CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Forty Two Australian Wooden Sailing Boats www.classic-yacht.asn.au42-australians/ - Classic Yacht ...
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CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Forty Two Australian Wooden Sailing Boats www.classic-yacht.asn.au/42-australians/
< FRONT COVER ACKNOWLEDGMENT On 19th January 1907, along the shores of Port Tony Blake, marine artist and CYANZ member, gifted The CYAA thanks the ANMM Curator of the Phillip, defender SAYONARA draws ahead of this exquisite painting to the CYAA as a tangible Australian Register of Historic Vessels, David challenger RAWHITI and successfully retains the expression of strong links between New Zealand and Payne, for his support of the CYAA’s Forty Two Sayonara Cup. Copyright A. D. Blake 2015. Australian classic sailors and their Associations. Australians Wooden Sailing Boats project. Page 2 42 Australian Wooden Sailing Boats
W hen Melbourne went into stage three lock down
in July 2020, we lost the opportunity to go sailing
in our beautiful old wooden boats. Suddenly, most of
Co ntent s
us also had more time on our hands than we were KATHLEEN GILLETT 4 AKARANA 52
accustomed to. It was under these circumstances that SAYONARA 6 LAURABADA 54
I chose to compile a personal list of 42 boats that are
important to Australia’s sailing history. 42, because the MORNA (KURRAWA IV)8 BALANDRA 56
lock down was meant to last for 6 weeks. STORM BAY 10 FRANCES 58
The criteria I set were the following; UTEIKAH III 12 SOLVEIG 60
The boat had to be floating, or at least able to float, i.e. no wrecks. It also had to RIPPLE 14 STRUEN MARIE 62
be primarily made of wood in one form or another, it had to be designed to sail LOVE and WAR 16 JUDITH PIHL 64
and perhaps most difficult of all to decide, it had to have made an important
contribution to Australia’s maritime history. “Importance” is a difficult characteristic FREYA 18 ALWYN 66
to judge. Design pedigree, construction methods and provenance all factor in, MALUKA 20 WESTWARD 68
but because this is a subjective list I probably weighted achievements, whether
through racing or adventuring, more heavily.
CAPRICE of HUON 22 ISE PEARL 70
MERCEDES III 24 RUTHEAN 72
The content and order of my initial list of 42 boats changed considerably as I
learned more and more about our unique sailing past. Some boats were chosen FIDELIS 26 AORERE 74
as representatives of bigger successful fleets, and others are just individually GRETEL II 28 WRAITH of ODIN 76
brilliant. It’s not the sort of thing that can ever be fully resolved. As knowledge of
the past grows opinions and judgements change. MARGARET RINTOUL 30 ARCHINA 78
ACROSPIRE III 32 YENDYS 80
The most important thing however, is not who is right and who is wrong, but that
these boats and others are being discussed, valued and cherished. So when the TASSIE TOO 34 CYGNET 82
day comes that we can untie the mooring lines again we will do so with a renewed YVONNE 36 AOTEA 84
passion and enthusiasm for their custodianship.
MARIS 38 WINDWARD II 86
HURRICA V 40 Photo credits 88
MARK CHEW LANDFALL 42
FAIR WINDS
SIANDRA 44
ASTOR/ADA 46
NERIDA 48
VANESSA 50
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 3
KATHLEEN GILLETT
LAUNCHED: 1939
DESIGNER: Colin Archer
BUILDER: Charles Larson
Vessel Dimensions: 43.25 ft x 38 ft x 15 ft
x 6.85 ft, 23.85 tons x 8.13 tons x 2.24
tons, 1057.66 square feet
Page 4 42 Australian Wooden Sailing Boats
This unpretentious double ender has one of the more remarkable histories of any Galapagos Islands, Marquesas, Tahiti, Tonga and New Zealand. Earl painted pictures
yacht I know. She played a key role in the creation of Australia’s greatest yacht race, during the voyage and at ports of call to help pay for stores along the way.
she circumnavigated the world when few had done so (a voyage that was beautifully
recorded) and then after years of a colourful tropical existence was wrecked and The adventures of KATHLEEN GILLETT and crew were detailed in articles written by
then reborn in extraordinary circumstances. In my eyes, she embodies the first mate Mick Morris that were published each month in Seacraft magazine and
characteristics that make Australia’s sailing history so special; utilitarian, practical, followed by an appreciative audience. The articles also featured Jack Earl’s drawings
adaptable and adventurous. She is truly a treasure of Australian sailing history. and sketches. Earl illustrated a log of the voyage and sent it home from ports of call
to his family. In Sydney, the log became as celebrated as the voyage; friends, family,
Built in Sydney between 1933 and 1939, KATHLEEN GILLETT was one of the cruising sailors and colleagues anticipated its arrival and pored over the contents.
yachts to enter the first Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 1945. She then became
well known as the second Australian yacht to complete a circumnavigation of the Upon KATHLEEN GILLETT’S return to Sydney the Earl family moved back on board,
world, from 1947 to 1948. During and after the voyage, the owner and skipper, living in Mosman Bay until the boat was sold. For the next 35 years she had a colourful
marine artist Jack Earl (OAM), became widely recognised as a result of the richly career which included over a dozen owners and roles as varied as copra trading vessel
illustrated articles and logbook he created during the voyage. Earl’s in New Guinea, Tourist Charter boat, trochus shell carrier, crocodile hunter and private
circumnavigation was made in a simply built and maintained yacht adapted from yacht.
another design and the crew supplemented their small funds with the sale of Earl’s
paintings along the way. In this way it was an inspiration to the public and Earl and In late May 1975 super-typhoon Pamela formed in the lower part of the North Pacific
his crew achieved great recognition for their voyage. Ocean and bore down directly on Apia Harbour during the afternoon of 21 May where
KATHLEEN GILLETT was at moored. After a valiant struggle to save the yacht she was
She was built by Charles Larson at his Wharf Road boat yard in Gladesville, New eventually wrecked on a coral reef in the harbour.
South Wales. Larson was Swedish and had been a ship’s carpenter on square riggers.
Construction proceeded at Larson’s shed over a six-year period at a pace KATHLEEN GILLETT was severely damaged along the port side and keel, but was
appropriate to Jack Earl’s resources. Larson’s team would often work on the yacht salvaged by Reg Stephenson, the owner at the time. After a series of disputes between
when there were no other projects needing immediate attention. the yard and the often absent owner she passed into the ownership of Vaughan
Tyndzik (a captain of a local research vessel). Vaughan and his wife Jane worked on
A gaff ketch, just over 13 metres long, her design was based on an unknown set of the yacht in a piecemeal way as their funds allowed, living on board for some years
plans from the famous Norwegian naval architect, Colin Archer, which Larson and eventually restoring KATHLEEN GILLETT to sailing condition.
possessed.
