The self-taught master
Born in 1943, Bill Townson grew up around boats. Father Tom owned the mullet boat Nomad for many years and was also a regular crew on the 12m keeler Ngatiawa, whilst older brother Des won the 1950 Tanner Cup in his P Class.
Inspired by Des’ success, Bill bought the P Class Kim with money he’d saved from delivering two paper rounds, and mowing a neighbour’s lawn. Kim (P34), was a heavy, uncompetitive planked version and cost £34 – a significant sum back then.
After proving he could right Kim singlehanded, Bill sailed her to Rangitoto Island for a week’s camping with his friend Graham Carbery – “A big adventure for us then.” It was the start of a lifetime’s cruising.
In those days Tom worked for Henderson & Pollard’s plywood factory. Keen to see Bill in a more competitive P, Tom made several sheets of custom plywood from hand-picked heart kauri: “The sheets were five-ply, quarter-inch, pretty unusual.”
With Bill’s help, Tom built the P-217 , which proved considerably quicker than . Bill won
