Avonside Girls' High School Yacht Club with Awataha

1964

Group of Avonside Girls' High School Yacht Club students, with an unidentified man, standing in front of their Junior Cherub ‘Awataha’. One student holds the centreboard, another the tiller.

Contributors note: "This is the Avonside Girls' High School Yacht Club members at Pleasant Point for a days sailing in 1964 The article below was in the school magazine 1964. YACHT CLUB This year under the guidance of Mr van der Houwen, the Avonside Yacht Club came into existence. A Junior Cherub kit-set was bought by the school and constructed by a local boatbuilder. Mr van der Houwen and members of the club put the finishing touches to the yacht and it was launched at the Pleasant Point Yacht Club on an afternoon in October. As members of the first girls' school yacht club in the South Island, we felt very proud of our new varnished Cherub which we named "Awataha". This Maori name literally means "Riverside", which we felt, with a little stretching of the imagination, could be translated as "Avonside". Most of our time is spent in teaching non-sailors the intricacies of yachting, but later we hope to challenge other schools who have similar yachts, to races on the Estuary."

Creator: Wendy Wright

Area: East / New Brighton

Contributor: Wendy Wright

Source: Entry in the 2025 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt.

Reference ID: CCL-PH25-WeWr-0002

Uploaded by: CCL Photo Hunt

Copyright status: In copyright

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0