The Norwegian government bought the boat from the Tyndziks in 1987. The ketch
In preparation for the circumnavigation the yacht had a shelter built around the was shipped back to Australia for restoration by Halvorsen Boats Pty Ltd (in
cockpit to protect the crew and the brightwork was painted because it was easier consultation with Jack Earl) in preparation for its handover to the Australian National
and cheaper to maintain than varnish. Maritime Museum as the Norwegian bicentennial gift to Australia in 1988. KATHLEEN
GILLETT was accepted into the National Maritime Collection in 1991 where it has
They were away for exactly 18 months, leaving on 7 June 1947 and sailing through been maintained in sailing condition at the museum wharves.
Sydney Heads again on 7 December 1948. They covered 26,000 nautical miles in a
voyage that went first to the north of Australia, then across the Indian Ocean, then Jack Earl was awarded the OAM in 1992. As the traditional seaweed was draped over
the Atlantic Ocean to Panama. From there they crossed the Pacific, including the his coffin, a dirge was blown from a conch shell
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 5
SAYO N A RA
LAUNCHED: 1897
DESIGNER: William Fife III
BUILDER: A McFarlane &
Sons.
Vessel Dimensions: 57.6 ft x 38.2 ft x
10.6 ft, 18 tons
Page 6 42 Australian Wooden Sailing Boats
SAYONARA (Japanese for Goodbye) was built for Melbourne businessman George begun another career as one of the famous Sydney Harbour based Griffin charter
Garrad in 1897. William Fife III was considered the most important naval architect yacht fleet working out of Lavender Bay, North Sydney. During World War II
of the period. She was built in Adelaide by A McFarlane & Sons. Carvel planked SAYONARA was very popular with visiting American servicemen, keen to show off
in New Zealand kauri on Australian hardwood frames, the design was clearly one to the local ladies.
that Fife held in high regard. At almost the same time SAYONARA was being in
built in Adelaide, Fife built a sister vessel from the same plans called CERIGO for Dick Sargeant, Tokyo Olympic gold medallist who crewed on the 5.5 metre
his own use in Scotland. Launched in November 1897, SAYONARA immediately BARRENJOEY and GRETEL, recalls starting out as a 15 year old crew member during
cruised to Melbourne in record time. the 1950s when SAYONARA was one of about 10 craft operated by Griffins. She
usually went out with a skipper and one or two crew, sailing under mainsail and
George Garrard was Commodore of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria and raced staysail. Jack Wiley was often skipper, but Dick recalls that by the time he was 18 or
SAYONARA with immediate success in the Intercolonial Regatta held on Hobson's 19 he skippered SAYONARA himself on a couple of occasions. The CYAA maintains
Bay, February 1898. She won in a fleet that included the then undefeated South contact with this era of SAYONARA through the family of another SAYONARA crew
Australian champion ALEXA. SAYONARA was especially good in light weather and member during the 1950’s, the then well known Seacraft magazine article and
won so many events that the Victorian clubs banded together and put a size limit Sargasso opinion contributor,Tony Johnson.
on yachts, effectively barring SAYONARA and ALEXA from many races. In early
1904 the third owner Alfred Gollin challenged NSW to an Intercolonial (interstate) SAYONARA remained with the Griffin fleet until the 1970's and then became a private
race series. It was accepted and arrangements were made for SAYONARA to race yacht, eventually becoming home to Henk Kossen. He bought the yacht in a
the NSW yacht BONA off Sydney Heads. Gollin imported a hollow spar from dilapidated, wrecked state having sunk at her moorings. Had he not bought
America to further improve her performance. SAYONARA then sailed to Sydney SAYONARA, the yacht would probably have been scrapped for the value of its lead
and the series became a major public event. Competing against the Sydney yacht keel. Henk was able to rebuild the boat to sailing condition and then cruised the
BONA, the series was won by SAYONARA, two races to one. Owner Alfred Gollin eastern seaboard, often single handed and with no motor installed.
then donated a cup under the yacht's name as a perpetual trophy for interstate
racing, with a deed of gift that was similar to the America's Cup. Kossen sold SAYONARA to the current owners in 1996. After an extensive and
meticulous restoration project that returned SAYONARA to its 1904 gaff cutter racing
The Sayonara Cup was then defended by SAYONARA on Port Phillip, Victoria configuration, she once again sails with the CYAA fleet on Port Phillip. She is currently
against NSW challengers. In 1907 racing against RAWHITI, SAYONARA won 2-0 listed for sale with the European based brokers Sandeman Yacht Company.
and then in 1909 racing against THELMA it won 2-1 in a close series. Today, the
CYAA retains a direct connection to these times through the family of the The Sayonara Cup and SAYONARA are clearly bonded together and are a rare world
SAYONARA paid hand, Francois Henri. wide example of a yacht that began a significant race or regatta remaining extant
over a century from when the first race was held.
The Sayonara Cup events became the premier yacht races of the period and
followed closely by the media and public. Although SAYONARA no longer
contested the cup the series remained a major yachting event until the 1960s. It
was primarily raced between Victorian and NSW yachts until a Tasmanian
challenge was accepted in the late 1950s. In 2018 the trophy is still contested but
is raced in International Dragon Class yachts. By the 1940’s it appears to have
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 7
MORNA (KURRAWA IV)
LAUNCHED: 1913
DESIGNER: William Fife III
BUILDER: Morrison and
Sinclair
Vessel Dimensions: LOA 18.8m LWL 13.65m
Beam 3.96m Draft2.65m Sail Area: 272 sq.m
Displacement: 55.2 tons
Page 8 42 Australian Wooden Sailing Boats
A product of the most famous designer of the last 150 years… This magnificent In 1954 she was bought by the Livingston family and renamed 'KURRAWA IV' (fast
yacht is a pivotal part of the story of Australia’s yachting history. She has been swimming fish). She remained in Sydney sometime and then went to the Livingston’s
owned by some of Australia’s greatest yachting personalities, including James home club, the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. Between 1954 and 1960 she entered
Hardie, Sir Frank Packer, Claude Plowman, and the Livingston brothers. But during six Sydney-Hobart races and achieved the fastest time in four on four occasions. In
the 2000's and 2010's every time I sailed up to Sydney from Melbourne I would these races, John Livingston would stand in the bows playing the bagpipes as a
see her sitting on her mooring at Kirribilli, pumps running, looking sadder and challenge to the rest of the fleet and to warn the spectator boats to keep clear.
sadder. I’ve had a bit of trouble working out what’s happening to her now, but it
seems that a restoration is a possibility thanks to Sean Langman and Noakes Bear in mind the last of these Sydney to Hobart victories was 47 years after she was
Shipyard, (any further information gratefully received). launched.
