HOMECOMING QUEEN
Tangaroa’s 85-year story describes a colourful, adventurous arc and her return to New Zealand is an extraordinary climax to improbable twists and turns. She spent most of her post-NZ years around the Hawaiian Islands and, as the locals there would say: “Aloha – this gal ain’t done yet.” A new chapter beckons.
She was born in Percy Vos’ shed in Westhaven’s Hamer Street, built for a Mr Jas Inkster of Bayswater. Auckland’s John Brooke designed her – he was renowned for his inexpensive-to-build-yet-exciting-to-sail yachts, and he based his concept on a larger vessel penned by Scandinavian K Aage Nielsen. Nielsen’s boat featured in a 1933 issue of Rudder magazine.
Brooke’s design was a masthead
