WHYTE, JUST & MOORE WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL OF GEELONG.
Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th MARCH 2012
At the Royal Geelong Yacht Club.
Along with the impressive array of wooden boats, the array of onshore static displays will display various aspects and pieces of nautical equipment, rope making, boat building displays where local boat builders will demonstrate chalking, laminating and steam bending plus boat care and maintenance. There’ll be sea trips, yacht races, ‘Concours d’elegance’ to select the best cared for and the best maintained amongst an amazing display of ‘well loved’ wooden boats!
AND THERE’S MORE! Music, food, refreshments, wandering entertainers, Cap’n Jack Sparrow, Colin Mockett and Shirley Power, will amuse you as they meander among the boats and visitors, while in the RGYC Theatre, historic footage of old time movies and pictures of sailing history will be running all weekend!
AND IT’S ALL FREE!!! DON’T MISS IT!! On Saturday afternoon a jazz band will entertain and you can Rock and Roll with the Hoos Bros on Saturday night to help strengthen your sea legs.
Children’s events will include a treasure hunt with Cap’n Jack Sparrow.
The highlight will undoubtedly be to meet and hear the incredible pair of nautical narrators, Lin and Larry Pardey who are undoubtedly, the world’s wisest wonders of wooden boat wisdom.
This amazing pair of adventurers, Lin and Larry, has voyaged more than 200,000 miles together on self-built engine-free wooden boats. They’ve been round the world, east and west-about and against the prevailing wind south of the great southern capes.
The stories of their exploits will help to launch your dreams with inspiring talks to all would-be sailors. In 2010, the Pardeys were awarded The Cruising Club of America’s prestigious Far Horizons Award! Make sure you don’t miss them!
Another of the many highlights of the festival is the full-size copy of a 15th century caravel, as sailed by early world explorers. It’s the oldest ship re-construction in Australia and is the magnificent replica wooden ship, the caravel, the ‘NOTORIOUS’.
Christopher Columbus’s ship, the ‘Santa Maria’ of 1492 was a caravel, only 8 metres longer than ‘NOTORIOUS’ and sailed in company with two smaller caravels, the ‘Pinta’ and ‘Nina’, each 4 metres shorter than ‘NOTORIOUS’! Early history unfolds before your weather beaten eyes!
‘NOTORIOUS’ was built near Warrnambool in SW Victoria, by amateur boat-builder, Graeme Wylie who researched, designed and constructed ‘NOTORIOUS’ entirely from reclaimed timber, NOT having to chop down a single tree! A truly unique endeavour.
21 metres long and weighing 70 tonnes, ‘NOTORIOUS’ is straight from the 15th century. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, Bartholomew Diaz was on board a caravel and the ships used by Ferdinand Magellan for his circum-navigation of the world in 1519 to 1522 were caravels. And, the same ‘Lateen Rig’ is still used on Arab dhows in the Suez Canal today!
You’ll be welcome to board this majestic ship of the late 1400’s, when it is open for inspection during the festival. A once in a lifetime opportunity!
Even if this or all the gleaming polish and varnish doesn’t excite you, then the nautical innuendos of the roving ‘press-gang’ of the port.
The tall ship Enterprize will be open for sea trips and display entries are coming in thick and fast.
SAYONARA of 1897!!! Sayonara is arguably the most famous classic keel yacht in Australian yachting history and records quote her as the yacht of the Victorian era that could not be beaten!
Sayonara, (Japanese for goodbye) was built by G F Garrard, then Commodore of the RYCV when the largest yachts in Australia were to be seen on Port Phillip Bay. She was designed as a fast cruising yawl by William Fife III of Scotland, built in Adelaide and launched in November 1897. She then cruised to Melbourne in record time.
In the winter of 1899 her rig was altered to the alternative Fife plan of a top sail cutter which increased her sail area to 2079 sq. ft. Sayonara stayed on the register of the St. Kilda Yacht Club until 1912 when she was sold and went to Sydney.
ln 1997 and in very rundown condition she was bought by a Melbourne syndicate and returned to Melbourne for an authentic and complete restoration.
The yacht was authentically and meticulously restored by skilled shipwrights carefully following the original drawings, copies of which were obtained from Fairley’s of Scotland and amidst fanfare and celebration was formally recommissioned at Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in August 2000.
‘LA BELLE LIMONE’ is a twin engined ‘Riva Aquarama Super’ off shore speedboat with a top speed 87 Ks!!
Built in 1970 by ‘Cantieri RIVA’ in Sarnico, ITALY and designed by Carlo Riva. ‘La Belle’ is constructed of African Mahogany & European Beech. Has an O/A length of 8.5mtrs, a beam of 2.1mtrs and draws 0.75mtrs. When empty, she weighs 2,850 kgs. Driven by two 454s Petrol engines @ 320HP she carries 480 litres of fuel in two tanks giving an endurance of 7hours.
She was delivered to Monaco in 1970, imported into Sydney in 1980, to Melbourne in 1996 and is owned by Greg Sinclair. The name, ‘La Belle Limone’ is Italian for ‘the beautiful lemon’.
She is ‘Aquarama Super’ hull no. 440 in a series of 786 hulls built between 1962/1996. Only 203 of these hulls were ‘Supers’. It is estimated that 500-600 still survive, mainly in Europe. ‘La Belle Limone’ is believed to be the only one in Australia.