Although MORNA was never rated as a 12-Metre her drawings probably came Of her final victory in 1960 the Canberra times wrote:
from the First International Rule. She was built for Sir Alexander MacCormick, “KURRAWA IV finished at 7.11 p.m. after covering the last 40 nautical miles at an
named after one of his daughters. Incredibly, this yacht was built for day sailing average speed of 8 knots…When the yachts rounded Tasman Light only about 15
and as a flagship for her first owner who was Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron miles separated the three leaders, but KURRAWA IV, flying before a 30-knot
Commodore. southerly left SOLO and ASTOR both in lighter breezes, well behind. The remainder
of the fleet is strung out up the length of the Tasmanian coast. Veteran blue water
Sir Claude Plowman, a radio manufacturer, bought her in 1930. He loved ace Jock Muir, of Hobart, who was KURRAWA’S IV sailing master, said the race was
competition and fitted her out for racing. She began to show her potential and one of the easiest in which he had sailed. "We were in front for most of the way
consistently won races in the 1930's as the scratch boat on Sydney Harbour. He except for one day when ASTOR hit the front," he said. "But we were a bit worried
then entered her in three consecutive Sydney-Hobart races from 1946 to 1948 when we spent five and a half hours almost becalmed getting round Tasman Light."
and she won line honours in each event. "At times it was frustrating and at other times exciting, "said John Livingston. "We
carried the big spinnaker 2.500 square feet—for 17 hours at one stage and made
The Canberra Times of 1947 reported: 200 miles in 24 hours."
“The yacht race from Sydney to Hobart finished when the 65 ft Sydney cutter,
MORNA crossed the finishing line at 1.53 p.m. today. More than 3,000 people on Through the family of KURRAWA IV watch captain, Doug Robertson, CYAA has access
the Hobart waterfront cheered wildly as the MORNA sailed in. … She has the to significant KURRAWA IV documents of record. Doug’s eldest brother, Ron, when
greatest length of any entrant and a width of 13 feet. The MORNA wins the special skippering KURRAWA IV, was lost overboard off Sydney Heads during a June 1958
challenge trophy presented by Captain John H. Illingworth for the first yacht to storm. Doug Robertson’s son, Ian, as a 10 year old, sailed on her return voyages to
finish. Yachting experts tip the Sydney cutter, CHRISTINA, to win the handicap. Sydney. Now, as ex Sailing Administrator of Hobsons Bay Yacht Club, Ian reports,
“Although sea sick all the way, for a 10 year old, what a life”.
Tony Gray, ex-R.A.N., one of the MORNA’S navigators, who suffered a sprained
ankle, was the only member of the crew to suffer any injury. The MORNA had a Contrary to the Livingston’s opinion they would rather send KURRAWA IV to a
close shave when the freighter, IRON BARON came out of a dense fog on Friday Viking funeral than sell her, this yacht deserves to be out there sailing again after
morning and passed her so close that, according to one of the crew, he could have so many years languishing in Careening Cove. Let’s hope there is the determination
thrown an apple on board. On Sunday morning the MORNA struck one of the and the dollars out there to make it happen.
Tasmanian east coast calms, and progress was slow until the wind freshened to
S.S.W. on Monday night.”
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 9
STO RM B AY
LAUNCHED: 1925
DESIGNER: Alfred Blore
BUILDER: Percy Coverdale
Vessel Dimensions: 54 ft x 40 ft x 13 ft x
6.5 ft, 25 tons
Page 10 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsAnybody who has seen STORM BAY reaching fully canvassed in 20 knots of breeze
will have no issues with her being in my top five Australian wooden sailing boats.
But more importantly, she sits at that precise point where form and function meet,
beauty from efficacy and efficacy from beauty. She is an outstanding example of
how century old sailing culture can be embraced and actively incorporated into
the lives we live today.
STORM BAY was built in 1925 for fisherman George Bridge who lived in Nubeena.
The name comes from Storm Bay where the Derwent River opens to the sea in
South East Tasmania. This was a significant fishing ground with large schools of
barracouta. Percy Coverdale built STORM BAY at his Battery Point boatyard in
Hobart. She has blue gum frames, with hull and decks of Huon pine. Some of the
hull planks are full length from stem to counter.
The Mercury newspaper announced her launching as follows “…STORM BAY is a
very handsome addition to the Tasmanian fishing fleet. Looking at the smack as
she stands at present she resembles a cruising yacht rather than a fishing vessel –
her lines are graceful and she should prove to be speedy under sail.”
She is a jackyard topsail cutter, and is an excellent sailing craft. The moderate draft
hull has more deadrise than other fishing boats of the period, and with its long
keel and centreboard has all the qualities of a fine yacht. Fishing for barracouta
took place while the boat drifted under a double-reefed mainsail. The 'couta jig or
lure was a piece of white Huon pine about 150mm (6 in) long, tapered with two
big barbless hooks, attached to a linked wire chain, fastened to a 4. 5m (15 ft) long
sassafras sapling. With no refrigeration, STORM BAY had a wet well made of 100mm
(4 in) thick Huon pine. The Bridge family owned STORM BAY from 1925 until 1963,
and throughout their ownership she was looked after like a yacht. George died in
1954, but his four sons carried on the business until 1964.
George’s grandson Jim Bridge of Lutana followed in the family business and fished
for 14 years aboard STORM BAY during the 1940s and 50s. After being sold by the
Bridge family she became a crayboat operating out of St. Helens, acquiring a wheel
house for shelter on the open seas off the rugged Tasmanian coast. During a superb
10 year restoration carried out at Tim Phillip’s Wooden Boatshop at Sorrento in
Victoria, she was restored to her original configuration, complete with wet well
and gaff rig.
She now continues her adventures throughout Tasmania, Bass Strait and along
southern Australia’s coast line every year, with a deck full of craypots and often a
well-stocked wet well.
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 11U TI E K A H I I I
LAUNCHED: 1925
DESIGNER:Jack Savage & Ireton Giles
BUILDER: Percy Coverdale
Vessel Dimensions: 56 ft × 43.75 ft × 6.9 ft,
38 tons
Page 12 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsIt might seem odd that a boat that seems to have never raced in its life, and is not power, fitted with a 3.5 tonne reinforced concrete keel to replace the one lost on
renowned as a great explorer should come so high up on my list . However this the reef, then brought back to Australia and sold. It ended up in Hobart and was
vessel and her long time skipper “Spuddo” Giles safely introduced over 4000 sold again, but the two owners fell into a disagreement and it was bought by John
Australian boys and a few girls to the pleasures of ocean sailing over a 30 year period. and Carolyn Mahoney who set out to rebuild UTIEKAH III to its original configuration.
This wasn’t just on the odd afternoon, but during long term cruises through Bass
Strait, around Tasmania and the South Pacific. Many of those children went on to
become lifelong sailors. It’s hard to imagine a greater contribution to the culture of
Australian sailing, and this is the yacht that made it all possible.
UTIEKAH III was built in Tasmania in 1925 by the Wilson Brothers yard in Cygnet, a
family of well-known boat builders in Tasmania over three generations, and was the
first non-commercial vessel they built. It took them 10 months. She was built for
Ireton Elliot Giles, a charismatic Victorian teacher and adventurer who pioneered
sail-training. She is planked in Huon pine and copper fastened. The name UTIEKAH
is thought to have Maori origins and refers to the sound of rippling water. Giles
collaborated with Jack Savage to design the third UTIEKAH for the purpose of taking
students at Melbourne Grammar School on challenging and character building
exercises where they learnt the art of seamanship, blue water sailing and
understanding the elements of the ocean.
