A classic boat museum in St Arnaud village, beside Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes area, where a museum of wooden boats sits alongside an annual show. The museum is the home of the Nelson Lakes Classic Boat Museum, and the show brings classic yachts, motorboats and dinghies to the lake each early March.
The annual Antique and Classic Boat Show has run since 2000. Boats are on display on the land in the morning, and owners are there to talk about the restoration and rebuild of their boats. In the afternoon the boats race on the lake. The setting is the foreshore at Kerr Bay, with the St Arnaud and Spencer Ranges behind it. Racing includes the Seagull dinghy race, which starts with a Le Mans-style run.
Judging takes place on the Saturday, and an awards evening follows at the Alpine Lodge. The prize at stake is the Jens Hansen Trophy, which is awarded for good looks, craftsmanship and the boat's history.
Several of the boats on show stay in the museum, because they are too big to move. One of them is the cutter Resolution, a 32-foot kauri replica of Captain Cook's cutters, built in 1976 for the Outward Bound fleet and gifted to the museum by the Outward Bound Trust. The museum plans to restore it so community groups can use it.
The museum and show are in St Arnaud, Nelson Lakes. Our pick in St Arnaud for a classic boat fan who wants to see the boats and the racing on the same day.