Who is Athol Burns?

Here are a few more designs Athol previously published in various Sea Spray magazines in the 1950's and 60's. The 43 footer is Vaila, a well known Burns motorsailer, recently refitted to a very high standard and currently for sale.

 

Well it took 6 months but now we have a Burns gallery, very nice. Thanks to Steamfan and Mark for posting the drawings........

 

Thanks to Design Novice for starting us off! Yep Tad, that's nice.
Mark, nice to see the Sea Spray pics.
Vaila is just gorgeous. Looks a bit stumpy in profile in that drawing and I don't recall her as being stumpy at all. Amazing sailer and Athol reckoned she'd give most boats a run for her money. She is around still. I've got a 20 year old pic of her somewhere.....

 

AWB designed a little d/e cutter called "ASTRID" all 22ft of her.very similar to the 18ft shown. Astrid did a couple of pacific cruises in the late 1950's and then lay in our family boatyard in Tauranga for several years.One cruise featured in "Sea Spray" magazine, "Offshore in Astrid" Maybe 1959 and after seeing her in the flesh I bought the plans for my escape (don't we all have these dreams?) However this was not to be, in a great hissy-fit my pikafite burned all my boat plans and books so making me land bound.

 

There was a c22' boat called "Paula" for sale ashore at Karaka Bay in the '80s. Counter stern. Was apparently built as an open sailing boat and the seller (a surgeon -well known resurrector of smashed hands) said that she was an Athol Burns design. Incredibly heavy construction -a real Cape Horner.
She was bought by McMullan and Wing and they had William Garden (another connection with AWB) design a typical Bill Garden upper works. Very pretty. She was their yard boat and knock about.

 

steamfan-- check your steam site please, I have sent you a mess of "stuff".
No, this little Astrid was a double ender but oh so Burns in shape and sheer. When will you put up the Marco Polo pic??? and I can not read the "Vaila" pic at all in the above post. regards ray

 

Marco Polo

Wilting under pressure. Here is Marco Polo in all her glory. Built by Wilf Buckland a cabinet maker in Lower Hutt NZ in 1955. Voted one of the best designs for that year by Yachting Monthly. She was designed (according to AWB) over a period of five years to an exacting set of specs but never used to fulfill any of them. The drawing he sent me showed her as a ketch and rumour had it that she was over canvassed for the Cook Strait (where men are men believe me). She was a cutter after her first year after a couple of scares. Now back in Wellington in loving hands.
Classy aft end ain't it.

 

Taiaroa

Couldn't resist sending this pic of "Taiaroa" when I had done a lot of work on her. She was derelict when I got her and deserved the effort. So was Marco but I had to part with her before I had done all I wanted.
"Taiatoa" is such a lovely boat. The name is Maori for spending one's time in a lovely way. I can vouch for that. A Wellington restauranteur fell in love with her and that was that. She drifted out of my life.
That bumkin was very useful if you were the only boat in the bay. Rules wouldn't allow it these days!

 

Offshore in Astrid

Rayman, I have the Offshore in Astrid articles you mentioned in my Sea Spray archives. I'll dig them out soon and scan them for you.

I wonder where Astrid is now?

Regarding Vaila, I suspect she must have been one of AB's favourite designs as I recall he had the sail plan of her pinned to the wall in his design loft when I visited, some 30yrs after he designed her!

 

Ah, but he used to get all misty eyed over Sta-Reta (that name has several spellings -Starita etc). Someone said it was from Stan and Rita her first owners). He often asked if anyone had seen her recently. She was a early '50s 40' launch with twin lister two cylinder engines and when I knew her, they took the exhausts up at a 45 deg angle from aft on the wheelhouse deckhead to the top of the mizzen. Strange. Lost track of her. She was lovely, posibly a bit much sheer aft which AWB agreed was a bit extreme and a deviation from the plans done during building. I'll remain true to "Matahui" and my old girls.

 

Astrid

I was partnered with a friend we owned ASTRID in Auckland for a few years. I too was wondering what became of her and stumbled onto this forum. I have included some photos.

 

She's a sweetie. I remember her out and about but haven't seen her recently. What sort of engine did she have?

 

VIXEN is a design that may be appreciated here.

She is a wonderful double ender with some miles on her.

Check out photo 56, weird...

http://www.vixensvoyage.com/Photos.php

-Tom

 

Astrid

Thanks for posting the pics Dachrst. I think I recall seeing Astrid advertised for sale in the late 80's or early 90's but haven't seen anything of her since.

Attached is a pic of her from one the 1960 Sea Spray articles during her Pacific voyage. She certainly looks like a capable little cruiser.

According to the article, she was powered by a 2 stroke "Clae" gas (petrol) engine at the time which no doubt will be long gone now.

 

Astrid

Yes she had a single banger gas with a huge flywheel crank start. The name eludes me. She sailed quite well with a bit of a struggle pointing as you can imagine. We decked her out with some Lidgard sails including a full radial reaching chute.