UTIEKAH III crossed Bass Strait over 50 times with these voyages.
In 1927 Giles set sail with a crew of young Grammar fellows and a couple of 'old
salts' on a South Pacific voyage, rationed with bully beef and kerosene they departed
from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. Giles was recorded by one journalist as stating
that Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands were on the itinerary, beyond which the rest of
the passage would be subject to “wherever prevailing winds may take them'. The
voyage was reported as the first such cruise by a privately owned Australian yacht,
visiting Fiji and Samoa.
In the 1950’s Giles retired to Hobart, where he continued to use UTIEKAH III to teach
sailing to the local boys from The Hutchins School.
Giles sold UTIEKAH III at age 90, and he died two years later. She was bought by the
Fowler family in Tasmania. They fitted her with a deck house and a 1958 Ford Thames
diesel motor which is still installed. A syndicate purchased UTIEKAH III in 1972
intending to use the yacht for charter work on the Great Barrier Reef. In 1974 it
foundered on a reef off Mackay and was written off and abandoned. A storm came
up from the south and washed the yacht into a lagoon where it was found floating
and recovered by Gary Underwood. It was taken to New Zealand mainly under
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 13RI PPL E
LAUNCHED: 1926
DESIGNER: Peter Locke
BUILDER: Peter Locke
Vessel Dimensions: LOA 26’ 1.5” Draft 2’0”
Page 14 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsI selected this beautiful craft as a representative of the magnificent Couta Boats. launching. The RIPPLE spent her early years working from Sorrento skippered by
They must surely be the greatest Australian success story when it comes to the Tally Erlandsen whose father had jumped ship and settled in Sorrento in 1890.
rejuvenation and preservation of a traditional class of boat. They were originally
used for Couta fishing in Victoria from about 1870 until the 1930's and sailed from She passed from the Erlandsen family to the O’Halloran family in the 1950’s and was
Sorrento and Queenscliff and other ports as far west as Portland. The boats headed used for recreational fishing along the Gippsland coast. By this time she was purely
out to the fishing grounds before dawn, usually through the entrance to Port Phillip, motor driven and a cabin had been added for comfort and practicality. The
the infamous and often treacherous Rip, where the Couta boats qualities of O’Halloran children can vividly recall retreating to the cabin top as their grandfather
seaworthiness were proven. Once their quota of barracouta was met, the fishermen struggled to subdue a rather large shark in the cockpit – succeeding only after its
turned their efforts to sailing back to port as fast as they could — the first boat back thrashing had splintered the engine box.
got the best prices.
RIPPLE was rediscovered at Port Albert in 1988 by Robert Finkestein. Following a
Although load carrying capacity was important, the need for speed under sail was substantial refurbishment at the Wooden Boat Shop, Tally’s daughter, Mrs. Ida
also a desired characteristic. The typical Couta boat carried a gaff sail and jib set out Clarke, presided over her re-launching at Sorrento. In 1998 RIPPLE was purchased
on a long bowsprit, although the main sail developed into more of a gunter sail, as by Patrick O’Hara of Perth and joined the growing fleet of Couta Boats sailing in the
it had a very high peaked gaff or yard. A rig peculiar to the Couta boat evolved, West before returning to her home waters off Sorrento in 2000. This year (2018) she
which allowed for sail to be carried much higher than previously, and included the will hopefully still be sailing the waters of Port Phillip on her 100th birthday in 6
distinctive curved down bowsprit. years time.
This working fishing craft’s compromise between seaworthiness, speed and capacity
has nowadays made it a quintessential recreational sailing boat. Couta boats are
highly sought after and keenly raced. Many are built new from scratch, as the supply
of originals has been exhausted. There is a Couta sailing boat club in Sorrento and
another in Queenscliff. They are now found racing and cruising in all six states of
Australia.
RIPPLE has strong historical ties with Sorrento, originally built for Tally Erlandsen,
the then long standing lessee of the Sorrento Baths and original owner of the Fish
and Chips shop. The boat was built at Queenscliff by Peter Locke, the first boat he
built in his own right. He started working with Mitch Lacco in Queenscliff in 1924
and took over the business in 1926.
Her lines show characteristic Locke modifications to the earlier Lacco lines: a little
fuller along the garboard to assist ballasting and under the engine bed, and hence
through to the stern. She is shallower of draft than many, but this probably results
from a specific request from the owner who wanted to negotiate the shallow waters
off Sorrento rather than to ply the Rip. Lacco and Locke worked from a shed at the
rear of 31 Beach Street, Queenscliff.
Fortunately photographs remain of the launching of the RIPPLE showing the shed,
the old jetty off Wharf Street, and the sense of occasion that accompanies any new
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 15LOV E a nd WA R
LAUNCHED: 1973
DESIGNER: Sparkman
& Stevens
BUILDER: Cec Quilkey
Vessel Dimensions: 16.59 ft x 13.42 ft x
7.22 ft, 14.27 tons
Page 16 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsAlmost 40 years after drawing his first boat commissioned outside of the USA, Olin Kurts continued to sail LOVE & WAR in Australia, and decided to mount another
Stephens designed LOVE & WAR. Although she has four decades of design advances serious challenge for handicap honours in the Sydney to Hobart race for 1978. He
built in, I like to think that flicking through the images of the two boats I can still optimised the rig and trim further, bought new sails, and although the changes
recognise some of the same DNA. increased the rating, it was also eligible for an age allowance concession, which then
LOVE & WAR is an ocean racing yacht built for Queensland businessman Peter Kurts took back some of the increased rating. Once again it was good tactical sailing that
by shipwright Cec Quilkey at Taren Point, NSW and launched late in 1973. Quilkey kept LOVE & WAR toward the head of the fleet, and along with seven other boats,
had become one of the leading craftsmen for timber yachts and had pioneered cold they broke away from the rest of fleet off Gabo Island and kept light winds through
moulded construction in the mid-1960's starting with MERCEDES III, RAGAMUFFIN to the finish, while the remainder were left for up to 15 hours with virtually no wind.
