A large proportion of New Zealand keel yachts, particularly in Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttelton, seldom compete in races. Many of these vessels are specifically designed for cruising on the New Zealand coastline and sheltered sounds. The Hauraki Gulf is generally regarded as the finest of these cruising grounds, containing many fine stretches of open water and anchorages. Wellington yachtsmen, wishing to cruise in the Marlborough Sounds area, have first to make the difficult and often dangerous Cook Strait crossing. The Banks Peninsula offers a wide choice to the cruising yachts of the Lyttelton fleet. Few yachtsmen cruise in the Fiordland Sounds because of the weather conditions in that area and the dangerous nature of the west coast of the South Island. Many ocean cruises are undertaken by New Zealand yachts, mostly to Australia and the Pacific Islands. In 1953, 19 cruising yachts left Auckland on ocean voyages. In 1957 Marco Polo (A. Armit, B. Lowe) became the first New Zealand yacht to circumnavigate the world.

The total yachting population of New Zealand, approximately 15,000, is formed into 85 yacht clubs, most of which are based on the four major ports and 51 of which are in the Auckland area.

by Stephen Gerard O'Regan, formerly Secretary, Evans Bay Yacht Club, Wellington.

• Little Ships, Carter, R. (1948)
• Handbook, Auckland Provincial Yachting Association (1953–54)
• Sea Spray (1945– ) (monthly).

The bulk of overseas yachting competition until 1956 has been with Australia. In earlier years this consisted in the participation by individual New Zealand yachts in Australian regattas. In 1888 Logan built the notable 5-ton yacht Akarana to race at the Melbourne Centennial Regatta. In Australia she was rated at 6½ tons and was forced to sail in the 10-ton-and-under class. Despite this, she won the first prize of £140 and was later taken to Sydney, where she was again successful. The Logan cutter Rainbow, launched in 1898 and regarded, with the modern Auckland yacht Ranger, as the most successful racing craft built in New Zealand, was shipped to Sydney in 1900. The yacht competed in several Australian regattas and won some very notable victories. The cutter Waitangl also had a successful racing career in Australian waters.

As this was a form of competition too expensive for the average yachtsman to undertake, it was not until the end of the Second World War and the rapid development in New Zealand of small centreboard classes capable of competing overseas that the race series against Australia began to grow in popularity. In 1938 four Auckland V class unrestricted 18-ft yachts, Riptide, Vaalele, Irena, and Manane, were shipped to Australia to compete against the world-famous Sydney 18-footers. In mostly light winds the New Zealand team was soundly beaten. In a return contest in 1939, sailed on Auckland harbour, the New Zealand team took first and second places. This series developed into the World 18-ft Championship for the Giltinian Trophy. This trophy has been contested regularly since 1945 and has been sailed in Auckland, Sydney, and Fiji.

Inter-Dominion championships between Australia and New Zealand are sailed annually in unrestricted 12 ft dinghies for the Silasec Trophy.

At the 1956 Olympic Games held in Melbourne, New Zealand competed in Olympic yachting for the first time. P. Mander and J. Cropp won the gold medal in the 12-sq.-metre Sharpie class, the two-man boat for the games. New Zealand was second to Australia, but, after the disqualification of the Australian boat, was placed first. New Zealand competed in the keel-boat class at the same games. R. L. Stewart, sailing a Dragon-class yacht, was placed twelfth. As New Zealand had no competitive background of racing in these classes, the team's success was significant.

New Zealand competed in the 1960 Olympic Games yachting sailed on the Bay of Naples. R. Roberts was placed sixth in a fleet of 35 in the monotype Finn-class. In the two-man centreboard series sailed in Flying Dutchman class boats, R. Watson, of New Zealand, was placed eighth in a fleet of 31.

At the 1964 Olympic Games, sailed at Sagami Bay, near Tokyo, New Zealand entrants H. O. L. Pedersen and E. L. Wells won the gold medal for the Flying Dutchman class while P. Mander was placed fourth in the Finn-class.

