Sailing the Atlanta

Bob Jollands has kindly shared an article published in a recent edition of the Wellington Classic Yacht Trust newsletter.  Bob tells us that the yacht involved in the accident in Evans bay with Queen Charlotte (read the article for details) was Ruawaka.  The then owners son read Bobs published article and contacted the Wellington Classic Yacht Trust to tell them that he was currently sailing on her in the UK with her current owner, having just completed a passage from Portugal to the UK.

The Atlanta

Sailing the Atlanta, by R.M. Bob Jollands

In 1958 I was working with a friend of Jack Cox, the owner of Atalanta, who, after finding that I was a  keen sailor, arranged for me to join Jack’s crew aboard the 40 footer which was moored bow on to  the concrete wave screen, secured to four pile moorings, in the boat harbour in front of the Royal  Port Nicholson Yacht Club, for the weekly Saturday races. 

Atalanta had a Bermudan rig, no safety rails and no motor so when I joined Jack and the crew on the  first Saturday aboard her, I learned that we had to manoeuvre her, reversing out of the mooring and  raise the sails to sail her out of the marina to join the fleet that included Mata atua, Queen Charlotte  and five other keelers. 

The racing was very competitive and we frequently finished first or second with Mata Atua in close  company behind or ahead of us. 

The spinnaker pole was a solid piece of timber which took two of us to lift into place to set the sail. 

The crew consisted of Jack as skipper and three crewmen, including myself, a character who was a  newly qualified solicitor and Chris Harris. 

There was a ZC1 radio fitted into the cabin to provide communications with the yacht club race  tower, which broadcast the communications from Atalanta into the club lounge for club members to  follow the race. At one point, Jack asked me to give a commentary on where we were on the harbour  and what the placing’s of the fleet were. So I began by explaining that we were heading north from  Evans Bay and that they would see us shortly emerging past Point Jerningham. That was a big mistake, when in fact we were still well south and in Evans Bay. The problem was that I could not see  out, so I gave up at that stage and went up on deck to “retire” from being the race commentator. 

When the annual “crew race” was held, I was given the honour to helm the boat and with  instructions from Jack, it was my first ever win. 

Returning to the mooring was a feat of seamanship. Particularly in a strong southerly that required  some deft work on the part of the crew, with the timing called by Jack, and involved entering the  boat harbour and immediately making a 180 degree turn, drop both jib and main sails to drift along  the fairway to the berth which was about half way along the wave screen, turn 90 degrees into the  berth and catch the mooring lines off the mooring poles and anchor them to the cleats to ensure  that the boat came to a stop before hitting the concrete wave screen. 

Occasionally, Jack loaned me to crew for Pat Miller to serve as sheet hand, racing in his X class, where  I first learned to use a trapeze and to trim and tack the main sail. Pat, a multiple winner of the  Saunders cup, was an amazing skipper who could not swim and I recall one time in a strong southerly  when we were reaching from Point Halswell to Point Jerningham with the forward hand and me on  trapezes, the bow wave was washing over our legs and then straight into Pat’s eyes, which he kept  closed, so the forward hand was calling directions to keep him on course as we planed through the  water. 

Some other memories from those days include an accident between Queen Charlotte and a  Bermudan rigged keeler at the head of Evans Bay when the mast of the Bermudan rig dipped 

between the two masts of Queen Charlotte which damaged both boats. Fortunately, no one was  badly injured, but we returned to the marina and went aboard the large launch owned by the  McAlister’s, that was moored in the marina and went out to help sort out the damage and tow the  boats back to the marina. 

Even in those days, mind games came into play in the close racing and one day, as we approached  the finish, neck and neck with Mata atua, who was to windward of us with her main sail hanging over  our deck where our solicitor crewman was lying, he called out to Brian Miller, the skipper/owner of  Mata Atua, telling him that if he reached up and touched his boom, Mata Atua would be disqualified.  Well Brian really lost it and entered into a shouting match with our crewman so with his inattention  to sailing his boat, we crept ahead to finish first! 

Being the youngest in the crew, it seemed that it was my role to go up the mast when any work was  required up there, using a Boson’s chair, a canvas seat that fitted a man’s buttocks and in that year’s  Island Bay race, we were passing Barrett’s Reef on the return leg, heading into a strong northerly,  when the main sail split from luff to leach and I was sent up the mast to retrieve the jammed  mainsail head board, which I did, but without any safety line or bosons’ chair and just hanging on to  the stays and walking up the mast which was healing at 30 to 40 degrees! The job was successfully  accomplished and we managed to clear the reef under headsail and were finally towed in by another  vessel. 

I spent the full season sailing on Atalanta and the following season, the crewman that I replaced,  decided to return to crew aboard Atalanta and I was out of a job. 

The crewman had left previously because he suffered bad seasickness and hoped that he would cope  with it. One of the ways they tried to alleviate it was to give him a cup to bail out the bilge, to take  his mind off his problem!  

The experience was really enjoyable and this was not just the sailing and learning, but the wonderful  fellowship amongst the crews, especially at the RPNYC where regular social occasions were  organised, one of which was a regular evening of indoor bowling. 

Amongst the crews at that time was a wife, Mrs P. Parson who sketched pencil portraits of some of us  at the club and I have one of myself that she did in July 1958. 

R.M. (Bob) Jollands.