Kate, the oldest still-sailing boat in Aotearoa New Zealand, a utilitarian Hauraki Gulf trading cutter, built in 1898 on the Kaipara Harbour, needed a new tender. One which would row straight and true and – seeing Kate is the working vessel of the Waiheke Working Sail Trust – carry a bunch of crew kids too.
So Bernard Rhodes, restorer of the Kate and the driving force behind the Trust, built Tubby to his own design. Cost-effectively done, using hardware store construction-grade plywood and light too. Despite her name, Tubby is easily carried by two people, and more importantly, can just as easily be hoisted aboard the mothership.
