By Tim Cassidy

(The Editor writes……Peter Kerr from Deagon Slipway, was telling me recently about an S&S yacht called TAMBOO that would soon be coming into his Brisbane yard for a refit. She has recently been sold, but Peter suggested I contact the former owner, Tim Cassidy as apparently he had a few good sailing stories to tell. He wasn’t wrong!)

Happy memories of my boating days are as wide and varied as different craft I owned, varying from single rowing shells to a prawn trawler. In between, exists a number of fine yachts, which I cruised and raced.

My first yacht was the Restricted Class TASSIE III, which I cruised from Brisbane to Lord Howe Island and back.

She was a 21 footer, who, in our youth, we asked her to do things she was not designed or built for. TASSIE was sold and burned on a bank of the Caboolture River in 1987.

*GYMEA a 21ft Retricted boat not dissimilar to TASSIE III*

A winner of the Foster Cup and many bay estuary races, I have a starboard chain plate of hers on the desk in front of me right now.

I sold TASSIE III to Robin MacDuff in 1968 and bought her back in 1970, in partnership with my brother, she was a much better ship when we bought her back then when I sold her

In late 1968, I was seconded to the Antarctic Division to overwinter at Mawson, the Australian base on the southern continent. The expedition, self-sufficient of course, included expert tradesmen who, armed with plans from the Encyclopaedia Britannica, constructed an ice yacht. It was cat rigged, the sail sown from sacrifice polar pyramid tent, whose design was largely unchanged from the Scott and Shackleton era.

Mawson Harbour, frozen in autumn, was covered with half a metre of snow. After a blizzard,this was swept away to leave Horseshoe Harbour with clear ice, ideal for skating, and for the launch of our unnamed ice yacht. The hull was ‘T’ shaped, with a forward skate articulated for steering. The three skate runners immediately froze to the sea ice, a good shove was needed to break the adhesion. Next, the main sheet was hardened, and in turn, this provided a head snapping back sensation reminiscent of a sports car accelerating away from a standing start.

*Location of Mawson station within Horseshoe Harbour. (Photo: D. McVeigh)*

A design ‘fault’ perhaps, but, not I, or any other expeditioner could make her attack even though she could beam reach at 30 to 40 knots. Gybes were spectacular, as there was little or no lateral resistance from the ice surface and the craft covered metres sideways. In late autumn, fresh conditions and reaching fast. A Belford truck materialised to windward filming the craft. I screamed, go up from habit(?) as they came down on me, clipping the windward shroud. The effect was sudden. The rig disappearing to leeward.

I never sailed her again as the field traverse was about to leave Mawson for the inland Prince Charles Mountains. On return to base, winter settling in and deteriorating weather curtailed outdoor activities.

Our first TASSIE III cruise was north from Morton Bay to Fraser Island. I originally, we planned to cross the notorious Wide Bay Bar just after dawn with the sun aft at high tide. We crossed after an overnight stop a Mooloolaba, in late afternoon, low tide, with a building southeasterly. For the crossing, hatches was secured, an all donned life jackets. It was just as well the ride to the island leads was numbingly fast. TASSIE III flew down the face of the breaking seas under headsail only to the leads on Inskip Point.

To starboard, a beam sea of broken water appeared at right angles to the break. It was less than a metre high but approached us at speed. The crew, there were four of us, hung on to anything in the cockpit when it hit.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The sea boarded us exploding under the bilge, washing, all four of us into the sea. My arm was caught around the starboard lifeline, and I was still tangled in it in the water, with TASSIE III inverted looming above me.

My first thought was to get away to avoid being trapped under the hull, when she seemed to pause above me. Next, she was now rolling steadily back to starboard. Badly shaken, I apparently found the port side rail with my feet and found myself on deck.

Three crew was still in the water. Two of them swam over and were soon on board. Brian Flynn, the other member was insight to leeward. I appointed Bill to watch Brian and to ignore completely what the rest of us were doing. Peter, my brother, through the hired life raft overboard, and securing the trigging tether. It drifted away and blew the raft cover skywards astern of us.

