Bird of the Sea
If you want to disprove the theory that it’s bad luck to change a boat’s name, look no further than the case of Eun Na Mara. She had three names in her first seven years of existence. And to be sailing around at the age of 118, in fine fettle requires a certain amount of good luck.
Now she needs another dose of good fortune, in the form of a sensitive, fun loving and understanding new custodian.
EUN NA MARA is a William Fife III designed racing yacht launched on 16th February 1907 from MacFarlane Watty’s shipyard in Berrys Bay, Sydney.
Fife designed her to meet the 1905 International Design code, and she was known as a 36 Linear Rater.Originally named AWAUNI by owner Mr. A.C. Sexton of the RSYS, she was renamed CULWALLA III by Mr. W.M. Marks in 1910.
In 1910, Marks took her to Melbourne to compete against the yacht SAYONARA for the “Sayonara Cup,” a fierce competition between the States of NSW and Victoria.
A strict condition of this competition was that each competing yacht must make her way to the port of challenge, under her own sail power.
For the 1910 competition, CULWALLA III sailed from Sydney down to Hobart and competed in several Tasmanian yachting races, and was very successful. She then sailed up to Port Phillip Bay, defeated Sayonara, and then sailed back home to Sydney’s RPAYC.
An oil painting of CULWALLA III graces the main staircase at RPAYC (as of 2010) as does its victorious racing pennant which is framed in RPAYC Board Room.
Under new ownership, CULWALLA III was renamed EUN NA MARA in 1914. It means “Bird of the Sea” in either Gaelic or Polynesian, this history is unclear.
The hull was originally carvel planked in New Zealand Kauri on hardwood frames before being completely replanked with Huon Pine in the 1920’s.
William Fife III was commissioned in 1931 to redesign the rig from cutter/gaff rigged to the now popular Bermudan Rig.
In the 1950s, the then owner, Mr. Neil McAllistair was transferred in his job as a senior manager with the Ford Motor Company from Melbourne to Perth. As part of his relocation costs, he had EUN NA MARA shipped to the west, and sailed her for many years from Royal Perth Yacht Club. She dominated river and offshore racing in the West, and won three consecutive Fremantle to Bunbury Return Races under McAllistair’s direction.
Still in WA, she was sold to a Mr. Norm Cocks at SoPYC, who raced her very hard, and made numerous changes to the rig and hull, which included changing chain-plates to aluminum, and adding an alloy bulkhead, along with a ‘drop-in’ alloy cockpit, and at various times changing the tiller to wheel steering, removing the keel hung rudder, and replacing with a hanging rudder further aft.
Sold on to Mr. Nick Chapman of the Royal Brighton Yacht Club around 1991, she returned to her favorite sail number “B1” at RBYC.
Nick carried out substantial work, including a new rig, new sails and with a crack crew competed at Hamilton Island, Qld, in the Australian IRC Championships in 2001. With her low handicap rating, she was a surprise winner, astonishing the race favorites of Brindabella and Alfa Romeo. Nick again attempted to repeat this performance in Adelaide the following year, and was clearly ahead, until the final race when EUN NA MARA’s rudder was lost.
Until 2014 she was left in her pen at RBYC, until purchased by Ralph Newton of SoPYC in Western Australia.
Ralph undertook a major rebuild, which largely centered around the deck works, the stem and the stern. With direction of a prominent naval architect, and a well-known Fife shipwright living in Fremantle, the original stern counter was replaced, the bow was completely rebuilt with significant lateral and longitudinal bulkheads, a spruce bowsprit was again added, and new 15mm teak decks were laid, with numerous trim works in Brazilian mahogany to regain the original Fife design, especially, the cockpit was returned to teak, with mahogany trim.
In 2020 all remaining aluminum was removed in bulkhead area, and replaced with 25mm veneered marine ply.
Due to age and health considerations the Ralph is open to a very reasonable negotiated settlement for this stunning yacht.
Contact: R.A.NEWTON Mobile 0419191565, eMail: eunnamara1907@gmail.com