and KOOMOOLOO, yachts that in their time were state-of-the-art internationally. LOVE & WAR finished 6th overall, and held its time on rivals MARGARET RINTOUL
Seacraft magazine carried the following report: “Queensland Skipper Peter Kurts has II and CONSTELLATION to take handicap honours for a second time. Still owned by
a new Sparkman & Stephens 47, almost identical to the successful German Admiral’s the Kurts family, she came back to win the 2006 Hobart under the IRC rule, with a
Cup SAUDADE and the British PROSPECT OF WHITBY. She is rigged similarly to crew led by navigator Lindsay May. He had felt the yacht sailed above its IRC rating
RAGAMUFFIN’s latest rig. Her mast is a lofty 60 ft (20m) and carries a small main. in headwinds, and knew that given the right conditions they were a good chance
Graham Newland, who is setting up the boat for her owner says she is of medium for a high placing. In 2006 the fleet sailed most the race until Storm Bay in just those
displacement and like YANKEE GIRL and CHARISMA in rig, preserving all their great conditions, moderate headwinds with a lumpy sea, which suited LOVE & WAR and
windward qualities while incorporating some new ideas on getting down wind faster its experienced crew. For a third time LOVE & WAR had taken handicap honours,
and leading with less underwater drag. Deck layout is the fashionable flush deck and only one other yacht has won the race three times, the Halvorsen Bros FREYA
with a slight blister aft of the mast. She is cold moulded with four skins and with consecutive wins in 1963, 1964 and 1965. LOVE & WAR continues to be sailed
beautifully fashioned as only Cec Quilkey can. Her inside layout is racing clean- no in Sydney and offshore by the Kurts family.
fuss. Sails are by Bouzaid and North with Hughie Treharne making the spinnakers.
She is named LOVE & WAR”.
Built in four layers of Oregon, she was one of the last racing yachts to be built in
this manner in Australia. She had a slow start to her career, taking part in the 1973
Sydney to Hobart race but not gaining a place. She became one of the premier
yachts for 1974 when she took out the Cruising Yacht Club’s Blue Water ocean racing
point score along with winning on handicap the 1974 Sydney to Hobart yacht race,
the first of three wins in this prestigious event. 1974 was a light weather event, they
finished eighth across the line and skipper Kurts praised the navigation skills of
Magnus Halvorsen as one of the reasons for their victory. She then raced in the
delayed selection trials for the 1975 Admiral’s Cup team. LOVE & WAR came out
the top scoring boat, and together with the aluminium BUMBLEBEE 3 and
balsa/timber plank sandwiched hull MERCEDES IV made up the Australian team for
the series in the UK in August. This event was a hugely disappointing series for the
Australian team, finishing ninth overall.
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 17FRE YA
LAUNCHED: 1963
DESIGNER: Trygve Halvorsen
BUILDER: Lars Halvorsen Sons
Pty Ltd
Vessel Dimensions: 39.25 ft x 33.75 ft x
11.25 ft x 6 ft, 11.7 tons
Page 18 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsI have to predicate this selection by saying that I assume FREYA is still “alive”. The
last reference I can find to her is that she was for sale in the Caribbean in 2015
(looking ok) so I’m assuming she’s still floating. If anyone has any updates…let me
know.
This is one seriously special boat! She was built for Trygve and Magnus Halvorsen
to race in the Sydney to Hobart and won the prestigious event on three successive
occasions from 1962 to 1965, a feat that has never been equalled.
FREYA’s lines were an evolution of Trygve’s previous designs including SOLVEIG,
ANITRA V and NORLA. FREYA’s construction began in 1962 while the Trygve and
Magnus were involved with the GRETEL America’s Cup challenge. The backbone was
made from the lofted lines and put aside until they returned from Newport in
October 1962. At this stage Magnus asked Trygve to make a significant change to
the design. The earlier yachts designed by Trygve had been built with a spade rudder
separate from the keel, but Magnus wanted a hull that was very easy to steer and
asked for a keel hung rudder and a long keel. The original lines drawn in early 1962
by Trygve show how the keel ended well short of the spade rudder and this was
located right aft close to the end of the waterline. The redrawn lines show the vertical
rudder stock moved forward about 3 feet and a much longer keel. This helped the
boat track very easily but gave the boat more wetted surface which made it slower
in light airs.
Magnus recalled that “the long keel and deadwood gave her the underwater body
of a contemporary 50–55 footer. She had that feeling of a much bigger boat at sea.
With her large vertical rudder there was perfect control. She responded to the helm
at all times. Never did she broach to! She carried a shy spinnaker longer than any
competing yacht. Indeed, a spinnaker could be carried until it was aback, without
rounding up. FREYA could also carry full sail to windward in 30 knots.
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 19M A LU K A
LAUNCHED: 1932
DESIGNER: Cliff Gale
BUILDER: Cam Fisher and
Sons
Vessel Dimensions: 28 ft x 28 ft x 10 ft x
6.5 ft, 6.91 tons
Page 20 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsIt’s now the most important sailing craft we are coming to with some serious keel was retrieved and brought back overland by truck. The keel was bolted back
“royalty”. under the hull and then MALUKA was sailed back to Sydney.
MALUKA was built by Billy Fisher in La Perouse on Botany Bay in 1932. She is The yacht was then properly repaired by Fisher and 12 months later successfully
connected to Sydney Harbour's RANGER class of raised-deck racing yachts and has voyaged to Tasmania and return over Christmas and New Year in 1936/37. This was
the same characteristics but is an earlier and larger version with sea-going the brothers last voyage in MALUKA and shortly after they sold the boat and had a
capabilities. The owners, brothers William and George Clark were bachelors, and newer version built called MATHANA. She is known to have changed hands a couple
had settled in Sydney a few years earlier after retiring from farming. They were of times, and at one point in the late 1930s it was owned by the well-known Sydney
interested in racing, cruising and fishing and commissioned the design from sailor, Sil Rohu, designer of the VJ class dinghy.
experienced amateur designer Cliff Gale. The 8.53 m ( 28 ft) long gaff rigged yachtPeter Flowers’ grandfather Glen Houston owned MALUKA for many years, and it
has what have become the trademark features of a Gale design; raised deck, plumb was berthed at both Cottage Point and at their home at Abbotsford. Peter says “ I
stem and transom, and well-balanced sailing qualities. MALUKA was planked in learnt to fish ( and drink coffee as a 10 year old ) on MALUKA and fondly remember
Huon pine and fitted with a Lycoming auxiliary petrol engine. the stories he use to tell us of how she was built and salvaged and sold on. My
The Clark brothers raced MALUKA with the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club and fished fondest memory was eating crabs and fish caught each day on the Hawkesbury
offshore or around the harbour. They undertook the first of four well documented followed by Glen playing his mouth organ late into the evening.”
cruising voyages in April 1933 when they sailed to North Queensland, spending five The yacht remained in or near to Sydney and in 2005/2006 it was extensively rebuilt
months away from Sydney. It was a great success and the gale they experienced and restored so that it could take part in the 2006 Sydney to Hobart yacht race, with
very early in the voyage proved the seaworthiness of MALUKA's design. This gave additional structure, fibreglass reinforcement, carbon fibre spars and kevlar sails.
them great confidence for their next voyage in September 1934 to Lord Howe Island, Skippered by prominent sailor Sean Langman, MALUKA finished 4th on handicap,
taking Sep Stephens as a third crew member. The boat weathered severe gales on an extraordinary achievement for a gaff-rigged craft over 70 years old racing against
both passages and again proved itself entirely capable in the open ocean. modern yachts. In 2007 it repeated its voyage to Lord Howe Island.