Assessing the damage we found that broken rudder pintles had rendered the steering unserviceable. Brian was still inside drifting to leeward in his life jacket. The only way of rescue involved the outboard. The little Evinrude started first pull after total immersion. Brian had been in the water for half an hour before we picked him up near Inskip Point. At one point he touched bottom. All crew then opted for a quiet night as we dropped the pick in Platypus Bay.

SEA CHANGE

1973 saw the acquisition of CINDER LEE, which sailed out of Middle Harbour Yacht Club, we cruise north, ran out of time and left her at Coffs Harbour for a week or two, when a new crew out at a Manly Boat Harbour, Brisbane.

She was a 41 footer, designed on six metre lines with an eight foot six inch beam drawing six foot. The aft end of the fin keel was articulated and in conjunction with the rudder enabled close tacking. Her first Ocean Race was the 1974, Brisbane to Gladstone. The photograph shows her red hull strapped up against VANESSA, the race winner and inboard of her LOVE AND WAR and the Maxi HELSAL. All of these craft had another role as cruising yachts, including Noel Patrick's WISTARI stern to us in our row.

*The Raft Up after the 1974 Brisbane Gladstone Race*

Noel used WISTARI extensively in researching his cruising guide on the Curtis Coast. CINDA LEE was sold and departed for northern waters. I went back to Sydney to buy a cruiser racer, a Swanston 32 was the early choice. Instead, I bought a far Half Tonner KLINGER, sister ship to TITUS CANBY. She was superbly built by Graham Ashby in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand.

*KLINGER (2070) wins the start of the 1979 Gladstone Race*

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We raced her to Gladstone in 1978 and in the latter part of the year competed, in the Sydney to Hobart. KLINGER at 26 foot seven and a half inches is the smallest yard to ever compete in this race. She liked plenty of breeze either to windward or downwind. Under previous ownership, she had won the Sydney to Mooloolaba by race, surfing alongside LOVE AND WAR

After some breeze at the start, the ‘78 race turned into a drifter with the obligatory gale for tail enders of which we were one.The crew we're looking forward to finishing, when a gale hit us at the entrance to Storm Bay. With breaking seas and wind to match, we got the gear off, and lay a hull.

KLINGER seem to be coping well, so I retired to my bunk. Richie Blumson made himself a cup of tea. In the middle of my dream fast asleep. I heard an almighty crash. Next thing Rex Neil was pulling sail bags off me. As I had left the ship coping well, my opening comment to Rex was “what the fuck is going on?”

His reply… “Were upside down. That's what the facts going on.” Another loud crash interrupted this conversation. Another sea had hit the fin keel and completed the rollover.

Two cabin slides were in place, but the gap for ventilation allowed 50 or so gallons to enter.

The resultant mess was cleaned up. Lightening conditions allowed us to reset sail. The following afternoon under spinnaker, we got the gun for the race finish. At Constitution Dock with KLINGER saturated, I went to shore to organise the dry bunk. Upon return, I did not know a soul on the boat. As they politely partied, I managed to get below in the crush to find my sea bag. Back on deck I noticed the cockpit or wash. The drains cut directly into the transom were underwater. due to the weight of numbers in the party. KLINGER was sold remaining in Brisbane.

BACK AGAIN

My next craft was again a contrast to the previous. She was a 38 footer, HELLY and Olin Stevens design, and a sister ship to FINNISTERRE. She was completely built in teak in Hong Kong, after World War II and sailed by four Americans. Trapped under a wharf in Turkey, she had sunk. Later refloated, she crossed the Pacific to Australia in the 1950s

HELLY had a centerboard, ideal for Morton Bay, and was a delight to sail, often by myself, she would steer herself for hours, leaving me to admire the scenery astride the pulpit. Racing was done mainly in golden oldie events, an exception being the 1994, Brisbane to Gladstone Ocean Race. The late and well known boatbuilder Clem Masters sailed on HELLY that year. It was his last ocean race.

My memory of it was fast reaching with a fresh South Easter. HELLY was sold and moved south to Sydney. It was Clem Masters who suggested I look at FARE THEE WELL to replace her. She was built in an old church in Brisbane by Bluey Williams, a superlative wooden boat builder for Russ Williams, who had won the ‘59 Sydney to Hobart, with his Tasman Seabird CHERANA. Both of these yachts were designed by Alan Payne.

