Consequently, winning races became a challenge to outsmart the rule maker as much as to produce a better boat. Unfair shapes with rule cheating ‘rating’ lumps and bumps, poor stability, structural failures and handling issues became the norm, as the design challenge was to find the fastest sailing configuration which would ‘appear slowest’ under the version of the rule applying at the time. 

Once, 42 days out of Sydney, while beating painfully to windward off the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, en route to Nelson, he somewhat outrageously wrote that he was starting to like ocean sailing.  He’d sailed more than 70,000 miles at that point.

His Vee Jays were easily identified by their unique hull shape because Laurie took advantage of measurement tolerances and introduced a hull with a pronounced spring in the bow and a long straight planing run, which made his Jays unbeatable flying machines in a breeze and took full advantage of the newly introduced twin planks

The Australian surf boat evolved. The first real one that came—we have these old pictures of the Sly Brother of Manly. But they weren't real surf boats, they were fishing boats. The first real surf boat that came to Australia was designed on a Norwegian lifesaving boat.

"I was just scrolling Facebook one day, and we had been in the market for a timber boat for a little while. And occasionally I would send Holly ridiculous things from boats online or on Facebook. I'd come across this Maurice Griffiths boat, and I sent it to Holly. They were asking 800 bucks"

“The Leeuwin has been absolutely smashed to pieces,” a witness said on Radio 6PR Australia. “None of its mast is standing, and it’s listing over and hanging over onto the port.”

Voyage crew will learn and undertake 18thcentury sailing skills, such as haul lines, set or furl the sails, stand watches, and steer the ship, all under the supervision of Endeavour’s professional crew. Although previous sailing experience is not essential, voyage crew are required to commit to a rotating watch roster, be physically fit and not suffer chronic seasickness.

It’s a very different vibe to the big, broad spectrum boat shows in Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne. No one’s trying to sell you stubby holders for jet skis.

There’s some great Wooden Boat events coming up over the next six months. Commit early, plan thoroughly, do the work, then sit back, and bask in the satisfaction of the achievement.

The finished yacht was exquisitely built, with fine dovetail joints and a beautiful interior, with the varnished red-cedar planks offset by white-painted frames and stringers, and lofty, varnished spruce masts. Less than 20 months after John laid the keel, he hoisted sail and set a course south, bound for Hawaii.

Ben Marris, custodian of SAONA for the last 30 years was quietly spoken, self deprecating, and above all generous with his incredible knowledge and experience. I would be untue to say I knew him well. But we corresponded and shared stories around our boating overlaps, which alway made me smile.

The agreement was groundbreaking in its ambition. It led to the near-total cessation of whaling activities, with a few notable exceptions , and has contributed to the resurgence of many whale species, including the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus

The Uto ni Yalo blends various Pacific traditional and modern boat designs and its journey was in part symbolic – representing the unity of the region gathering in Tonga.

In an age where technology and €20m can send a solo sailor around the world in 40 days, a fleet of courageous mini sailors is about to show it can be done for less that €50,000 over many days! Sixteen men and two women from 11 countries will navigate 28,000 miles solo around the world in identical, cramped, plywood mini yachts, pushing the limits of what many believe to be possible.

Joe paid his dues at the malthouse. Like all new employees he would sweep the floors, feed the hoppers, operate the revolving screens, filled, sewed up, and carried the four and a half bushel bags. Only 4 years into training in 1892, at just 23 years old, Joe had to step up and take the reins of the business.

Five times that great white whale of a mountain tried to kill the first team that sought to reach its summit. Yet in 1964, back they sailed, through the worst seas in the world, to try again, this time with legendary explorer Bill Tilman as their skipper. 

"My father in law, Hugh Garnham (now in his late 80s) built a 26ft Huon pine yacht, called GLENSHIEL in the late 1950s, to do the Sydney-Hobart. He was in his early twenties when he built it at his parents’ house, which happened to be on the foreshore of the Derwent."

After being revitalised in 2023, The Cup Regatta, organised by the Classic Yacht Association of Australia, is now looking to expand its reach, with a goal of having 50+ boats racing on the waters of Port Phillip on the first weekend of November.

One of the main catalysts for starting the company was to sustain and grow the art of wooden boatbuilding by passing on the skills they have accumulated. It’s a shared passion to keep the skills of wooden boat building alive for generations to come. 

“…Of all the many anachronisms at the modern Olympics, sailing is perhaps the most conspicuous of all: a continuing sop to super-rich men who founded the Games and still just really love yachts, basically inaccessible to most of the countries in the world, even the ones with a viable coastline.”