In 2004 she had a complete rebuild by Frechville/Heaney boats of Paynesville, to strict factory specifications.
‘NELLIE ROSE’ (Circa 1900) is a 21ft couta boat with an 8ft beam. She draws approx. 3ft with her centre board raised. Now with a new rig, decking, floors, centre board case, fastenings and fittings after an extensive reconditioning by Brett Almond.
‘Nellie’ is powered by a 3 cylinder 17 hp Yanmar and is a unique little girl with a plumb bow and quite a fine transom. She was once known as ‘Nellie K’ and it is believed that, at one time, she belonged to St Augustine’s. ‘Nellie’ was built in Port Fairy in the very early 1900’s and is now owned by Russ Watson.
’WINDWARD II’ (1929) was designed by Norm Dallimore, and built by Percy Coverdale in Hobart in 1929 using the finest Australian timbers. King Billy pine on Blue Gum frames. She is roved copper fastened and has a lead keel. With Oregon Spars, she measures 44 ft on the deck, waterline length of 34 ft. 2ins, overall length is 54 ft. 6 ins. And her beam is 10ft. 3 ins. A draft of 6ft. 6ins. and displaces 13 tons.
‘Windward II’ raced with distinction during the 1930’s and 40’s winning the 1932-33 Fairfax Cup four years in a row, then the Gascoigne Cup then the Revonah Cup and came to Melbourne in 1990 where she now races against classic yachts of her vintage and undertakes corporate charters.
‘Windward II’ was extensively restored in 2006 following a collision on the racecourse.
After the depression and the 2nd World War, ‘Windward II’, along with the yachts ‘Thetis’, ‘Norn’ and ‘Morna’ restarted the racing seasons for a new era and, despite age & competition, ‘Windward II’ won the Fairfax, Norn, Bayly-Macarthur and Boomerang Cups.
‘RENENE (1955) was designed by William Atkin in 1925 and based on the 47 ft Colin Archer Design REDNINGSKOITE. (Norwegian Sailing Rescue Craft.) Built by Murray Perry and launched in 1955 at Hobart.
She has 1.5 inch Huon Pine planking and a Jarrah Keel, stem and stern. Her mast is of Oregon. Overall length is 32 ft, has a beam of 11 ft. a draft of 5 ft 6 in and weighs 12 tonnes and has a 56 HP Perkins diesel engine.
‘Renene’ was purchased by the Bacon Family (Bud) in 1957 one year after the boat competed in the 1956 Sydney to Hobart. She has competed since then in many Devonport/Coastal and Bay races and continues to race in the Bay at Sandringham and in Cruising Yacht Club activities.
The Boat has carried the SM 23 number for over 50 years, from 1957 till 1973 at Sandringham Yacht Club, then 20 years at the Royal Pittwater Yacht Club, NSW. In 1995 ‘Renene’ was sailed back to Sandringham by her owners, Bud, Kent and crew and is still being enjoyed by Family
‘FANCY’ (Circa 1920) has a LOA of 24ft. 3in. was built in the 1920s specifically to win the Williamstown to Portarlington race, which she promptly did!
Following a life of fishing she was wrecked in the creek at Queenscliff where she languished for many years until she was brought to Geelong’s Western Beach for major repairs. The side wall of the Western Beach Boat Club rooms had to be removed to get her inside for the operation!
Then, fitted with a truck engine, she was used for fishing before being purchased by the current owner, Paul van Prooyen. In 2005 after a decent knock from a boat moored nearby, she was completely restored from the keel up, by Brett Almond keeping the original keel, planks, stem, stern and rudder intact. Like all good craft, she has kept her shape well. Her colour scheme was inspired by the garden, Iceberg and Canterbury!
TOREA is a Bermudian (Marconi) cutter and a fine example of a classic yacht from the late 1930s. Carvel built with Oregon planking above water line with spotted gum below. She has copper and bronze fastenings and her deck material is of the original kauri timber planking overlaid with plywood/fibreglass; copper and bronze fastenings.
Tiller steering and sails of synthetic Dacron made traditionally from narrow panels using dark thread and leather strips tied as bowlines to the brass track slides.
‘Torea’ has an auxiliary inboard Yanmar 2QM15; 2 cylinder diesel engine, 11 kw (15 hp) and is owned by Stephen Shanasy. An overall length of 9.14 m (30 ft). LWL: 8.49 m (27 ft 11 in), beam: 3.05 m (10 ft), draft: 1.30 m (4 ft 3 in) displacement: 5.9 tonne (6 ton) and 48 sq m (517 sq ft) sail area.
AND – The topsail schooner, ENTERPRIZE
There aren’t many vessels that can be said to have been present at the birth of a city. But it was from the original topsail schooner Enterprize that a handful of settlers disembarked on the Yarra River on August 30, 1835, to begin the settlement which has capital of around 3.5-million people. Today’s replica Enterprize was constructed in Melbourne and launched in 1997 to commemorate that event. Colonisation was already under way in Tasmania in the 1830s, and the schooner brought settlers from Launceston.
All can be seen at the WHYTE,JUST & MOORE WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL OF GEELONG on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th MARCH 2012 at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club. ENTRY IS FREE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. Best times, Saturday from noon onwards and Sunday.
Bob Appleton. 2012
tempest@ncable.net.au
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