Between 1958 and 1960 the New Zealand Finn-class yachtsman, R. Roberts, sailed in class championships in Australia, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In the World Finn-class Championships at Zeebrugge in 1958 he was placed thirtieth in a seven-race series of 82 competitors. In the Inter-Dominion Finn-class Championships sailed in Sydney in 1962, New Zealand gained the first three places in a five-race series of 27 competitors. The placings were: R. Watson, first; R. Roberts, second; and P. Mander, third.

New Zealand competed in the 1958 International Flying Dutchman Class World Championships in Austria. Calypso (I. Pryde, R. Simich) was placed fifteenth in a fleet of 46. At the 1962 World Series held in Florida, U.S.A., the New Zealand Duchess(B. Skinner, D. Brook) finished twelfth in a 19-boat fleet. In a championship held in Florida in the same year New Zealand was placed third overall. In 1962 an inter-Dominion contest in Flying Dutchman class boats was sailed at Sydney. The placings were:

• First: Huybers, Australia, 5,113 points

• Second: Pandora, New Zealand, 4,511 points

• Third: Calpreta, New Zealand, 4,379 points

• Fourth: Haurere, New Zealand, 4,192 points

The New Zealand international 14 ft class team sailing in England in 1958 was placed second to Canada in a sail off for the International Teams Race. The coveted Prince of Wales Cup was won by Atua Hau (G. Smale, R. Roberts), of New Zealand. The other New Zealand boat, Calypso (I. Pryde, R. Simich), won the Weymouth Town Cup in the same year.

Olympic and overseas competition in International-class boats caused a rapid growth in the number of boats in these classes in New Zealand. Although this has been to the detriment of established New Zealand classes, local centreboard boats are being developed as training classes for yachtsmen seeking international competition. An important development in small-boat racing overseas which has had a widespread impact in New Zealand in recent years is the growth of multihulled craft, such as the catamaran and trimaran. This type of yacht, capable of reaching sustained speeds of 30 knots, has proved popular in New Zealand, and national championships are held annually in one-design 12 ft catamarans. To date, New Zealand has not competed internationally in this class of boat.

An annual Christmas ocean race across Cook Strait for keel yachts has been held under the auspices of the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club since 1928. An annual race is also held from Lyttelton to Akaroa by the Banks Peninsula Cruising Club. In 1951 an ocean race was sailed from Wellington to Lyttelton in connection with the Canterbury centennial. Leaving Wellington on 21 January in bad conditions, the 22 yachts faced a severe southerly gale, which resulted in the withdrawal of nearly the whole fleet. The Wellington cutter Astral was dismasted; the 26 ft Nelson cutter Husky and the 30 ft Wellington cutter Argo were lost with all hands. The toll of 10 lives in this race constitutes the worst disaster in New Zealand yachting history. The winner, and only boat to finish, was the cutter Tawhiri, of Nelson.

The 100-mile race sailed by Auckland yachts for the Balokovic Cup is an annual event controlled by the Royal Akarana Yacht Club. The above club, whenever a sufficient number of entries is forthcoming, holds a race to Australia for the Trans-Tasman Cup. The first race, from Auckland to Sydney, was sailed in 1931 and was won by the visiting Norwegian cutter Teddy. In 1934 the cup was contested by the German yawl Te Rapunga and the New Zealand cutter Ngataki in a race to Melbourne, a distance of 1,630 miles, the former winning in the slowest time to date, 19 days. On the third occasion (1938) of the race, the two contestants withdrew, the schooner Aurora Star proceeding to Lord Howe Island and the disabled 36 ft cutter Wayfarer making her way back to the New Zealand coast, reaching Whangaroa Harbour in a sinking condition. The cup has been contested four times since 1945, the last race being held from Auckland to Sydney in 1961. The fleet of 15 yachts was the largest to date.

In 1956 a race was sailed from Auckland to Suva, Fiji, in which there was one Australian entrant. The New Zealand yacht Wanderer won the 1,250-mile event.

