A life well lived

Born in 1940, Reid grew up in Birkenhead. He bought his first boat, a Z Class, in 1953, selling it after a year to buy 5.7m Tornado. Designed by Alfa Fox, the Tornado was a three-person, hard chine racing dinghy that never really took off here. Reid owned his for two years.

Reid attended Northcote College where his natural abilities for welding and design were noted and encouraged. Leaving school, he took up a diesel mechanic’s apprenticeship with Ray Vincent, who specialised in trucks. Reid also spent some time working on building Auckland’s harbour bridge.

He built his first trailer under his parent’s house, a hobby which developed into a profitable part-time business. However, his parents, Doug and Joan, quickly tired of the late-night construction noise so Reid moved his business to a workshop in Enterprise St, Birkenhead. With his apprenticeship completed, in 1965 he founded Reid Trailers and set up