Loloma was built as Waratah in 1909 by Auckland boat builder J J O’Rorke.
Her design origins are obscure as she was quite unlike any other Auckland keel yacht of her time, with a short counter, great beam for her length and a "cod’s head and mackerel tail" hull form. She has some similarities to the New England "knockabout" type of keel yacht and may have been lifted from the pages of Rudder magazine. Her double diagonal hull was originally clear varnished. After the loss of the Australian express liner Waratah, the yacht’s name was changed to Loloma and two feet were added to the counter to
make her look more conventional. Early photographs show a huge sail area.
From 1911 to 1919 Loloma was in Whangarei, renamed Waireka for some of that time. In January 1915 she was cut to the waterline on the starboard side in a T-bone collision while racing. The repairs were not well done so that the hull had a twist until restored by her present owner 20 years ago and that took a new deck and two more skins on the hull.
Loloma is a typical example of the Auckland 4th Class or E Class fleet of the first 40 years of the 20th century.