In April 1964 a race was sailed from Whangarei to Noumea, New Caledonia. The ketch Tarau, Whangarei, won on corrected time from a fleet of 36 boats.

The Moffat Cup for 12 ft 8 in. Idle Along yachts is contested annually between provincial representatives. Since the first national contest, sailed in 1935, this class has become one of the most widely known in New Zealand. Although it has entered into a rapid decline in popularity since 1950, at its peak it numbered over 1,300 boats in regular competition. As late as the 1953–54 season, when decline had set in this class, the Auckland area alone had 239 boats on its provincial register.

The 12 ft 6 in. Takapuna Z class competes annually for the Cornwell Cup. Participation in the national contest is limited to youths under 19 years of age, as this class is regarded as a training class. For the same reason, all boats must conform to the one-design rule, only ⅜ in. tolerance on any measurement being permitted. The Cornwell contest is one of New Zealand's most successful training classes, and in 1960 the construction and rig were modified to bring the class into line with modern developments.

The most popular training class for boys up to the age of 16 years is the 7 ft Tauranga P class. Provincial representatives compete annually in a national series for the Tauranga and Tanner Cups.

The rise of lighter and faster class boats since 1945 has tended to attract the younger element in the sport away from such classes as the Z class and Idle Along, boats locally designed to meet specifically New Zealand conditions. Newer types of boat, such as the Cherub, Moth, and Leander R classes are the result of modern developments in hull and rig design. New Zealand participation in international yachting competition since 1945 has strongly influenced the development of centreboard racing classes. The introduction of International class boats in New Zealand, such as the Flying Dutchman, Finn, and Flying Fifteen classes was the direct result of international contact and competition.

In recent years there has been a decline of interest among yachtsmen in the Sanders, Cornwell, and Moffat Cups, as these represent classes of boats which are rapidly becoming obsolete. Skippers who once would have sailed in the Sanders Cup will now be found in the Finn and Flying Dutchman Olympic classes; the Junior Cherub class skippers would once have raced for the Cornwell Cup, while the R and Cherub classes have caused the decline of the Idle Along class and its Moffat Cup.

Sailing and yachting as a New Zealand sport dates from 1841 when a regatta was held on Wellington Harbour (Port Nicholson) to celebrate the first anniversary of the settlement. The report in the New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator was as follows:

The Wellington Anniversary Regatta was a regular annual fixture organised by a committee of prominent citizens under the patronage of the Governor, but in 1883 the newly founded Port Nicholson Yacht Club took over its management. Auckland, now the largest yachting centre of the colony, did not hold its first regatta until 1850. These events were repeated at irregular intervals until 1880 when the now famous Auckland Anniversary Regatta became an annual fixture. It has been reliably estimated that no other yachting regatta in the world draws a larger fleet. Today, Auckland accounts for over 80 per cent of New Zealand's total yachting population.

A factor which afforded considerable stimulus to the growth of the sport in the Auckland area was the large number of small sailing vessels which were engaged in the local and Pacific Islands trade. Trading vessels participated in the anniversary regatta until the turn of the century and, even after the arrival of steam, their influence was carried on. The popular Mullet Boat class is a direct descendant of one type of commercial vessel well known on the Hauraki Gulf in the past.

Two notable Auckland boatbuilding families, those of Robert Logan and Charles Bailey, were responsible for much of the development in design and construction methods which took place in the late nineteenth century. To them is the credit largely due for the fact that, at the turn of the century, New Zealand yacht design was on a par with that of contemporary British and Naval architects and boatbuilders, while New Zealand construction was superior. Logan pioneered the three-skin diagonal method of construction which is now generally recognised throughout the world. Many of the yachts built by Logan between 60 and 70 years ago using this method are still in active use throughout the country. The Rona, built for A. H. Turnbull to the design of the famous British architect, G. L. Watson, in 1893, is still winning races in Wellington. Eight of the yachts racing in the Auckland first-division fleet today are over 60 years old, Rainbow, Ariki, and Iorangi being the most notable.

