The purpose of any rating rule is to enable yachts of different sizes to race together fairly. Without a rating rule there could be no enjoyable racing as, barring unforeseen circumstances, the largest yacht (and the richest owner) would always win.

From modest beginnings, never lacking family love, Bill found in himself a deep and abiding fascination for working with wood, primarily in helping to create some of the most famous yachts ever built in Australia.

I somehow knew, deep down, that the sculptor within had work to do, and that any luxury or convenience, anything impure or extraneous, was a hindrance and distraction.

I think to myself, isn't it great that we have people in the world, passionate master craftsmen like my good mate Eddy, who put all their love into a project such as Boongown, until it just seeps from every surface and inspires the admiration of everyone who sees it or is lucky enough to climb aboard.

“The day I on got on-board that thing at Palm Beach, I sat in the corner and thought, ‘shit this feels good’, Roscoe says.
“You don’t fall in love with every boat”, he adds.

So we have Andrew’s interpretation of reality rather than reality itself. His feelings and emotions are woven through these pictures like threads in a tapestry. This is not something a documentary photographer does lightly. It throws your work wide open to judgement.

The chosen social media platform at SWS is instagram… so here are nine feeds that should be covering the AWBF event if you can’t make it in person. There’s plenty of existing content from their journeys to the festival and hopefully plenty of imagery to come from Hobart

The forces at play once the five working sails all fill are huge and mistakes can be very costly. Since her first Gaffers Day back in the early 1980s the yacht has always sailed under the command of her owner, Sir James Hardy OBE. But, regrettably, ‘Gilbert’ was unable to take the helm this year and nominated me to skipper the boat in his place.

“Wife and I dragged the Mirror out of the shed where it has sat, unused, for 20 years. Started first time. Had a ball at the Invy regatta, highly recommended, great club and people.”

With an (almost) long weekend upon us, there are worse ways to spend your time than to settle down, perhaps in a quiet anchorage, and listen to four podcasts from the ABC, all discussing books about islands.

The phenomena of designers distorting the functional shape and appendages of a yacht to gain a rating advantage is not a new one.

“As the latest custodian of Māori Lass, I’ve often tried to visualise the people who’ve sailed her before us, the far-flung corners of the world she’s been to and the rough weather she’s survived. Rounding the buoys in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel during twilight racing with the Kettering Yacht Club just doesn’t seem a suitable enough challenge for her.”

DUYFKEN—Little Dove—was 80 feet long, shoal draft and carvel planked. She had three masts and a total of six working sails. She was fast, sturdy and had a relatively small crew of 20. Her design was a “jacht," which in 16th century Holland meant “hunter” or “pursuer."

The sun was my constant. It was regular, beautiful, immense. I started asking for help. “Why are you testing me?” “When will you make it better for me?” “Why are you challenging me like this?”

There's a ute parked out on a rock In Killiecrankie Bay. Three dogs and two men are working. Crays are rustling around in a big wooden pen called a cauf. The tide is coming in and the rock has become an island

On the 19th December Energy Minister Chris Bowen to declare Gippsland as Australia's first offshore wind zone. Mr Bowen also confirmed new parameters to a zone previously proposed in the consultation period.

Any musical genre will be considered. Jim’s especially looking to find a jazz/blues piano player to take on melodica duties but he’s also hoping to see bagpipes, bush ballads, bosa nova, bebop and blues - perhaps not all at the same time!

MAIWAR slipped quietly into the lagoon at Penrhyn Island At 5 pm on Friday 9 December 2022 local time. This marked the completion of the first leg of Tom’s Pacific crossing.

What I find endlessly remarkable about this Festival is that it is held together by the power of a very simple idea – the beauty and promise of wooden boats. To some this is a promise of adventure; to others a promise of comradery, history, craftsmanship, or simple relaxation.

The Islands of the Kent and Furneaux Groups are surely one of the great undiscovered cruising grounds of Australia. They are not for the faint hearted and will punish the arrogant sailor, but with preparation and respect, they reward in spades.