Their next voyage ended in disaster. The three sailors left Sydney just prior to
Christmas in 1935 and south of Eden were a caught in a southerly gale raging against
a strong south moving current. The seas were huge so they hove-to for an extended
period, and crew member Stephens was injured during one knock down. Unable to
take any sights to confirm their position they estimated they were near Green Cape
in NSW.
The brothers were eventually overcome with exhaustion and lashed the tiller with
all three sheltering below, believing they were drifting well out to sea. In fact the
current had taken them well south along the Victorian Coastline and the early hours
of the morning the boat grounded on a headland at Cape Conran, near the township
of Marlo. It grounded with damage to one side and when dawn broke they found
themselves on the rocks laying over to starboard and clear of the sea. With help
from locals they salvaged the yacht by patching over the one hole in the planking,
and removing its ballast keel so they could man-handle the hull across the rocks
and back to deeper water. The yacht was refloated and motored to Marlo, while the
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 21CAPRICE of HUON
LAUNCHED: 1951
DESIGNER: Robert Clark
BUILDER: Vivian Innes
Vessel dimensions: 45.34 ft × 32.38 ft ×
10.04 ft × 6.73 ft, 11.57 tons
Page 22 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsCAPRICE of HUON and yesterday’s post show MERCEDES III have similar legacies in or up at Broken Bay in the holiday periods. After Ingate sold the yacht to
concentrate on other sailing activities, she changed ownership a couple of times,
regards to Australia’s yachting history but CAPRICE sneaks ahead in my eyes, because
but remained active. She was extensively restored in 1999, including new engine
she excelled over a longer period of time, and let’s face it she’s just a little more
elegant. and mast, and has since been cruising, club racing and sailing in classic yacht
She was launched in October 1951 from Port Cygnet on the Huon River. The builder, events. She has cruised from Sydney to the Whitsundays, Lord Howe Island and
Vivian Innes, was once an apprentice at the famous Wilson Bros yard before setting Tasmania. In the 2006/2007 CYCA Short Haul Series CAPRICE OF HUON won both
up on his own in the same region. He is understood to have built craft from 1923 the IRC and PHS point scores and again won the overall IRC from 2009 to 2011.
until 1951. Innes was in his late 70s when he built CAPRICE OF HUON. Innes worked
from plans supplied by UK designer Robert Clark who was one of the principle yacht
designers in the UK at that time. It was designed to the RORC rule (then widely in
use). The original rig was a 7/8 cutter.
CAPRICE OF HUON was originally raced by Charles Calvert and his family including
sons Hedley, Barry and Don who all became champion yachtsmen. They had a
number of local wins and the yacht was one of the principal craft on the Derwent.
In late 1957 it was sold to Bill Northam, in Sydney. Bill had been a motor car racer
before turning his sporting attention to sailing in his mid-40s. He bought GYMEA
and learnt about ocean racing and in the process became an accomplished skipper,
despite his late entry into the sport. In July 1962, he sold CAPRICE OF HUON to
Gordon Ingate who had helped teach Northam how to sail when he owned GYMEA.
Ingate converted the yacht to a masthead sloop with an aluminium spar that he
fabricated himself. He campaigned her fiercely in all the eastern seaboard ocean
racing events. Under its various owners it has been a 7 time winner of the Royal
Sydney Yacht Squadrons’ Gascoigne Cup, a short offshore race keenly contested
each year.
CAPRICE OF HUON was part of Australia’s Admirals Cup teams in 1965 and 1967
when Australia made an impressive entry into the international ocean racing arena.
In 1965, sailing with team yachts CAMILLE OF SEAFORTH and FREYA, CAPRICE OF
HUON was the highest placed yacht winning 3 of the 4 races in the series, and the
team came second on debut. She returned to Cowes in 1967, under charter to
Gordon Reynolds because owner Gordon Ingate was skippering GRETEL in the trial
racing for the 1967 Americas Cup. Teamed with MERCEDES III and BALANDRA , the
Australian team won convincingly and the three yachts were the top individual yachts
in the series, a feat never repeated again.
She also had a cruising side. The Calverts took her cruising from Hobart, and in
Sydney she was often seen at the usual locations around the harbour on weekends
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 23M E RCE D E S I I I
LAUNCHED: 1966
DESIGNER: Bob Miller
(Ben Lexcen)
BUILDER: Cec Quilkey
Vessel dimensions: 40 ft x 31.2 ft x 11.25
ft x 6.5 ft
Page 24 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsToday’s and tomorrow’s boat selections are hard to separate. They sailed as team launched. The repairs did not compromise the strength of the hull and were barely
members during one of Australia’s greatest sailing triumphs. I have a soft spot for visible after completion.
this old girl (actually she would be one of the youngest in my list) as I have done a Australia had come second in its first attempt at the Admiral's Cup in 1965, and
few ocean miles aboard her over the years…another great example of Aussie surprised everyone with this result in what the English had described as cruising
designed pragmatism over and above aesthetics...but oh doesn’t she treat you to yachts rather than racing yachts. Buoyed by how well they had done another team
some great sailing! was prepared for the bi-annual series, always held in the UK. MERCEDES III was
MERCEDES III was built at Cec Quilkey's yard in Taren Point, NSW south of Sydney. launched for the trials, and over its early period of trials it won nine out of the
The design came largely from Bob Miller, who later became well known as Ben fourteen races it contested. It was an immediate selection for the 1967 team which
Lexcen, designer of the America's cup winning 12 metre AUSTRALIA II Miller had included CAPRICE OF HUON and BALANDRA. CAPRICE was 15 years old, but a very
established a sail making business with Craig Whitworth, but was also undertaking competitive yacht, while BALANDRA was newly built from a recent English Camper
boat design work. Contemporary reports and other documents indicate that owner and Nicholson design.
Ted Kaufmann, a Sydney engineer and well-known sailor was quite involved with In the UK, the four race series was strongly contested with other teams from the UK,
the design as well, but it is understood he commissioned the lines from Miller who Europe and the USA. The Australian team were very consistent throughout and were
was then recognised for his pioneering lightweight 18-foot skiff designs. the top placed team in each of the four races, winning the series overall by a
She was a lighter displacement, hard bilged concept for an ocean racer, quite commanding 107 points. MERCEDES III won the second race overall, the Britannia
different from the heavier classic designs that were standard for the era in Australia. Cup, and was the highest placed yacht over the four races, followed by BALANDRA
To achieve the required strength, the hull was cold moulded in four layers of Oregon. and then CAPRICE of HUON, giving Australia the most comprehensive victory ever
The keel, ribs, frames and floors are laminated from Queensland maple. Miller was recorded for the Admiral's Cup.
familiar with cold moulding as he was a champion sailor in the high performance During the 1970s and early 1980's MERCEDES III raced on Sydney Harbour, with a
Flying Dutchman dinghy, which used this method with great success. Quilkey was short period in Melbourne with the Royal Brighton Yacht Club. She also competed
also a master craftsmen for moulded timber craft, again through his work building in many Sydney to Hobart races. The current owner bought MERCEDES III in 1986
Flying Dutchman dinghies. and the yacht moved back to Melbourne. She raced again in the Sydney to Hobart
Bob Miller, with help from Carl Ryves, drew MERCEDES III’s lines full size from his race in 1995 and 1996, and has had success under the many changing ocean racing
early sketches and plans at Fairland Hall in Hunters Hill, NSW. Miller then used the rules, including the IOR, IMS and IRC. Owned by the President of the CYAA she is
full sized drawings, which he modified as he went along. The final lines, plan and now one of the standout boats in the Melbourne Classic Yacht fleet.
shape evolved during just one weekend.
