Signalling the Future
Ginny Johnson, Jane Flowers, Kaci Cronkite and Joy Phillips (in the yellow jacket) aboard HOLGER DANSKE. Photo Tom Jackson
When we started this website, we made a pledge to ourselves: To chase down and promote content and information that encourages females and younger people to become involved with wooden boat sailing.
About twenty-five years ago when we first bought a wooden boat, it was all about the sailing and the history. I was enthralled with the idea that, given the right preparation, I could step about my craft and travel to almost anywhere in the world making my own decisions and being the master of my own little universe…and all this while living onboard a beautiful, efficacious and sculptural object, with a history trailing in its wake and an unknown future off the bow.
Nowadays, the thrill of adventure is still there, (slightly curtailed by events of the last 18 months) but the source of deepest pleasure has moved from the boats to the people with whom I share the passion. And however you want to frame it, the world of wooden sailing boats has always been unfairly male centric and those males are usually old and white! And I think it’s ok for me to say that, because I’m getting into that category myself. That’s why when we started this website, we made a pledge to ourselves: To chase down and promote content and information that celebrates and encourages females and younger people to be involved with wooden boat sailing. In a sense it’s a selfish objective, as it’s the only way that the culture will survive.
After six months working for free, to create stories every week, we are proud of most of the articles we have produced but especially those that have encouraged this goal. Have a look at the interview with Ginny Gerlach or the article about Anne Lawrence and her quest to sail SOLVEIG in the Sydney to Hobart again or the story of Anna Ingham, the current custodian of a 42ft, cray boat, the OWEN JOHN and her life on Pittwater. Hopefully these stories encourage some of our 6000 monthly readers, whether male or female to ensure that the opportunities they give and are given, are never biased towards men.
So last week it was wonderful news to hear that Joy Phillips was elected to the Chair of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, the largest celebration of wooden boats and maritime culture in the southern hemisphere.
Joy aboard Jim Wood’s WINDWARD II for the Geelong Wooden Boat Festival 2018.
Interestingly the first ever Chair of the festival in 1997 was a woman, the late Jayne Wilson, and Cathy Hawkins was a co-founder, so there is already a strong history of female participation within the organisation from its inception. The appointment of Joy Phillips, feels like a thoughtful and well considered step in the right direction. Not only because there has never been a more pressing time for women in leadership roles, but also because she is a talented, enthusiastic hands-on participant and most importantly of all… the best person for the job.
Joy grew up in New England, USA and her childhood was spent on the water with her family. Encouraged by her parents & their love of the sea, she experienced her first solo sailing on her small Sunfish on a coastal lagoon in Rhode Island. This formative experience produced a deep appreciation of what life’s lessons on the water could offer- a mixture of pure joy, along with a wholesome dose of personal accountability.
After studying at university, Joy moved to Port Townsend in Washington State to work with the famous Brion Toss as a yacht rigger and went on to work in wooden boat communities across the world from San Francisco to Sydney. Joy has been a custodian of three very interesting classic yachts since migrating to Australia almost 30 years ago.
The first was a 31’ double ender, ALOA (see SWS article) that she and her daughter lived on in Sydney Harbour. ALOA is an A.C. Barber design, built in Berry’s Bay, Sydney. The boat participated in the 1947 & 1948 Sydney to Hobart races and if anybody knows where she is nowadays, we would be keen to hear from you!
ALOA in her Sydney Hobart days
Joy living aboard ALOA on Sydney Harbour in the 1990s
Joy’s second sailboat was GRETCHEN (aka RAEANGLE), a William Atkin designed shallow-draft, lee-board pocket cruiser built by an officer at the Anglesea Base in Hobart. She now lives in Franklin used by the Living Boat Trust, after being donated to the community group a few years back.
GRETCHEN’S lines
For the past nine years, Joy has been the custodian of HOLGER DANSKE, a beautiful K. Aage Nielsen designed ketch. She was launched in 1964 by artisan boat builder Aage Walsted at his yard in Denmark. Her claim to fame was winning the 1980 Newport to Bermuda race with her skipper, Rich Wilson being the youngest to do so at thirty years old. Joy has spent the past three years working on and project managing the restoration of this beautiful double ender, with an imminent “first sail” since relaunching any day now.
HOLGER DASKE photo Simon Griffiths
It seems to me that Joy Phillips is exactly the sort of person we want running the key organisations that comprise the wooden boat community in Australasia. Intimately involved, getting their hands dirty, with a personal experience of the trials and rewards of wooden boat ownership and its industry…. and at the same time having the breadth of life experience both geographically and experientially to see a bigger picture.
