While the yacht was planing before the breeze out of control, two shifting wrenches were secured to the remains of the tiller straps and the tiller was made fast to these.

Gradually SANDRA was brought back on her course, but by this time the constant flogging of the storm staysail had caused both forestay hanks to part and the jib sheets to come adrift at the tack of the sail.

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The feeling of anticipation, it passes; tears and disappointment they pass, exaltation and exhilaration they pass, the aching muscles and bruises they certainly pass but two things that never pass are your memories, memories of a great regatta ,and friendship, those of the old friends you have caught up with once again as well as the new friends you have made. This is what the Cup Regatta is all about. No playing for sheep-stations here.

Rope weaves together the fascinating story of one of humanity’s oldest inventions — a simple twist of fibres that literally held the world together. From hauling stones for the pyramids to anchoring ships on daring voyages, rope has been the silent hero behind some of history’s greatest achievements.

He’d always had ambitions to design yachts. One of his proudest possessions was a handwritten letter received from Olin Stephens. As a teenager he had drawn a yacht and sent the plans to the great man for comment. Olin despite being famous and busy, replied, making some critical observations but at no time be condescending to the colonial lad who had presumed to seek advice from the master.

Interestingly when Nossiter raced the boat they stripped all excess weight from her – the head, the bunks and even the engine. They raced her so hard the seams would open up and they’d have to man the pumps. At the end of the racing season everything was put back for the family to cruise the NSW coast.

“A properly functioning bridge team requires that all its members maintain a shared mental model to actively monitor a ship’s progress,” Mr Mitchell said. ”This relies on relevant information being conveyed to all members of the team, and actions that are incorrect being identified, communicated and rectified immediately.”

The boats also floated, to some extent, the economy of the village. They bought material for maintenance, supplies for fishing trips, groceries and the like for their families when they were in port and fuel for the diesel engines which powered the cray boats. The townsfolk all knew each other and were linked socially as well as through the fishing fleet or the little enterprises which supported it.

A quick calculation shows that just over four percent of the fleet are of some sort of wooden construction.

With a whole family of dedicated sailors, and his father famous for designing a distinct class of classic yachts developed from traditional hull forms, it should be no surprise that the ribs and shells of the Opera House share a strong geometric and functional connection with traditional Viking and Scandinavian boat forms.

“I have corresponded with James Hill – Peters’ son – James did a number of Sydney to Hobart races on her in the 60’s and has fond memories of her. He believes she had never been in the water when she arrived in Sydney and that the sails were unused.”

A quick scan of the images shows that 13 are of wooden or “traditional” craft, so lets call it 16%. My unscientific gut feeling suggests that about 1% of all yacht racing would be done in these sort of craft so in a sense classic boats are rewardingly over represented.

Emotional Storytelling - The meta-communication of the clip, characters and setting, shapes how people connect with it - Hoana’s birthday provided a story, the Rally participants, the Sydney Harbour sailing, the representation of her young crew and the snippets of history provided by the interview against the backdrop of a historic clubhouse satisfied the criteria of emotional storytelling - we can claim success on that one.

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Craft of wildly disparate shapes and sizes, built for different purposes on both princely or miserly budgets, assemble on the start line, go hard for two or three hours, squeezing every 10th of knot out of there often unsuitable hull forms

News of the victory was celebrated in Hobart, with the result announced in cinemas and greeted by thunderous applause. Not one to rest on his laurels, Skipper Batt soon designed and built Tassie Too.

It was another week to remind ourselves that we are doing this out of choice not obligation. A dramatic night in the windy passage between Corsica and Sardinia, taught us some good lessons, and put the breaks on any overconfidence that might have been creeping in.

A mythical past of heroic journeys, survival against the odds, human cargo saved from the abyss, home-comings of Homeric proportions: Resurrections! PAGAN is yours for nothing — a giveaway.

This week’s news from around the wooden boat world

We were the only visitors to the village and he and his wife are the only residents, having moved there from the central Sardinian mountains forty five years previously, to complete his national service. He never left. Despite it only being 1030 in the morning, Enrico offered us a chilled vermentino from a jug, and some delicious sweet biscuits.