The great majority of yachts sailing in New Zealand waters are of the small centreboard classes of which there are over 37. Most of these sail both in club and in provincial competition, and for some classes there are annual national championships sailed on an interport or provincial representation basis. The most notable national championship up until recent years has been the Sanders Cup series for 14-ft X-class boats. The championship was named after Lieutenant W. E. Sanders, V.C., D.S.O., a New Zealand naval hero of the First World War. These boats were originally known as the Rona-Jellicoe class after the then Governor, Earl Jellicoe, who was a prominent founder member of the class during his term of office (1920–24). Lord Jellicoe was a contestant in several national contests and represented Auckland in the first Sanders Cup series in 1921 which was won by Heather, of Otago.

(1790–1842)

Maritime explorer.

A new biography of Dumont d'Urville, Jules Sébastien César appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville was born on 23 May 1790 at Condé-sur-Noireau, a village in Normandy, France. His father was Gabriel François Dumont, sieur of Urville and an hereditary Judge; his mother, née Jeanne de Croisilles, was of a noble French family. The d'Urvilles, because of their aristocratic connections, took refuge after the French Revolution in a secluded part of Normandy. Here, after the death of his father, Jules was educated by his mother's brother, a churchman of wide learning. Later he attended the Lycée Malherbe at Caen. In 1807 he entered the Navy. A student by talent and inclination, he devoted himself to learning, both in the humanities and natural sciences. In 1815 he married. In 1820, while on a visit in a French naval vessel to the eastern Mediterranean, he was instrumental in procuring for France a Greek statue which had been found on Melos – the Venus de Milo.

On 18 August 1822, d'Urville, then a lieutenant, sailed from Toulon on the Coquille as second in command under Louis Isidor Duperrey on an extended voyage round the world, returning to Toulon on 24 March 1825. The Coquille was at the Bay of Islands from 20 March to 17 April 1824.

On 25 April 1826, d'Urville, with the rank of commander, sailed from Toulon as chief of the former Coquille, renamed Astrolabe, on a voyage of exploration and scientific inquiry which lasted till 24 March 1829. On 10 January 1827 the Astrolabe came in sight of the north-west coast of the South Island. On 14 January the ship passed the entrance to the modern Golden Bay, which had been visited by Tasman. The ship anchored off the west side of Tasman Bay. This bay had not been investigated at close quarters previously. In the following days d'Urville established that it was a great deal bigger than Cook's mapping indicated, and his officers surveyed and charted it. Adele Island, Pepin Island, and Croisilles Harbour are modern names derived from those given by d'Urville. On 23 January d'Urville made for a channel which he had noticed at a distance some time before, and which seemed to him to communicate between Tasman Bay and Cook's Admiralty Bay. This was the channel culminating in French Pass and dividing D'Urville Island from the mainland. Lottin and Gressien, two of d'Urville's officers, on the same day saw the pass at close quarters from two of the ship's boats. On 25 January d'Urville went through the pass into Admiralty Bay in a ship's boat. On 28 January the Astrolabe made the hazardous passage into Admiralty Bay. The investigation of Tasman Bay and the discovery of French Pass and the insularity of D'Urville Island were significant contributions by d'Urville to the discovery of New Zealand's coasts.

From Cook Strait d'Urville went north along the coast to Whangarei Harbour, which was surveyed and charted on 21–23 February 1827. The Astrolabe then doubled back to Hauraki Gulf, passing between the main coastal islands on the west side of the gulf on 25–27 February. The Astrolabe had been preceded in this passage by the Prince Regent in 1820, but the surveys and charts made under d'Urville's command were notable contributions to the cartography of New Zealand's coasts. Lottin crossed the isthmus on 26 February and made a survey of Manukau Harbour, discovered in 1820 by Samuel Marsden. From Hauraki Gulf d'Urville proceeded to North Cape and then to the Bay of Islands, quitting the New Zealand coast in March 1827.

