42 Boats in 42 Days
"When Melbourne went into stage three lock down in July 2020, we lost the opportunity to go sailing in our beautiful old wooden boats."
Mark Chew writes....
"Suddenly, most of us also had more time on our hands than we were accustomed to. It was under these circumstances that I chose to compile, using the CYAA instagram account, a personal list of 42 boats that are important to Australia’s sailing history. 42, because the lockdown was meant to last for 6 weeks.
The criteria I set were the following;
The boat had to be floating, or at least able to float. i.e. no wrecks. It also had to be primarily made of wood in one form or another, it had to be designed to sail and perhaps most difficult of all to decide, it had to have made an important contribution to Australia’s maritime history. “Importance” is a difficult characteristic to judge. Design pedigree, construction methods and provenance all factor in, but because this is a subjective list, I probably weighted achievements, whether through racing or adventuring, more heavily.
The content and order of my initial list of 42 boats changed considerably as I learned more and more about our unique sailing past. Some boats were chosen as representatives of bigger successful fleets, and others are just individually brilliant. It’s not the sort of thing that can ever be fully resolved. As knowledge of the past grows opinions and judgements change.
The most important thing however, is not who is right and who is wrong, but that these boats and others are being discussed, valued and cherished. So when the day comes that we can untie the mooring lines again we will do so with a renewed passion and enthusiasm for their custodianship.”