We cruise back from Sydney to a berth at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Manly. Our first outing brought us up in the lagoon on the coral key at Lady Musgrave. Where we a Tasman crossing to New Zealand. Terry Hammond of GRETEL America's Cup fame was the navigator after calling in at Lord Howe Island on the way we made landfall on New Zealand's North Cape, then cruising down the east coast to Auckland, where we picked up a new crew for the homeward leg.

Apart from cruises, FARE THEE WELL competed in two Brisbane to Gladstone ocean yacht races, including the ‘98 half centenary event. She was a powerful yacht to weather, and it was a trick of fate that the return from the north was in light weather. Over the years, the trip to the south had been a slog to weather against the prevailing South easterlies. fairly well changed hands and is now based in Sydney, often a visitor for the Hobart wooden boat celebrations.

A Change of Tack

In 2006, a change of tack occurred. I bought the cold moulded 40ft trawler LEILANI in Evans Head and steam north to Scarborough in Morton Bay. Finding a good working skipper was difficult. While my role was that of deckie. This involved a lot of hard dirty and dangerous work. The rewards while not always monetary were there, and while the thrill of the loaded cod end of the net cascading into the sorting tray never palled. Trawling for prawns is as a rule, and night time occupation. Usually, the skipper for the last couple of early morning shots, hands over to the deckie while he tries to snatch a few minutes of sleep.

Twice in Morton Bay, n the space of a week I dozed off. I've done this under saIL too, but the sound of a flogging sail or sheet soon recalls attention.

In the warm pilot House of LEILANI surrounded by green LED instruments, with the drone of a Caterpillar V8 diesel concentration is difficult to enforce. By now pushing 70, the decision to leave it for the younger generation was easy to make.

LEILANI went north to Ingham and not so far north to Townsville.

And Back Again

I then went to buy a Sparkman and Stephens 34 for my first GRP craft. She arrived in Brisbane on a low loader and rerigged at the mouth of the Brisbane River. My love affair with the board of Olin Stephens dated back to the 1972 Brisbane to Gladstone race. When the fleet leaders were forced to sail through cyclone Emily. I was crewing on Rob Georges Sydney sloop the 38 foot S&S KINTAMA

We had missed a radio schedule on the first night. Dawn found us sailing hard sou’easter and an empty sea. The majority of the fleet had retired from the race for the security of the port of Mooloolaba.

The wind strength increased all night until in the vicinity of Bustard Head lighthouse it topped 100 knots. Our last remaining canvas, the Spitfire jib was hoisted, and KINTAMA lay ahull. The seas were a mass of foam lying in parallel streaks. She behaved impeccably, taking wind and sea off the starboard bow, until a breaking see would knock the bow off, and the process repeated itself. The crew exhausted, replaced the storm boards, piled into the soaked bunks and fell asleep.

Before dawn I awoke noticing a change in motion and climbed on deck with Johnny Green. A Sydney forward hand. Above us, in a circular hole in the black cloud was a bright blue sky. We had sailed into the eye of the cyclone. There was complete calm except for the seas, which were still mountainous. The wind came back and settled down to what for us was a gentle 30 to 40 knots. The crew was roused, sail set and our navigator Clem Masters found us the harbor fairway beacon.

KINTAMA now sailed up Gladstone harbor to a hard earned line honours victory. Celebrations were muted, yachts and a trawler had founded with loss of life in the cyclone, the sea kindly behaviour of KINTAMA sold me on the traditional S&S hull, and it did not come as a surprise when I spied TAMBOO, a Hestia class wood one tonner in a Gold Coast Marina.

She now resides in my backyard in Deagan on the banks of Cabbage Tree Creek. I've been stripping her Queensland beach planks prior to splining. It's a good thing for a major refit to have one's crafted home and accessible to power tools and a compressor.

*TAMBOO at Sandringham Yacht Club Victoria*

TAMBOO has completed three Sydney to Hobart and a circumnavigation under the previous owners. My goal is to take her cruising once more, and the Pacific is quite close. Looking back, I never made money out of my craft, but it was recompensed by hours, days and weeks of sublime enjoyment, plus the enduring friendship with the racing cruising fraternity.

Since writing this article Tim has sold TAMBOO and she will soon be extensively refitted at Deagon Slipways.