Waitangi was designed by William Fife and built by Robert Logan, a Scotsman, at Devonport in Auckland NZ. 

The Waitangi story began in April 1894, a Wellington Syndicate headed by Mr J Jamieson of Auckland New Zealand commissioned Robert Logan to build a racing yacht to win the prestigious Wellington Cup. 

The original contract between Logan and the Wellington syndicate comprised a simple hand-written letter, in which Logan undertook to build the yacht for 500 pound’s taking the syndicate’s yacht as part-payment and 300 pounds in cash and was couples to a sporting bonus should Waitangi be successful and win the Wellington Cup. 

Waitangi’s construction was in the unique Logan style with a triple planking diagonal monocoque hull. The construction did away with conventional internal frames and relied on the excellent quality of New Zealand’s native Kauri timber. 

Launched on December 13th , 1894 Waitangi immediately left for the Wellington Regatta and won the prestigious yachting event. It was the start of a campaign that dominated New Zealand yacht racing for two decades. 

Eventually Waitangi passed into the hands of a former sea Captain Percy London, who had business interest in Australia and brought the yacht to Sydney. In 1960 Captain London recruited a young crew for a cruise to Auckland. The sailing was hard but it was nothing compared to the return trip. That stormy passage lasted 26 days and Waitangi had run out of fuel for her auxiliary engine when the crew finally sighted the NSW coast, Waitangi was towed into Newcastle Harbour. 

In the mid 1960’s Waitangi had a series of owners who had their own idea as to design and rig. Waitangi was later used for tourist outings on Sydney Harbour.