1946 Jack Brookes Classic

Wakaya is not being offered as an ordinary production yacht. She is an important survivor from New Zealand’s post-war sailing heritage: a powerful 41-foot timber offshore yacht with documented Pacific passages, a respected designer and a story extending across eight decades.

Today, she offers the right custodian a rare opportunity to preserve and revive a vessel whose history cannot be recreated. Wakaya requires restoration, commitment and informed ownership—but the reward would be the return of a genuine New Zealand voyager to the water.

Designed by Jack Brooke in 1938 for Auckland carpenter Syd Hamon, Wakaya was conceived as a robust offshore yacht capable of serious Pacific cruising. Construction began beside the Tamaki River at Panmure, but the Second World War intervened. Shipwright Edwin “Ted” Hay acquired the incomplete yacht in 1944 and, with Owen Jackson and Robert Warder, completed her after years of part-time work. She was launched at St Mary’s Bay in December 1946.

Wakaya will not suit every buyer. Her next owner should approach her as a significant restoration project rather than a turn-key cruising yacht. She deserves a purchaser who understands traditional timber vessels, accepts the importance of a specialist survey and is prepared to establish the true scope and cost of her resurrection.

Why Wakaya is worth saving

• A recognised Jack Brooke design with distinctive 1930s offshore influences

• Traditional New Zealand timber construction in heart kauri with pohutukawa ribs

• A documented 1948 Pacific voyage and later passages to Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia and Vanuatu

• A direct association with experienced New Zealand offshore sailors and shipwrights

• A strong story for private custodianship, syndicate ownership or a heritage-led restoration

Contact Conrad Pieterse on 0274393150 or email conrad@parkermarinegroup.co.nz