Boats Afloat Their Stories
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2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival Hobart 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival HOBART Wooden Boats Afloat Their Stories Classic Yacht Association of Australia Page 1 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival Hobart Page 2 Classic Yacht Association of Australia 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival Hobart Able Mabel Name: Able Mabel Boat Owner: Robert Wallis Builder: Roger Harwood Designer: Holman & Pye Description: Able Mabel has been to every wooden boat festival since launched by renowned local boat builder Roger Harwood in 1996. It is almost entirely Huon Pine and was built as a comfortable boat for his family. It is a typical english 4 tonne 1960’s design as a Twister class which had a very successful racing record. There are not many of this class in Australia and she has been recognised as a Twister by travelling Englishmen. The Holman and Pye design evolved as a larger version of the Danish folk boat design. We would love to continue her tradition of attending every wooden boat festival. LOD feet: 28 Hull Timber: Huon Pine Type of Boat: Masthead Sloop State: Tasmania Built: 1996 Admiral Name: Admiral Boat Owner: Admiral Restoration Group Builder: Thomas Morland Designer: Thomas Morland Description: Australia’s oldest commercial vessel began her working life in Hobart 150 years ago, taking passengers to the eastern shore for picnics. LOD feet: 28 Hull Timber: Huon Pine Type of Boat: Rowing Ferry State: Tasmania Built: 1865 Classic Yacht Association of Australia Page 3 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival Hobart Alcheringa Name: Alcheringa Boat Owner: Peter Western & Mark Chapman Builder: Ian Snell, Peter Western & Mark Chapman Designer: Peter Brady Description: Using vacuum moulding, strip planking and plywood framing and bulkheads Alcheringa was built by the owners with her sister, Kiella, in a farm shed over a period of four and a half years. The fitout arrived as a truckload of rough sawn Silky Oak from which all mouldings and fitout timbers were created. Alcheringa has done significant blue water voyaging around Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New south Wales.Used extensively for fishing and cruising she can sleep 8 and is commonly crewed with five or six. Her first voyage was a circumnavigation of Tasmania. The two boats show what can be achieved by a small cooperative team using skills gained over a lifetime of mucking around in boats and building them. Background of the builders are teaching, machinery sales and maintenance and farming. LOD feet: 43 Hull Timber: Paulonia Type of Boat: Fishing cruiser State: Victoria Built: 2007 Alicia Name: Alicia Boat Owner: Chris Crerar Designer: Charles Houstein Description: Alicia is a classic example of a working Tamar couta boat from the early 20th Century. Fully restored and gaff rigged, with a Simplex engine. Magic! Restored by John Philp LOD feet: 16 Hull Timber: King Billy Pine Type of Boat: Couta Boat State: Tasmania Built: 1930 Page 4 Classic Yacht Association of Australia 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival Hobart Altura Name: Altura Boat Owner: Ian Gough Builder: Viv Innes Designer: Viv Innes Description: A much admired and loved vessel with a wonderful document history. Sailed in the 100 years Royal Hobart Regatta and many events before and since. Represented the Cygnet Sailing Club in A Class events against the RYCT representatives. In 1969 the original owner builder/designer Viv Innes sold the Altura to the Weidenhoffer Family who raced the Altura in A class events for many years. The current owner (Ian Gough) purchased Altura in 1984 and raced in Vintage Boat Club events until 2001. During a race from Bellerive to Kettering in the late 1990’s Altrura gained line honours in winds recorded at over 70 knots. That event was written in Classic Boat magazine published in England. In previous Festivals Altura attracted great public Interest. LOD feet: 42Hull Timber: Huon Pine Type of Boat: Gaff Rigged Cutter State: Tasmania Built: 1923 Classic Yacht Association of Australia Page 5 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival Hobart Aotea Name: Aotea Boat Owner: Annie Venables Builder: Clement Blunt Designer: William Fife 3rd Description: Aotea was built at Williamstown, Victoria in 1900 by the Nelson Place boat builder, Clement Blunt, to a design by the famous Scottish naval architect William Fife Jr. Aotea was built as a lug rigged yawl for use on Port Phillip Bay. In her first race at the Geelong Regatta on New Years Day 1901 she was dismasted and was later re-rigged as a sloop. Aotea