Eight Bells - Bruce Tantrum
I first met Bruce when crewing on the 1894 Robert Logan yacht WAITANGI when she was an Australian vessel and just visiting Auckland as a spectator to the 2000 America’s Cup. We spent a couple of weeks going out onto the Waitemata every day, with various high profile guests. We laughed and drank and sailed to the extreme. My partner in crime, (now Commodore of one of Melbourne’s premier Yacht Clubs) had to rescue me from the forepeak of an S&S Swan 68ft ketch owned by a Texan pig farmer. In return I had to apologise to the taxi driver for what happened in the cab on the way home. Amongst all the partying, one figure remains memorable despite the brain fog.
Bruce Tantrum was one of the central movers in getting the WAITANGI returned to Auckland from Melbourne, a move that would cement the relationship between the CYAA and the CYANZ.
He was small of stature but big on personality. Polite to a fault, with a wicked sense of humour, charming, immensely knowledgeable and always welcoming. In the years following the America’s Cup outing, we flew to Auckland a few times to sail in their Summer Regattas. Bruce owned a boat called PARAMOUR. Designed by John Lidgard and built from scratch by Bruce himself, (see comment below) and then sailed off to the pacific. It’s the only yacht I’ve sailed on where the port winches went clock wise and the starboard winches anti clockwise! He claimed it was the intuitive way to do things. It was an unassuming craft and at first glance, sailing on the big Gaff Cutters seemed like a better option for visiting crew. But what you might have missed out on in terms of sailing hardware was more than made up for by Bruce’s sparkling personality and helming style.
He’d always had ambitions to design yachts. One of his proudest possessions was a handwritten letter received from Olin Stephens. As a teenager he had drawn a yacht and sent the plans to the great man for comment. Olin despite being famous and busy, replied, making some critical observations but at no time being condescending to the colonial lad who had presumed to seek advice from the master.
When we sailed FAIR WINDS across the Tasman around 2010 to take part in the Auckland Season of Classic Racing we arrived in the Viaduct in the middle of the night after 1200nm. Bruce had somehow arranged a free berth for our unassuming 43 footer amongst the super yachts and he was there in the quay to take our lines. The next day he invited the whole crew to his small appartment in Remuera for dinner. The Italian members of the crew were rightly concerned about Bruce’s culinary skills, and took over the catering duties. This freed Bruce up to concentrate on story telling something he excelled at.
Later that year when cruising as a family to The Barrier in the Hauraki Gulf, we were lucky enough to anchor in Port FitzRoy next to PARAMOUR. Bruce had a radio controlled model boat on board and shared his enthusism for this remarkable little craft with our then teenage son, no doubt inspiring another young mind to think more deeply about how sailboats work and why they matter.
In more recent years Bruce and Shirley-Ann have been regulars at Melbourne’s Cup Regatta, supporting Classic Boats on both sides of the Tasman. His legacy in the classic yachting world will live on in the boats he helped save from destruction through his foundational work in the Classic Yacht Charitable Trust, and the over 200 scale models that he produced over the years, many of which today grace the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland.
I’ll miss your insights, ironic humour and smile, Bruce. The classic boat sailing world is diminished by your passing.