Following on his return to France in 1829, d'Urville was promoted to the rank of post captain. The years from 1829 to 1837 were spent in naval duties and literary and scientific writing. d'Urville busied himself with the publication of the many volumes and albums of the records of his voyage entitled Voyage de la Corvette L'Astrolabe. The second and third volumes deal in detail with the geography, history, science, and ethnology of New Zealand, enriched by many details from d'Urville's own observations.

In 1837 d'Urville was appointed as commander of an expedition consisting of the Astrolabe and the Zéle on a voyage to the Antarctic and the Pacific islands. This lasted from September 1837 until November 1840, during which time d'Urville made two trips to Antarctica, the most notable of his explorations being that of Adelie Land early in 1840. On 25 February d'Urville left Hobart, and between 7 March and 4 May 1840 was again in contact with New Zealand's coasts. He visited the Auckland Islands, passed the Snares and Stewart Island at close quarters, and spent some time in Otago Harbour, Akaroa Harbour, and the Bay of Islands. He and his officers recorded many interesting observations of these places at that time.

d'Urville, on his return to France, was promoted to rear-admiral, and belatedly received recognition of his outstanding services to exploration and science. On 8 May 1842 he and his wife and child were killed in a railway accident near Paris.

Jules Sébastien Csar Dumont d'Urville was a man of impressive talent both in navigation and in learning. He made notable contributions to New Zealand exploration, particularly in the Tasman Bay – French Pass area, and to the detailed cartography of New Zealand's coasts in conjunction with his officers. Both he and his officers made valuable records of the contemporary history, scenery, ethnology, and botany of New Zealand.

by Charles Andrew Sharp, B.A.(OXON.), M.A.(N.Z.), Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Voyage de la Corvette L'Astrolabe, d'Urville, J. S. C. Dumont (1830–35)
• Voyage au Pole Sud, d'Urville, J. S. C. Dumont (1842–46)
• New Zealand 1826–1827 (Biographical Sketch), Wright, O. (1950).

William Colenso visited Waikaremoana and Ruatahuna in December 1841, and the Rev. G. Preece from 1847 until 1852 maintained a mission station at Te Whaiti. Many rebels sought refuge in the Urewera during the Maori Wars. In 1863 the Ngati Kahungunu took advantage of the Waikato Wars to invade the district in an attempt to seize Lake Waikaremoana. Late in 1867 Colonel St. John led an expedition into the Urewera in search of Kereopa, Volkner's murderer. From 1868 until 1871 Te Kooti used the Urewera as a base for his guerilla campaigns. As a result, Whitmore invaded the district in 1869 and reached Ruatahuna, while Ropata's Ngati Porous raided Maungapohatu in March 1870.

After the wars the Urewera, like the King Country, remained closed territory to Europeans. In the early 1890s, because of land difficulties and the rumoured discovery of gold in the district, the local chiefs asked Seddon to have the Urewera boundaries permanently determined. The district was officially defined in the Urewera Native Reserve Act of 1896. Survey work began in 1895, but met such strong opposition from the Maoris that troops were sent to Ruatoki and Te Whaiti, and Sir James Carroll intervened to prevent war. In 1895 Elsdon Best settled at Ruatahuna, where he recorded many of the local traditions in his Tuhoe – Children of the Mist. Ten years later Kenana Rua founded his cult, Te Wairua Tapu, at Maungapohatu. This event brought the Urewera to the brink of civil war and peace was not restored until 2 April 1916, when a police expedition went to Maungapohatu and arrested Rua after a half-hour gun battle.

Over the years the importance of preserving the forests of the Urewera has been recognised, with the result that in 1954 an area of 121,000 acres around Lake Waikaremoana was constituted a national park. Three years later a further 334,000 acres were added, making Urewera National Park the second largest in New Zealand.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

The country was the home of the fierce Maori tribe who were variously known as Nga Potiki, Urewera, or Tuhoe. Urewera, the name commonly used, commemorates a painful mishap which befell Murakareke, a son of the Nga Potiki chief Tuhoe-potiki who lived in the late sixteenth century. The Urewera people were one of the Toi tribes, who originally inhabited the Bay of Plenty coastal district, but increasing pressure of population had forced them to move into the highlands about A.D. 1500. Nga Potiki were famed as warriors. For two centuries they fought many battles against Ngati Kahungunu to retain possession of Lake Waikaremoana. In the early eighteenth century, a generation before the time of Te Heuheu I's, there was a series of wars against the Tuwharetoa in the Taupo district. During the 1820s the Ngapuhis invaded the Urewera and Pomare I took Ruatahuna in 1823. In 1826 a taua, led by the Kahungunu chief Mohaka, was cut to pieces near Maungapohatu.

