Retro and Vintage Boats - Kiwi Portraits

Retro and Vintage Boats

Kiwi Portraits

By Don Jessen

Bateman - Hardcover -  RRP $39.99

Retro and vintage boats are a picturesque reminder of an elegant time past when beauty, form and style ruled. They are the beautiful classic car or stunning hot rod of the lakes and sea, and they are becoming increasingly sought after by Kiwi boaties.

Within these pages author Don Jessen presents a highly covetable selection of these beautiful boats, and their stories.

New Zealand has an incredibly rich maritime history and many old boats are alive and well and still plying our coasts and inland lakes.

Author Don Jessen, himself having been a trailer boatie, a yachtie, and a launch owner during his boating career, really appreciates all these boats, from the smallest sailing craft to trailer boats, speedboats and lovely launches.

Don had always had an interest in older, including replica, boats that are not so well known, and after various ‘research voyages’, and with well over 100 boats photographed, Don realised he had the beginnings of a great compendium of retro and vintage boats. 

Retro and Vintage Boats: Kiwi Portraits is split into sections featuring the different types of boats to be found in New Zealand’s coastal and inland waters, from the time-honoured clinkers and picnic boats, steam launches, runabouts, cabin cruisers, jet boats and speedboats of our earlier years, to a small selection of vintage and replica launches.

One thing Don found that all the boats had in common was that their owners lavish a lot of attention on them. Some of the craft are so historically significant that the owners consider themselves caretakers of the boat’s life voyage. And don’t just think it’s the man of the family who has the interest. Don has come across many women who are just as passionate about their old boats.

‘I have greatly enjoyed putting this book together and have been amazed at the warmth of boat owners’ responses and their willingness to share what they know about their boats. I hope that I have done justice to the boats featured and have produced a book that you, the reader, will find both interesting and enjoyable.’ — Don Jessen

Hamilton-based author Don Jessen’s lifelong love of boats can be traced back to his dad and those great days of the 1950s. At the age of nine, Don considered himself to be something of an expert when it came to boats. He would devour his dad’s American boat magazines and, when available, New Zealand’s own Sea Spray magazine. By the time Don was 18 his dad had progressed to a fibreglass runabout and, once Don was 21, he bought his first speedboat. It was the beginning of a string of 12 boats that he would own, the largest being a 42-footer (12.8 m).

This is a beautiful hardback book at a bargain price.

Don Jessen is author of the 2014 bestselling title Retro Caravans: Vantastic Kiwi Collections, and this year’s A Great Indoors for the Great Outdoors: The Liteweight Caravan Story, both published by Bateman.