The News, Culture and Practice of Sailing woodenboats
in Australia, New Zealand & The South Pacific.
Grabbing Adventure with Both Hands.
She meets a lanky Australian engineer Graeme, with a yen to sail around the world, and together they buy HOPE a traditional wooden gaff-rigged cutter and grab adventure with both hands.
23° air temperature, 23° water temperature.
At the start line for Saturday's first race there were twenty Gaff or similarly rigged yachts. They ranged from a fifty plus year old 10ft timber gaff rigged skiff replica MERLE, with a crew of three and a healthy spread of sail, to a recently impeccably refurbished Couta Boat CRYSTAL.
What an Arduous Business!
Back in 1952, when Ben started planning this voyage, the Royal Navy hadn’t really got into ‛adventure training’ (I imagine that most of the older officers had experienced more than enough adventure, in the previous decade), so it was a lucky chance for Ben, that the Lords of the Admiralty decided that he should be posted to New Zealand (which also happened to be the country of his birth).
For The Love of SAUNTRESS
Romance, courtesy, amateurism, respect. These are all very much virtues of the early days of yachting: a time before marinas; a time when the amateur yachtsmen measured himself against those who sailed for a living; a time when the average middle-class man made it a point of honour not to have manual skills and yet, quixotically took pride in maintaining and fitting out his own craft.
Impracticality In Its Most Beautiful Form
Where many Spirit of Tradition designs would rest with the traditionally-shaped hull and classic styling on deck and mate them with a “standard” high-performance Marconi sail plan, we’ve opted to fully embrace the period piece and supply Beaujolais with an in-character gaff rig and lengthy bowsprit. Not only does this fully commit to the genre used as inspiration, it also offers some powerful advantages.
"Let me tell you, what is good for Queensland is good for Australia."
The Noosa Gaff Rig Regatta boats can be constructed of traditional or modern materials. This year we are expecting over 20 traditional Gaff rigged yachts of all shapes and sizes sailing on the beautiful Noosa river, which will created spectacular events to watch!
“Sail she by da leech, mon!”
Emiliano Marino states categorically that, “Flat is faster and less powerful, Full is slower and more powerful.” I understand this to be a simplified description of the aerodynamics of sails made by a master sailmaker.
Whooper Wins British Classic Week
After a six-race series in windy conditions, Laurent Giles designed sloop WHOOPER triumphed to win this year's British Classic Week regatta overall.
Anti-Clockwise Gaffers
1100 Entries
4 yachts capsized
There were 3 dismastings
2 helicopter evacuations
178 boats did not finish
And more than 20 crew members ended up in hospital.
Gaffers Day on NERIDA
The forces at play once the five working sails all fill are huge and mistakes can be very costly. Since her first Gaffers Day back in the early 1980s the yacht has always sailed under the command of her owner, Sir James Hardy OBE. But, regrettably, ‘Gilbert’ was unable to take the helm this year and nominated me to skipper the boat in his place.
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