Cec Quilkey was present and the offsets for the frame shapes were taken from Bob
Miller's lines, although Quilkey may have marginally modified these offsets during
the hull lofting.
The strength of this method was tested before it was launched, when it fell
backwards from the trailer taking it to the water for the first time. Landing onto its
side, there was damage to the planking and some of the frames. Back in the builder's
shed repairs were done quickly, before it was again taken to the water and finally
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 25FI D E L I S
LAUNCHED: 1964
DESIGNER: Knud Reimers
BUILDER: Lidgard Boatbuilders
Vessel Dimensions: 61 ft x 47 ft x 10 ft x
8.5 ft
Page 26 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsI love this boat because she sits at the centre of a famous sailing triangle that is Nowadays the yacht races and cruises regularly both in and around Sydney Harbour
Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia. and also offshore. In recent years she has raced in regattas in Sydney, in Auckland,
Australia’s sailing connections to Scandinavia reach back to the legendary Norwegian and sailed offshore with voyages to the Solomons, Queensland, New Zealand and
Colin Archer (1883-1921), who spent his formative years farming in Queensland. Tasmania. She has completed more than 15 voyages to Lord Howe both in the race
Then of course there’s the Halvorsen Family and this link is continues with FIDELIS from Gosford and in the last several years for the Lord Howe Island Classic Yacht
and Reimers (who also designed the Tumlaren,) The New Zealand corner of the cruise.
triangle is more obvious! Check out AKARANA. FIDELIS is one of those yachts with 200,000 ocean nautical miles of sailing that
FIDELIS, originally an out and out ocean racer from New Zealand, made a significant still turns the heads of those who see her on the water…
contribution to the continued rivalry between the two countries that started with
RAINBOW and RAWHITI in the early 1900s.
Her racing career began with a line honours win in the Auckland to Suva Race of
1966. She then made her way to Australia to enter that year’s Sydney to Hobart
yacht race. FIDELIS did more than just get the gun in her inaugural Hobart – she set
a new race record margin with a time of 4 days 8 hours and 39 minutes.
The February 1967 issue of Seacraft Magazine had the headline 'KIWI FLYER
SHOWED US HOW ' "Splendid performance of Auckland's Swedish-designed 61-foot
flyer FIDELIS was a surprise to Australian yachtsmen and a great joy to her skipper
Jim Davern and New Zealanders generally...". FIDELIS won line honours in a rare
light weather race, finishing 17&1/2 hours ahead of the next yacht, BALANDRA.
Despite this large margin and having been over 80 nautical miles ahead at one stage,
FIDELIS was not able to win the rare double, the small Sydney yacht CADENCE came
through under spinnaker over a day later to win on handicap.
FIDELIS renewed the close links between Australia and New Zealand that were at
their strongest during RAWHITI's time, and it even shares a similar triple-planked
kauri construction.
Building on FIDELIS's performance, another wave of New Zealand boats came across
for subsequent Hobart races and achieved more ocean racing success.
During the eighties FIDELIS was altered extensively with hours of shipwright labour
transforming her from a stripped out ocean greyhound into one of the fastest and
most comfortable classic yacht passage makers. The additions of a roller headsail,
self tailing winches and up to date navigation equipment transformed the boat. Ten
years ago a further update refixed the keel, smoothed the hull and laid new teak
decks.. The addition a year or so later of a carbon mast completed the transformation
but not the look or feel of the yacht.
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 27GRE TE L I I
LAUNCHED: 1970
DESIGNER: Alan Payne
BUILDER: W.H. Barnett
Vessel dimensions: 62.25 ft x 12.2 ft, 31
tons
Page 28 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsGiven Australia’s pivotal role in the history of the Americas Cup it would be wrong
not to include a 12 metre in the list. Which one? She has to be wooden so there’s
only three to choose from… GRETEL II wins out as she is the last timber 12m ever
built and she came closer to winning the Cup than DAME PATTI or GRETEL and what
is more she is now fully restored and sailing in Australia.
Frank Packer had first challenged for the America's Cup in 1962 with the GRETEL,
which was named after his wife. GRETEL was competitive but lost that challenge 4–1.
In 1970 Packer returned to Newport, Rhode Island to challenge again for the 'Auld
Mug' with his new 12-metre yacht GRETEL II representing the Royal Sydney Yacht
Squadron. She was skippered by Jim Hardy with Martin Visser as tactician and starting
helmsman and Bill Fesq as navigator. The crew included future Olympic Star class
gold medallists David Forbes and John Anderson and future America's Cup–winning
skipper John Bertrand as port trimmer.
After defeating Baron Marcel Bich’s FRANCE in the challenger selection series 4–0,
the Australian yacht took on the American defender INTREPID, skippered by Bill
Ficker in a best-of-seven race series. INTREPID won the first race when GRETEL II's
David Forbes was swept overboard but managed to hang on to the sail and scramble
back on board. Then in a controversial second race, GRETEL II crossed the finish line
1 minute 7 seconds ahead, but due to a collision at the start the Australian challenger
was disqualified. INTREPID won the third race but GRETEL II recorded a win in the
fourth race by a margin of 1 minute 2 seconds. INTREPID then took out the fifth race
to win the America's Cup 4–1.
Many observers, such as 1977 America's Cup winning skipper Ted Turner, believed
that GRETEL II was a faster boat than INTREPID but that the tactical cunning of Bill
Ficker and Steve Van Dyke and the performance of the American crew were the
deciding factors in the Americans' victory.
She underwent a major refit in New Zealand in 2009 and was relocated to the Royall
Yacht Club of Tasmania , as the open waters of the River Derwent were considered
more suited to sailing a 12-Metre than Sydney Harbour.
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 29MARGARET RINTOUL
LAUNCHED: 1948
DESIGNER: Philip Rhodes
BUILDER: Ted Haddock
Vessel dimensions: 44.25 ft x 31 ft x
11.25 ft x 6.5 ft
Page 30 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsPerhaps with this selection I’m letting my heart rule my head. She’s the only Philip
Rhodes boat on the list. Rhodes is perhaps the most underrated designer of the
20th Century and he drew a sheer line like no other…and I’m including Stephens,
Alden and Herreshoff in that assessment!
