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HINEMOA in 1952 on Lake Maquarie NSW racing under spinnaker

Hinemoa

Vessel numberHV000407

Sail NumberM36

Sail NumberMH65

Sail NumberSM248

Builder Ivar " Chips" Gronfors

Designer Ivar " Chips" Gronfors

Date1937

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 10.97 m x 10.67 m x 2.74 m x 1.83 m, 9.15 tonnes (36 ft x 35 ft x 9 ft x 6 ft, 9 tons)

DescriptionHINEMOA was built at Gronfors' yard for Newcastle owner Miss Walsh and her brother Clement Walsh. Gronfors had settled in the area a few years beforehand, after he had been in Fiji and New Zealand, and in Hobart, Tasmania from at least 1910. He is known to have worked at Charlie Lucas's yard and helped build the 21 Foot Restricted Class yacht TASSIE in 1925. The name HINEMOA appears to have been taken from the Walsh's earlier 16 foot skiff of the same name, and it refers to a well known Maori love story from Lake Rotorua in New Zealand.

The launching of HINEMOA at Carrington was reported in the Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners' Advocate Monday 12 July 1937, page 15.

" The ceremony of christening the boat and launching it was performed by Mr W Lester, who has been identified with the sport of sailing for many years. The Hinemoa took to the water gracefully to the cheers of a large crowd of sailing enthusiasts, including several members of the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club.

The yacht, a new type of fast cruiser of light displacement, has attractive lines, and is beautifully finished...... Miss Walsh for whom the yacht was built, and her brother Mr CR Walsh, of Newcastle, who will sail her, were congratulated by the Commodore of the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club ( Mr G Campbell) upon the possession of such a beautful yacht. The vessel was unique in design and of handsome appearance, and gave promise of providing those who sail her many happy days upon the water."

Gronfors spent time in New Zealand in the early 1930s and this is thought to have inspired him in the design of HINEMOA. It is a long, relatively narrow hull with no overhangs, and boats of this type were not uncommon in Auckland. Also common in that area are the shorter, plumb ended mullet boats. The keel and deadwood on HINEMOA bolt directly to the underbody of the hull's canoe body. There is no significant hollow in the garboards where the planking normally turns to fair into the side of the top of the deadwood and keel. The deadrise is also very shallow. This makes the hull easier to plank up, and is an early example of what has evolved into a common hull shape in modern yacht design. In many respects it is a hybrid of three sources: a similar keel joint was used on the Tasmanian one-designs built at Lucas' yard where Gronfors worked, while the hull has the bow and stern of a New Zealand mullet boat, and the previously noted lean proportions favoured by other New Zealand yachts.

Up until 1956 HINEMOA sailed on Lake Macquarie, under three different owners. In 1956 it was bought by Leo Reilly and taken down to Middle Harbour Yacht Club in Sydney. It won many club races, and when it lost its mast in one race, the new spar was made 1.83m shorter with advice from Alan Payne and Ron Swanson. The new mast was a square section. Swanson also splined the hull and replaced some frames, and all the work remains sound in 2010.

HINEMOA was sold to a Queensland owner in 1972, and underwent a major overhaul at Cabbage Tree Creek. It then went to the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria in 1980. In 2010 it remains in Victorian waters in excellent condition and has sailed to wooden boat festivals in Hobart, Melbourne and Geelong.

SignificanceHINEMOA is a wooden yacht built at Carrington, NSW in 1937 by Ivar 'Chips' Gronfors. Gronfors became well known as a yacht and boat builder on the Central Coast of NSW after World War II, and HINEMOA is thought to be the only surviving yacht built by Gronfors. HINEMOA was a racing yacht, and once well known on Lake Macquarie, later sharing a close association with the Middle Harbour Yacht Club in Sydney. It has an unusual keel construction for the period, with virtually no hollow in the garboard strake and a shallow deadrise to the floor.