Mountain Scene Spick and span: Noel Coutts surrounded by Lady Sterling's kauri finishings It’s not widely known one of New Zealand’s finest old wooden schooners, built 101 years ago, lives on Lake Wakatipu. PHILIP CHANDLER talks to Lady Sterling’s owner, muso Noel Coutts, about how he acquired her and why he compares her to an expensive mistress If you’re into old wooden boats, Noel Coutts reckons the Lady Sterling is ‘‘about as good as it gets’’. The veteran Queenstown muso — who is very much into old wooden boats — has owned, and often lived in, the twin-masted schooner since about 2002.