The Urewera Country originally included all lands east of the Rangitaiki River and west of a line along the lower Waimana River and the upper reaches of the Waioeka River. Its southern boundary was marked by Maungataniwha Mountain, the Waiau River, and Lake Waikaremoana. Apart from the Ahikereru Valley, and some land around Ruatahuna and Maungapohatu, the country is mountainous and broken with peaks rising from 2,000 to 5,000 ft. Three mountain ranges – Ikawhenua, Huiarau, and Maungapohatu – rise within its borders and most of the country is covered with dense native forest.

(1908–).

Winner, Victoria Cross and Bar.

A new biography of Upham, Charles Hazlitt appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Charles Hazlitt Upham is the son of John Hazlitt Upham, barrister and solicitor, and Agatha Mary Upham, and was born at Christchurch on 21 September 1908. He married Mary Eileen, daughter of James McTamney, on 20 June 1945 and has three daughters. Upham was educated at Waihi Preparatory School, Winchester, South Canterbury, at Christ's College, Christchurch, and at Lincoln College, Canterbury. He holds a Diploma of Agriculture and is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Valuers.

A high-country musterer and shepherd, Upham later joined the Valuation Department. On the outbreak of the Second World War he enlisted in the 2nd NZEF on 18 September 1939. He sailed with the First Echelon with the rank of sergeant, being promoted to Second Lieutenant on 2 November 1940; was promoted Lieutenant on 2 November 1941 and Captain on 8 May 1942. He was a prisoner of war from 1942 to 1945. After the war he became a sheep farmer at “Lansdowne”, Conway Flat, Hundalee, North Canterbury, and is a member of the Parnassus Rabbit Board and Conway Flat School Committee.

Upham was awarded the Victoria Cross for sustained gallantry, skill and leadership on Crete between 22 and 30 May 1941. At Maleme he was responsible for the destruction of four enemy machine-gun nests and brought out a wounded man under heavy fire. He then penetrated 600 yards into enemy-held territory and led out an isolated company. He was wounded three times in the next two days but remained in action. At Galatos, on 25 May, he led his platoon forward as the Germans advanced, killing 40 and forcing them to retire. When his platoon was ordered to retire he went back to warn other troops that they were in danger of being cut off. At Sphakia, on 30 May, he repulsed an enemy party advancing on Force HQ, 22 being killed before the remainder fled in panic.

Upham was awarded a Bar to the Victoria Cross for outstanding gallantry and magnificent leadership as a company commander in the attack on Ruweisat Ridge on 14–15 July 1942. He destroyed an entire truckload of German soldiers with hand grenades and, although twice wounded, led his men in the final assault. Held up by machine-gun posts and tanks he led his company forward to gain their objective, personally destroying a German tank, as well as several guns and vehicles with grenades. Though hit in the elbow with a bullet, with his arm broken, and weak from pain and loss of blood, he consolidated his newly won position before having his wound dressed. Returning to his men he remained with them throughout the day under heavy artillery and mortar fire. He was again severely wounded and completely immobilised. His gallant company, by then reduced to only six survivors, was over-run and all were taken prisoners.

A quiet, modest man, Upham shunned publicity. When the people of Canterbury raised a fund to purchase him a farm he politely but firmly refused to accept the money. In 1949 the Charles Hazlitt Upham Scholarship, tenable by sons of ex-servicemen at the University of Canterbury or the Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln, was established from the money raised.

London Gazette, 14 Oct 1941, 26 Sep 1945.