 1969 turned the international spotlight on the sailors, designers and boatbuilders down here at the bottom of the world – and put New Zealand on top of it. This was the era of fast, super-light boats, design and materials innovation and super-smart sailing that fed on the Kiwi can-do, number- eight-wire mentality, with designers such as John Lidgard, Ron Holland, Paul Whiting and Jim Young pushing the boundaries and setting a new standard.

These advances, and New Zealand success in other international regattas, inevitably led to the squadron throwing its hat into yacht racing’s biggest ring. In 1984, the squadron made its first challenge for the America’s Cup – and in his book Wilkins debunks the long-told myth that the club was blindsided by a Australian-based Belgian businessman making the initial entry without telling them (in fact, a former commodore says extensive discussions were held with Marcel Fachler before accepting his offer to bankroll the initial entry).

Merchant bankers Michael Fay and David Richwhite came aboard and, in the summer of 1986–87, the yachting world thrilled to the sight of the ‘plastic fantastics’, the fibreglass 12 Metres KZ3, 5 and 7, racing in the waters off Fremantle.

It wasn’t to be the fairytale ending many Kiwis hoped for, Chris Dickson’s dream run brought to an end by our new favourite enemy, Dennis Conner, but with the benefit of hindsight it was only eight short years later that Russell Coutts and Peter Blake finally held the Cup aloft after the successful 1995 campaign.

As all good sailing fans know, the ’95 victory was followed by the triumphant return, the successful defence, the horror loss, the disaster of San Francisco, the redemption of Bermuda and the glory of 2021.

The story of the squadron is not just about the America’s Cup, however shiny the cup might be in its upstairs trophy cabinet. Wilkins’ book shows the squadron’s history to be a rich tapestry of big boats and small, racing and cruising, power and sail – although Team New Zealand’s spectacular victory earlier this year certainly did provide a happy ending.

Today the club has around 3,500 members, and just under 1,000 boats on its register, two thirds of them sail-powered. It has a staff of around 65 people, running not only racing but also hospitality and events, as well as a large cohort of volunteers that keep the sailing and social events running.

As younger members have risen up the ranks to take positions of authority, and to respond to changes in how we sail and what we want from a yacht club, racing divisions and events are reviewed, and there is a greater emphasis on the whole family being involved.

As Wilkins writes: ‘The challenge is always in striking a balance, respecting tradition while forging ahead and remaining relevant and appealing to new generations. “I believe we have been quite forward thinking in our willingness to adapt and change and not being afraid to take those steps,” said [club CEO Hayden] Porter. “In the process, it is very important that we do not forget our roots. You have to respect where you have come from to get where you are going.” BNZ