With the theme of the 2027 festival being “Working Boats”, the SWS editors have scoured the listings for half a dozen special boats with industrious origins. Even if you are not in the market… It’s fun to dream!

Not sure what these are called, but I was very surprised and impressed early this year while anchored off Matthew Town at Great Inagua at the southern end of the Bahamas to see these Haitian trading vessels sailing in and docking in the tight basin, all with no auxiliary power.

A round up of news from this week…

As always with these things, the story that needs to be told is primarily about the people who worked and maintained these craft, and then the appreciation and admiration for the boats will follow. With that in mind here are three beautiful short archival films from around the world, that evocatively remind us that the roots of our passion are labour not leisure.

Turns out you can teach an old Regatta new tricks. For the very first time, The Balmain Regatta includes a Work Boat Convoy.

Historic Workboats Are An Endangered Species, But This Little Tasmanian Has Remained Remarkably Intact For Over 100 Years. I’ve always been attracted to that place in sailing where working boats and sailing “yachts” intersect.

A historic ship that starred in a blockbuster movie, carried the Olympic flame and set pearl shell records is set to be restored after sinking in Darwin in 2016.