was not entirely successful under that rig either and before the 1901 yachting season was over, she was re-rigged as a cutter with a pole mast and a jack yard. This improved her performance and she was the fourth most successful competitor in Royal Yacht Club of Victoria events for seasons ending in 1902, 1903 and 1905 and third in 1904. Owner A C Barber was later a well known Sydney-based naval architect. In 1907, Hobart clerk A. V. Windsor purchased Aotea. Under his ownership Aotea won the cruisers race at the Hobart regatta three years in a row: 1908, 1909 and 1910, sailed by Frederick Turner on all 3 occasions. She led the fleet round Cape Bruny in the 1908 100 Mile Ocean Race (now called Bruny Island race) but broke her gaff. In 1951, with her days as a first class racer behind her, Aotea’s then owner Stan Davidson of the Bellerive Yacht Club had her topsides built up at Cuthbertson’s Yards at Montagu Bay to make her more comfortable for inshore cruising. Unlike many such conversions it was tastefully done and although it completely altered her character she re-emerged as an elegant craft, her rakish lines set off by oval port holes along her raised hurricane deck. Steve Harvey converted her to a cutter rig with a roller- reefing headsail in 1973/74, making her suitable for single-handed sailing. Aotea, now owned by Port Cygnet Yacht Club member Annie Venables, continues to be loved, raced and sailed in the Huon Estuary and Channel some 118 years after she was built. She won the Noel Doepel Classic Yacht Trophy at Dover in 2017 for the first time, fitting as she used to belong to Noel, and then went back and won again in 2018 up against Varg and Exodus. She is looking particularly fine at the moment after many hours of scraping and painting and general maintenance in the last 18 months since Annie took her over. Annie Venables was taught to sail and given her love of classic boats by her late father, Tony Venables. She was probably even conceived on a classic boat whilst her parents honeymooned in the UK on the windfall yacht “Overlord”. She is one of a very small group (4!) of lady boat owners who own 100 year old wooden boats. LOD feet: 35 Hull Timber: Kauri Type of Boat: Classic yacht State: Tasmania Built: 1900 Page 6 Classic Yacht Association of Australia 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival Hobart Apollo Name: Apollo Boat Owner: Alsion & Bruce Fyfe Builder: Pompei Designer: Pompei Description: We found Apollo on the hardstand at Queenscliff, she had been on a mooring and had partially sunk. The old Detroit engine was swamped and no longer working but had managed to leak oil right throughout her bilge and cabin. She was trucked to Kettering where her restoration began by two very enthusiastic owners. Our incentive was to see her entered in the Wooden Boat Festival 2015 sporting a new makeover. She was repowered with a 160hp Yanmar, completely rewired from 24v to 12v. The old chain steering that had rusted and no longer worked was replaced with a modern hydraulic steering. As her instruments had been badly weathered these were also replaced and where possible items of her era were used. She had to come out of the 60’s a bit, but as much as possible was retained. Lots of painting later and many late nights she was starting to look amazing. (We are biased). Built by Pompei Brothers of Mordialloc Creek for Jack Clarke, owner of G V Clarke Motors in Preston Vic. She was launched in 1969 hence her name Apollo. Jack had wanted to use her in Port Phillip Bay and beyond for a private fishing vessel which sadly he never got to enjoy before he died. She was taken to Noosa by Jack’s son for many years but was never used and began to deteriorate. Her history is extremely important to us and we have arranged to visit Joe Pompei in the coming weeks to discuss Apollo with him. His memory is astounding for a man in his 80’s and he could reel off all her details on the phone without any prompting. While researching her history we came across a photo of her on the Paynseville Wooden Boat Rally Facebook site. I asked the question if anyone knew of her, and within hours Bill Morley contacted me to share her history: Charles and Beverley Morley bought her from Jack’s son and moved her to Woongoolba where she was used for family trips to Sanctuary Cove and the Gold Coast. As Beverley and Charles have both passed away, their son, Bill Morley, was able to fill in many of these gaps and supply photos of her days with his family. She was a much loved part of the family as Bill’s words display; Hope this fills a gap, she’s an amazing boat, it was a religion for us every weekend in Southern Moreton Bay. Hopefully if we make the festival one year I can steal a tour off you.