MARGARET RINTOUL was built by Ted Haddock in Sydney for Austin Edwards, who
had chosen a design from Phillip Rhodes, an emerging American naval architect.
Rhodes had been chief designer at Cox and Stevens from 1934 and took over the
firm in 1947. He then gave the firm his own name and quickly became one of the
leading yacht designers in the USA in the 1950s and 60s. The builder Haddock is
less well known. He had a yard at Margaret St in Greenwich for a short period and
is also remembered as the builder of the Alan Payne designed light-weight ocean
racing sisterships NOCTURNE and SERENADE in the late 1940s.
She is an early example of a post war ocean racer built in Australia to the latest
international concepts, at a time when many local ocean racing boats were dated
to the 1930s. The custom built, up-to-the-minute design of MARGARET RINTOUL
in 1948 just three years after the event had started, illustrates how early the
development of a serious and competitive approach to all aspects of ocean racing
had begun, an approach that was dominating the event from the late 1950s.
MARGARET RINTOUL also represents another stage in a growing trend away from
local designers toward designs from the USA and Europe, that had its beginnings
in the 1930s.
The yawl rigged yacht won line honours in two successive Sydney to Hobart races
in the early 1950s and set a record for the race with its second victory. Line honours,
which was the first yacht to finish, has always captured the public's attention for
the Sydney to Hobart race, and the challenge of setting a new record has since
become a fascination and focus of media speculation each year in the lead up to
the event.
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 31ACRO SPI RE I I I
LAUNCHED: 1924
DESIGNER: Charlie Peel
BUILDER: J Hayes and Sons
Vessel Dimensions: 50 ft x 59 ft x 8 ft x 7 ft,
8 tons
Page 32 42 Australian Wooden Sailing BoatsEven without her substantial achievements, this yacht would get into my list on sheer second race was sailed in light conditions, and NORN took the lead on when the southerly
elegance alone. Pencil thin with a vast spread of sail, I have seen her power through fleets turned toward the east and then north east during the second leg and it was better placed
of modern racers with a few knots of breeze on the water… (and a few more higher up) … to pick up the new breeze. ACROSPIRE III made up some ground on the final leg as the
with topsail working, healing her a little as she carves through the glassy water. breeze freshened, but NORN ended up winning by a huge margin of just over 23 minutes.
The cup was therefore retained by NSW, and ACROSPIRE III returned to Victoria.
ACROSPIRE III is a 50 ft long gaff cutter, carvel planked in New Zealand kauri. She was
designed by Charlie Peel, a Victorian. She was built during 1923 and early 1924 in Sydney Joe White then commissioned a new design from Peel for the Sayonara Cup and this
at James Hayes and Sons yard in Careening Cove. Peel was working there at the time, and became the 9 metre ACROSPIRE IV which was launched in 1929.
was part of the team building his design. ACROSPIRE III was built for Joe White, then Vice She remained in Victoria racing in the A class during the 1930s. The sail number changed
Commodore of the Royal St Kilda Yacht Club and a prominent yachtsman in Victoria. She from S1 to S17 when ACROSPIRE IV was launched. ACROSPIRE III was changed to a
was built with the intention of being Victoria’s challenger for the Sayonara Cup, an event Bermudan rig in the early thirties and sold to Hobart owners around 1938 where sailed
that had not been raced for since 1911 when it was won by NSW. White had a brewing under the new name ACUSHLA. It raced in A division until after 1948 when it sailed to
business, and the name ACROSPIRE is taken from the term that relates to a stage in the Sydney with a new owner R.A. and JAS Dickson and was renamed WAREE. in the 1949/50
grain used in brewing. When it has grown its first shoot is the right time to use the grain, season it won the RSYS Norn Cup.
and that shoot is called the ‘acrospire’.
An anonymous correspondant wrote about WAREE in Seacraft Magazine early in the 1950s…
ACROSPIRE III was completed in early 1924 and shipped to Melbourne aboard the SS
ECHUNGA. She was launched, rigged and sailed on Port Phillip in the A class. She was “At the time of writing, WAREE is sitting forlornly on the RSYS slip awaiting a new
designed to rate as an 8 metre and provide an even match with the likely defender of the owner.....WAREE was being raced hard and consistently. She's an old-timer, but a real
Sayonara Cup for NSW, which would also be an 8 metre class yacht. However her whizzer, with an underbody that bears a striking resemblance to some of the really modern
construction proved too light for the rough conditions on Port Phillip and it was designs.... Boats like WAREE were built as day sailers 40 to 50 years ago, so it didn't matter
strengthened, adding weight. The outcome was that the yacht sat lower in the water than if they were wet, and they certainly were just that; they had less freeboard than some of
intended by the designer and with a longer waterline it ended up rating nearly 9 metres. the modern counterparts like the Bluebirds, which have only half the length of WAREE's
ilk. On the other hand, of course, driving WAREE hard in a breeze with her stern wave
The Sayonara Cup series was eventually organised for early 1928, and by this time White roaring astern gives such a thrill as could never be had from a Bluebird, no matter how
was commodore of the Royal St Kilda Yacht Club. The cup rules required the yacht to sail hard you drove her".
from Victoria to New South Wales.
A subsequent owner was well known ocean racing skipper Bill Psaltis. He raced it for a few
ACROSPIRE III left Williamstown on Boxing Day 1927, starting out in rough conditions. years before selling it to an owner who left it on a mooring off Scotland Island in Pittwater
Light winds were encountered off the NSW coast until just after Jervis Bay when they met and rarely used it. The yacht was later purchased in poor condition by Sandra and Michael
strong NE headwinds, and they eventually sheltered in Kiama until a southerly change had Paul who had a property on the island and enjoyed having the graceful yacht to look at
swept through. On the tail of that wind they made Sydney Heads early on the afternoon from their window. Unfortunately it was not used and kept afloat at times by regular
of January 2 1928. pumping out from local marine tradesman Ian "Bomber" Treharne. It is even understood
NORN was chosen as the NSW defender, and the first race took place on 21 st January that it sank on at least one occasion. He eventually suggested they donate the yacht to
with NORN measured at 8.03 metres and ACROSPIRE III at 8.83 metres, giving NORN a the current owner Col Anderson the legendary sailmaker who had experience with other
substantial handicap advantage. The race was sailed in a north east breeze, and ACROSPIRE yacht restorations including WAITANGI and SAYONARA.
III gradually took the lead on the windward beat to be nearly 3 minutes ahead at the In 1996/97 She was returned to Melbourne and completely restored by Col to her original
windward mark, increasing this to almost four minutes at the finish. This was not enough gaff cutter configuration. Nowadays she is the glamour boat racing with the Classic Yacht
to win on handicap, and NORN’s rating advantage gave it a win by 3 and ½ minutes. The Association fleet on Port Phillip.
CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 33You can also read
