The News, Culture and Practice of Sailing woodenboats
in Australia, New Zealand & The South Pacific.
15 minutes of fame back in 1989
The boat was holed and sunk, and Bill and Simonne took to a four-person coastal liferaft. This in the days when EPIRBs broadcast distress signals only on 121.5 MHz to passing aircraft. The couple christened their raft LAST CHANCE and ultimately survived on a diet of raw fish that Bill caught.
Don Street Jnr 1930 – 2024
He’d shown himself to be one tough old bird by sailing his Dragon from Glandore across the Celtic Sea and the western approaches of the English Channel to Brest for one of Brittany’s many Festivals of Sail. Under the foredeck was a tightly packed heavy-duty plastic bag, and when Brest was finally reached in the inevitable sodden state, the bag was pulled out and carefully unpacked, and Captain Street stepped ashore in dry clothes including a dazzlingly white shirt with RORC tie, and a classic blue-black reefer jacket.
REMEMBERING ANDREW ‘PLYMO’ PLYMPTON
He knew his time was up – just couldn’t give up the ‘bungers’ – and lung cancer came calling. Passionate about life, he continued to live it with zest, right to the end. I last saw him in person at the Festival of Sails in Geelong last year. Despite his obvious illness, he’d been racing and was bagging out the opposition – loudly.
Iain Oughtred obituary reactions
The first names that spring to mind when we think of Australian designers might be Lexcen, Paine, Bethwaite, Ward and Swanson, but perhaps Oughtred should also be near the top of this list given his profound influence at the grass roots of Australian sailing.
About as Classic as a fibreglass Boat can Get
Each Day we lived in hope that we would discover a Contessa, that was within our budget, but such was their reputation, that they rarely came on the market, and when they did the instant demand spiralled the price right out of our reach.
Eight Bells: James Wharram
James was a trailblazer, a fighter with great determination and vision. From a young age he followed his passions – to roam the hills – for fair politics – for intelligent women – to sail the seas – to prove the Polynesian double canoe an ocean worthy craft – to become a Man of the Sea.
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