Robert Brooke’s story should begin with his father, Jack Brooke OBE (1907–1992). A member of the Territorials during WWII, Jack was seconded to the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) and spent it in Wellington, mainly designing systems to make .303 ammunition more reliable. He was awarded an OBE for this work in 1948.
After the war, the family relocated back to Auckland to Narrow Neck on Auckland’s North Shore. Their three children – Don, Robert and Judith – all learned to sail in Jack’s Frostbite Kitoa at the Wakatere Boating Club (WBC), of which Jack was a founding member.
“I went out with Dad as a forward hand on his Frostbite, and he told me that as soon as I could swim from Divey Rock back to shore, I could sail by myself.”
Jack, a very clever man, had a strong moral compass, which had a lasting influence on Robert’s character. From an early age, Robert learned that honesty, integrity and doing what was expected were everything.
Robert attended Auckland Grammar School but hated it. Aware of this, on the day he turned 15, Jack took him out of school for an interview with Percy Vos. The next day, Robert began his boatbuilding apprenticeship with Vos. The two developed an excellent working relationship, and within three months, Vos gave Robert enough kauri timber to build a Frostbite.
“These were 300mm x 100mm bulks of kauri, 3.6m long, beautiful timber. He gave them to me, and I’ll never forget that.”
This gift proved a wise investment, as Robert quickly developed a knack for building clinker dinghies.
“There were no plans or patterns; it was all done by eye. Percy would come down at each stage and adjust the shapes; it was great training. He taught me to love clinker dinghies.”
Robert had a wonderful apprenticeship at Percy Vos and, in addition to numerous commercial boats, worked on renowned pleasure yachts such as the K Class Katrina II and Sapphire, the latter designed by S&S. Incidentally, many years later, Robert had lunch with the late Olin Stephens, who was then 100 years old.
“I thought he was a delightful man.”
After sailing the late Bob Salthouse’s Q Class Nimble, Robert wanted one too. He approached the late Des Townson for a Q Class, who instead persuaded Robert to buy the first Mistral dinghy.
“Des and I got on famously. He came over several times to check how I was finishing it off.”
With Ross Duder crewing, Robert sailed his Mistral Sparkle for several seasons. In 1960, Robert designed and built the Q Class Fugitive, which he raced in the Interdominion 12-foot Championship to fifth place.
In 1961, Robert achieved his Trade Certificate in Ship, Yacht and Boatbuilding and left Vos not long afterwards to join a longtime boatbuilding friend of Jack’s, Snow Waters. One of his first jobs was helping build the 11.5m launch Mapuna for the late Bill Stephenson. Robert soon met Stephenson’s daughter, Elizabeth, and it didn’t take him long to decide on his next goal.
“I had to go up into the bow of Mapuna and ask Bill if I could marry his daughter.”
The answer was yes, and the couple married in 1962. They eventually had three sons: Russell, Michael, and Stephen.
After several years with Waters, in 1967, Robert went out on his own. One of his first contracts was to build a 10.4m fishing boat, which he did from a rented shed at the late John Salthouse’s yard at Greenhithe. During the launching, one of the cradle arms collapsed, and the boat fell over and pinned Robert into the mud. The boat was lifted, and a badly injured Robert dug out. Six weeks of recovery followed, but his injuries meant his professional boatbuilding days were over.
As an interim, Robert spent 18 months at Sydney Woodroffe Ship Chandlery. However, in his spare time, he designed and built an 8.5m keeler named Karamea, which was used for racing and family cruising for two years.
“A lovely little boat.”
In 1968, Robert decided on a teaching career and spent the next year at Auckland Teachers’ Training College. Now aged 28, he had to complete his School Certificate, including maths, which hadn’t been his favourite subject.
After qualifying, Robert was appointed Teacher of Technical Drawing, Mathematics and Woodwork at Mt Roskill Grammar School for two years and then Head of Department (HOD) Tech, Maths and Timetable at Mangere College for five years. These were excellent positions for someone relatively fresh into a new career.
“I wanted to get to the top of what I was doing and worked hard. It was full-on, but I loved it.”
In 1974, Robert was awarded his Advanced Trade Certificate in Ship, Yacht and Boatbuilding, only the third one awarded. The following year, he was awarded a one-year Commonwealth Exchange in England. He was building a 10m keelboat then, so he quickly finished it and stored it with his father-in-law. Named Kiteroa, she was sold after the family returned from England.
Back in Auckland, Robert secured a teaching position at Westlake Boys High School, where he spent a decade, much of it serving as Head of the Technical Department. While at Westlake, in 1980, Robert was one of the New Zealand team members who travelled to Larchmont, USA, to race Interclub dinghies.
