Self Assessment
If you are reading this then the chances are you are part of something that’s bigger than you imagine. The wooden boat world by nature self depreciatory. It’s an admirable characteristic to understate, to play down, in a world where the unjustified hyperbole often drowns out the the quiet achievers.
But it’s important to appreciate the scale of the niche area we choose to inhabit. In a couple of months around 80,000 people will descend on Hobart to attend the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. About 12,000 of these will have come from interstate. The event will create a increased spend in Tasmania of more than $26 million.
Sullivan’s Cove during the AWBF
Last weekend on Sydney Harbour thirty six of Australia’s most important historic yachts raced over three days in the Sydney Hobart Classic Regatta. That means over 200 sailors choose to give up their pre Christmas weekend to be part of an event that is more about the celebration of the values of adventure and a respect for the past, than it is about winning.
Racing during last weekend’s regatta - Image Andrea Francolini
And that’s just a couple of examples. Add to this the grass roots Classic Dinghy events blossoming around the country, The spontaneous Wooden Boat shows (Pittwater, Geelong, Paynesville, Goolwa etc), The recent improvement in Melbourne’s Cup Regatta, and the resurgence of timber one design classes like the Derwents and the Tumlarens.
Here at SWS its also been a good year. As I type I can see that we have had 114,000 visits to the site in 2024 which is 20% up on last year.
Our 5 Top Rating stories are certainly not what I imagined they might be.
Peddling Towards Irrelevance, a criticism of cyclors at the Americas Cup was our most read article.
Then came an article about EVENING TIDE the Bob Perry double ender written with the assistance on NANNI AUSTRALIA
Third was Val Nicholls heartfelt account of her solo trip up the eastern seaboard of Austraia, entitled Time to Go. Val is now managing the complex task of berthing for the AWBF in February!
The fourth most popular article in SWS in 20204 was written about the sale of our families yacht of 23 years FAIR WINDS
And the fifth? An obituary for Iain Oughtred who died in February this year.
So there’s a vast range of interest here, from dinghies, to design, to adventure, to beautiful and historic keelboats, to the changing values of competitive sailing.
Of course there’s some difficulties. ( I’m over calling them “challenges”). Insurance premiums are acting a a break on participation. Second hand prices for wooden boats are miserable but even that in a way is a double edged sword as it allows easy entry to the classic fleets. Some fleets are struggling for numbers but thats probably because they are not doing it right.
So as we move into 2025, I think we have ample reason to be positive. We all have a responsibility to participate, to help out friends, to encourage those struggling to spread the word, spiralling things upwards towards a richer future!
Merry Christmas!