Inspired by this experience and with the financial backing of Epiglass arranged by the late Trevor Geldard in 1983, Robert set up the National Inter-Secondary School Team Racing Championship. Now managed by Yachting New Zealand (YNZ), this championship has been raced ever since. Initially run in Sunburst dinghies, these were eventually retired in favour of the 420 Class, which helped make the event suitable for international competition.
In 1987, the Department of Education asked Robert to spend a year with them, advising schools on technical subjects. This led to him helping bring CAD into Auckland Training College and eventually becoming the Auckland Regional Director for Workshop Technology. Robert was appointed, along with three others, to implement the subject Graphics to replace Technical Drawing.
Robert had been teaching boatbuilding apprentices at night school since the late 1950s. From 1978 to 1998, he served as the National Examiner for Ship, Yacht, and Boatbuilding at both Trade and Advanced Trade Certificate levels.
In 1992, Robert took a year off to build a new house in Waimauku, which included a 93m² workshop. After that, he spent several years teaching at Kaipara College and serving as HOD at Auckland Grammar School.
In 2000, Robert joined the Boating Industry Training Organisation (BITO) to work with boatbuilding apprentices. At the time, apprentice numbers were well down, but Robert turned this around and eventually became the General Manager of BITO.
The apprenticeship scheme was so successful that Nova Scotia requested BITO to allow them to use it, and Robert made many trips there to help them set it up properly.
“I have had wonderful times in Nova Scotia, and they are still using our system today.”
In 2007, Robert retired from BITO, which effectively marked the end of his professional career, but much more has happened since then. That same year, Robert and three others, including fellow Boating New Zealand columnist Harold Kidd, established the New Zealand Traditional Boatbuilding School, which enjoyed great success for many years.
He has worked and taught designing methods ranging from splines, pencil, and paper to CAD. But as far as boats are concerned, to Robert, it’s the Mk I eyeball that decides if a boat looks right or not.
“How a boat looks is everything.”
No stranger to his tools, Robert has built over 40 boats for his family, along with countless models. In addition to the keelers Karamea and Kiteroa, he built the 10m launch Pirimai.
Robert has also been heavily hands-on in two significant restorations. During the early 1980s, Robert noticed that A Class Rawene was suffering from neglect. Built by the Logan Bros in 1907/8 for Alf Gilford, Rawene was then owned by his son Jack, and Robert asked him if he could sail Rawene.
Over the next few years, Robert and his sons completely restored Rawene. Gilford was invited for the first sail and showed them how to get the most out of her. The Brooke family raced Rawene for several years with the Classic Yacht Assoc (CYA), including winning the inaugural Classic Yacht Regatta Gold Cup.
“She taught my kids how to sail keelers; it was fabulous.”
Unfortunately, in 2009, Rawene was involved in a collision with another CYA yacht, and Robert had to rebuild her decks completely. However, Rawene is still around and owned by the Tino Rawa Trust.
Around 1991, the 14.6m fire-damaged launch Linda, built by Col Wild and once owned by the late John Salthouse, came up for sale. Robert and his sons rebuilt Linda completely, which took them four years.
“Imagine having your kids help steam ribs and learn to caulk a hull; it was a wonderful experience. She’s still part of the family, which is just wonderful,” said Robert with glistening eyes.
After this project, Brooke’s Waimauku house and workshop were sold, and they moved to Riverhead. Tragically, Elizabeth passed away in 2023, which was a significant blow to Robert. He lives in a retirement village near Greenhithe, crafting numerous model boats from his modest garage workshop.
Many boatbuilders today owe a debt to Robert, whether in developing their boatbuilding skills or in shaping their character, ethics, and integrity. His influence on students of all ages during his teaching career is immeasurable.
“My life has been about education, and I’ve helped many people get on the right track. I’ve loved helping people build boats and get them out on the water sailing.”
Thankfully, Robert’s contributions have been recognised nationally. In 2019, he received a membership in the New Zealand Order of Merit for his teaching, education, advisory, and management roles in education and his services to heritage preservation and guardianship of our maritime heritage. He’s also been made a life member of the CYA. Both are richly deserved.
Robert Brooke MNZM is wise, patient, caring, and soft-spoken, yet with a steel character; Jack and Elsie would be more than proud.
Great article, took me back as I sailed in Frosbites to Wakatere from Tamaki and raced against the Brooke family. Also involved with 12 and 18 footers. We built boats under our house and holding the dolly to repair clinker boats was hard. Reading the names of all the old boats is wonderful. Those were the days. Thanks.